Ben Murdoch-Masila, last man standing from NRL game of the century, ready for one final ride

As the end of the season looms, St George Illawarra are having trouble filling out their jerseys.

The Dragons have been hit with a horrific injury toll in recent weeks, even before they lost three players to concussions in last week's loss to the Warriors.

It means the Red V will be without 13 players for Thursday's clash with South Sydney. They're not quite at the level of dragging some fellas out of the mines but, given they could only name a 21-man squad on Tuesday instead of the usual 22, they are not far off.

It is all hands on deck in an effort to do the colours proud, and so Ben Murdoch-Masila, at 34 years old, will saddle up for one more ride.

He has been named to start at lock and he is ready for it, even though Murdoch-Masila did not need to finish his career in first grade to be content with what he has achieved in rugby league.

Ben Murdoch-Masila has had an incredible rugby league career. (Getty Images: Mark Kolbe )

Playing reserve grade as the world's oldest development player, where the rookies helped keep him young, scratched the football itch as his contract wound down. And being there as a mentor to some of the Dragons' young Pasifika players has given the latter years of his journey a new meaning.

He has trying to be for them what he never had when he began his NRL career 15 years ago with a first-grade debut in the legendary extra time semifinal between the Roosters and the Tigers in 2010.

Murdoch-Masila will be the last man left in the NRL from that game, which started him on the long and winding path that will reach the beginning of the end at Stadium Australia on Thursday night.

He is a different person from that fresh-faced kid who stepped into a piece of rugby league history, and there is only one thing he would tell his younger self about the joy and the sorrows that would be to come.

"I'd tell him everything is going to be alright. Keep going because things are going to turn out good," Murdoch-Masila said.

"Things did turn out good."

An NRL debut like no other

Murdoch-Masila has always been big — ever since he was running around with Otahuhu Leopards in Auckland as a boy alongside future Cowboys legend Jason Taumalolo.

By the time he moved to Australia to attend Keebra Park on the Gold Coast, he was a bit over 150 kilograms, but after dropping 40kg and helping his school to victory in the national schoolboy final in 2009, a deal with Wests Tigers soon followed.

He spent the following season in the under 20s and once their year was over he kept training with the first-grade side, which finished third.

After the last session before the semifinal against the Roosters, coach Tim Sheens pulled him aside. At first, Murdoch-Masila thought he was in trouble with the boss.

But instead, Sheens told him he would make his first-grade debut the following night. It meant he would be just the second player in the NRL era to debut in a semifinal and Sheens swore him to secrecy.

"Try not to think about it," Sheens said.

"If you do think about it, go to a movie or something to take your mind off it."

So Murdoch-Masila did. He went with some teammates to see the Angelina Jolie spy thriller Salt, which clocks in at 100 minutes and is described by reviewers as a "gloriously absurd" watch in which "the laws of physics seem to be suspended."

The same thing, right down to the run-time, can be said of Murdoch-Masila's debut, which remains a strong contender for best game of the 21st century.

The two sides went to the raggedy edge together and tried to throw each other off the side as the Roosters won an instant classic 19-15.

Simon Dwyer's tackle on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Braith Anasta's ensuing field goal to force extra time and Shaun Kenny-Dowall's intercept winner in the 100th minute all earned places among modern rugby league's most iconic moments.

If a first-grade debut is a whirlwind, Murdoch-Masila's career was born inside a cyclone. Only a couple of flashes from the game stay in his mind.

"Jaydn Su'A was a Tigers fan growing up. He always brings it up," Murdoch-Masila said.

"When I joined the Warriors, Reece Walsh always wanted to talk about it — he was eight when it happened but he used to say he was five years old to wind me up. Now there's even younger guys coming through.

"It's pretty special. That game was such a big occasion, going for 100 minutes and all.

"I remember making a tackle on Anthony Minichiello and he dropped the ball, and the boys got all hyped up.

"That and the Simon Dwyer tackle on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, that was the best."

Murdoch-Masila also got a game in the preliminary final loss to St George Illawarra, meaning he experienced more of the big stage in his first two games than some players do in their entire careers.

Ben Murdoch-Masila was just the second player in the NRL era to make his first-grade debut in a semifinal. (Channel Nine )

From there, things returned to normal and Murdoch-Masila transitioned into becoming a regular NRL player.

But expectations were high. When he came on the field for his debut, Ray Warren mentioned that the coach at Keebra Park had told him Murdoch-Masila was the best prospect to come through the school since Benji Marshall.

His footwork, combined with his strength, made him a dangerous ball-runner and he was more skilful than many would expect from a man his size. He played like he could be somebody.

