Benny Elias
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| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Elias | |||||
| Nickname | Backdoor Benny | |||||
| Born |
15 November 1963 Tripoli, Lebanon |
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| Playing information | ||||||
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||
| Weight | 83 kg (13 st 1 lb) | |||||
| Position | Hooker | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1982–94 | Balmain | 234 | 36 | 4 | 33 | 181 |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1985–94 | New South Wales | 22 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 1985–90 | Australia | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Source: Rugby League Project and Yesterday's Hero | ||||||
Ben Elias (Arabic: بن الياس; born 15 November 1963 in Tripoli, Lebanon) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of Lebanese descent of the 1980s and 90s. He played primarily as a hooker for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. He was one of the leading hookers from the mid-1980s until his retirement at the end of the 1994 season. Along with Wayne Pearce, Paul Sironen and Steve Roach, Elias and his Balmain teammates formed one of the best forward packs in the modern era during the late 1980s.
Since his retirement as a player, Elias has pursued media and business interests.
After migrating to Australia from his native Lebanon at a young age, Elias was a fan of rugby league from very young days and played his first rugby for Holy Cross College Ryde in the late 1970s as a halfback, representing Australia in the Schoolboys team from 1979 to 1981. He was graded by Balmain in 1981, and transferred quickly to the hooking position where he remained for the rest of his career. When he first played first grade in 1982 his potential as a teenager was immediately noticed, and he developed so well that by 1984 he was widely tipped for major representative honours.
While attending Holy Cross College, Ryde, Elias played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1979 and 1981.
These came Elias' way in 1985 when he played in New South Wales' first team to win a State of Origin series, and was selected for the New Zealand tour that year. Elias was subsequently selected for the following year's Kangaroo Tour, which was undefeated through England and France, however Elias was unable to displace Royce Simmons as the Test hooker.
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