But everything changed on February 28, 2013, when his best friend and Tigers teammate Mosese Fotuaika tore his pectoral muscle while training in the club's gym.

Fotuaika was closing in on his first-grade debut and the injury would have sidelined him for several months.

Murdoch-Masila offered to drive him home and he dropped him off at Fotuaika's house in Merrylands. Later that afternoon, Fotuaika took his own life at just 20 years of age.

It was the hardest time of Murdoch-Masila's life. He was tormented by nightmares, plagued by guilt about what he could have done differently to help his friend and he developed an obsessive counting disorder.

Mosese Fotuaika died in February of 2013 at age 20. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer )

It was not until months later, when his girlfriend Roxy fell pregnant with their first child, that Murdoch-Masila felt himself picking up again. They named their daughter Acacia-Rose after Acacia Ridge in Brisbane — the first place he met Fotuaika.

His time at the Tigers ended the following year, but all these years later, the details of the exit are not important. He was dealing with something far beyond rugby league. And there are a lot of those days that are not easy for Murdoch-Masila to recall.

"My Tigers days are blurry. I don't know if I blocked it out of my mind or what," Murdoch-Masila said.

"I did enjoy my time there, there's a lot of good memories, but there were also a lot of hardships."

The grateful sessions

After 18 months with Penrith, where rugby league again did not feel all that important, Murdoch-Masila signed with Salford in England.

It was just him and his young family on the other side of the world from home, and it proved to be the making of him.

"I asked a question to the boys once [that was], 'What's the biggest risk of your career and what did you learn from it?'" Murdoch-Masila said.

"Mine was going to England and the thing I learned was how to be a man, how to grow up. I learned to be a dad there. We had no family support so we all had to grow up.

"I learned how to be a footballer as well."

It was where Murdoch-Masila found himself. First with the Red Devils and then with Warrington, he transformed into one of the most dangerous forwards in the northern hemisphere.

Ben Murdoch-Masila's performances for Tonga helped secure his NRL return. (Getty Images: Hannah Peters )

Close to the tryline he was unstoppable and he was beloved in the community, as he grew into the player he had always promised to be and a person any club would be proud to call its own.

Roxy, who Murdoch-Masila says is his hero, started playing for Warrington as well and captained its women's Super League side.

It was a great time for the family, as Murdoch-Masila earned a berth in the Super League Dream Team one season and won a Challenge Cup with the Wire in another.

He heard the sound of full terraces chanting his name. "Ben Murdoch-Masila, he's a Tongan hero," they would roar, and eventually he became that as well.

Murdoch-Masila considers his time with Tonga the highlight of his career and one of the honours of his life.

He debuted for Mate Ma'a in 2013 and by the time their fortunes were transformed in 2017, when his old teammate Taumalolo led a mass defection to the kingdom, he had been a regular in the squad for years.

Murdoch-Masila was there for each of their greatest triumphs: the win over New Zealand in the 2017 World Cup, where he set up a try, and the two magical weeks in 2019 where they upset Great Britain and Australia in back-to-back matches.

In the latter, a 16-12 win in Auckland on a momentous day in Tongan history, Murdoch-Masila out-muscled Australian centre Latrell Mitchell more than once and clean outplayed his opposite number, Kangaroos captain Boyd Cordner.

It was the kind of performance that sends the horses running and it helped Murdoch-Masila line up an NRL return with the Warriors for the 2021 season.

He had changed so much in the time away that he was put straight into the club's leadership group, mainly to act as a mentor for the club's young Pasifika players, and that is when it started.

"We were stuck in Australia because of COVID. For a lot of them, it was their first time living away from home and they were quite young and they needed a little bit of guidance to help grow up," Murdoch-Masila said.

"Some of them just left home. They didn't even know how to do their own laundry.

"I called it the grateful sessions. We get in at the start of the week and I just ask them what they're grateful for. It gets them thinking. We talk about what they want to work on that week and it lets them express their feelings.

"It's good to do it at the start of the week because it helps you reset after a bad loss and it helps you get things off your chest. If it's something deep, there's people who can help."

Ben Murdoch-Masila has become a beloved figure at the Dragons. (Getty Images: Mark Kolbe )

After two seasons with the Kiwi club, Murdoch-Masila signed with St George Illawarra for 2023 to finish off his playing career — and he brought the grateful sessions with him.

Sometimes it is about footy, other times it is just about life. The most important thing for Murdoch-Masila is just to get them talking and to feel a kind of love that did not seem to reach him in his younger days.

Murdoch-Masila does not blame anyone for that, and he was not without support. Tigers prop Keith Galloway, who Murdoch-Masila describes as "a Tongan in a white man's body", was a particularly strong mentor for him.

But when he came through, it was a different time and there were not as many experienced Pasifika leaders in the game — in 2010, there were only seven Pasifika players over 30 in the entire league — so that connection between the old and the young was harder to find.

There were fewer players like Murdoch-Masila, who have been through so much across the peaks and valleys and know how to share what they have found on the journey while speaking to the experience of being a young Pasifika player and the challenges that come with it.

"There were people there [when I was a young player], but they were at the pinnacle of their career and they were more focused on themselves, which is OK. You have to be like that sometimes," Murdoch-Masila said.

"But I'm at the end of my career now and if I can give advice to these young boys they can succeed later on in their own careers.

"My first session at the Dragons, everyone had to get up and tell a story, and I went pretty deep without knowing anyone. I think the boys could see that I was someone they could talk about their problems with.

"I try to make sure, on any occasion like that, to be honest and open. I try to be approachable."

Today, Murdoch-Masila can see other figures like himself across the NRL, like Josh Papali'i at Canberra and Junior Paulo at Parramatta and he knows the impact they can have.

Ben Murdoch-Masila is passionate about mentoring young Pasifika men. (Getty Images: Fiona Goodall)

The Dragons have a strong contingent of young Pasifika players including Jacob Halangahu, Loko Paisifki Tonga and Lykhan King-Tongia. Some of the older ones, like Moses Suli and Christian Tuipulotu, know they can turn to Murdoch-Masila as well.

And it is more than the grateful sessions. Murdoch-Masila organises poker nights, golf days and fishing trips, and if the boys are out bending the elbow, Murdoch-Masila gets them to ring him for a lift instead of calling an Uber.

He will do anything to get them together, to get them talking, sharing, feeling, because he knows it can make the difference.

"Polynesian boys can bottle up things. They don't talk about their feelings, some of them don't talk to anyone. I always try and get in their heads because they overthink things," Murdoch-Masila said.

"I try to let them know things are going to be alright. The world isn't against you. If the coach gets mad, he's not against you [and instead] it comes from a good place.

Jesse Sene-Lefao's men's movement Photo shows Footy player Jesse Sene-Lefao wears orange uniform. Stands in stadium, smiles down at kids. What started as a simple coffee catch-up between teammates has grown into a powerful movement helping Pasifika men and youth heal, speak up, and break generational cycles.

"I don't know how to explain it, but I know when they're struggling and I just try and get them to speak about it.

"I enjoy seeing the boys progress and knowing I've had a hand in that makes me pretty proud."

Murdoch-Masila decided a while ago that this would be his last year as a player in big-time footy.

A lisfranc injury late last season could have been the end of his career, but he worked hard to come back and get into playing shape so he could retire on his own terms and go out playing this game that he has grown to love so much again.

He has been running around in reserve grade and enjoyed it, but he is ready for the next stage of his life. He wants to stay in the mentoring space, but beyond that he is keeping his options open.

"I've come to terms with this being my last year," Murdoch-Masila.

"I have a few options. There are some local footy clubs who have made contact and I've had some conversations with the Dragons, seeing what we can do about staying onboard as staff.

"Nothing's solid yet but hopefully things can come good.

"The young boys keep me going. They're flying high, so that keeps my energy up. It brings me into training with a smile on my face."

Ben Murdoch-Masila has found a greater meaning as a leader in the final days of his playing career. (St George Illawarra Dragons)

That could have been the end of the story and it would have been a fitting one.

But now Murdoch-Masila, whose career was born in legend and who has lived one of this game's most inspiring lives, has been called up one last time.

He will be the last player from that 2010 semifinal to appear in an NRL game and that is a legacy worth having as a player, but his greater contribution to the sport, even accounting for all his other accomplishments, will come as a person because Murdoch-Masila has been the change he wanted to see.

ABC Sport Daily podcast ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines.

The Dragons will be up against it on Thursday. South Sydney, which endured a brutal injury toll of its own, is starting to welcome back some of its biggest names including fearsome prop Keaon Koloamatangi.

But the Red V needs look no further than Murdoch-Masila for inspiration. He never got to give himself the advice he needed as a young man, but it turned out he followed it anyway.

He has kept going through it all and it has brought him here with one last chance to play alongside the young men for whom he has already done so much.

If he can get in another match after Thursday it will bring him to 250 first-class appearances. However, Murdoch-Masila did not need one more NRL game to feel the gratitude he tries so hard to draw out of others.

But you can bet he is feeling it now, that he will feel it when he hits the turf at Stadium Australia, and you can be sure he will bring it up the next time when the boys sit down and start sharing a bit about what is inside — it is what gave the sessions their name after all.

"I'm just grateful," Murdoch-Masila said.

"I'm so grateful for the career I've had."

Click here to read article