Martin Masella (born 4 November 1969) is a Tongan former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

international and played at the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact ...

. Masella played for the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

as a in their

1998 Super League Grand Final The 1998 JJB Super League Grand Final was the first staging of the Super League Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding game of 1998's Super League III, and the first Grand Final of the Super League era. It was held on Saturday ...

defeat by the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. Masella captained Tonga in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

Background

Masella was born to factory workers.

Playing career

Masella played in Australia for

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...

and South Sydney before moving to England to play in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

for the Leeds Rhinos. He was later awarded Leeds Rhinos heritage player number

1291 Year 1291 ( MCCXCI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 1 – Federal Charter of 1291: The "three forest cantons" (''Waldstätte'' ...

. After leaving the Rhinos, Masella played for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

. In September 2000, at the height of a financial crisis at the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...

, the contracts of all players aged over 24 were terminated. The players affected were; Andy Fisher,

Bobbie Goulding Robert Dennis "Bobbie" Goulding (born 4 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Bobbie Dazzler", is an English former professional rugby league footballer, and coach, who played in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and has coached in t ...

, Warren Jowitt, Tony Kemp (player-coach),

Steve McNamara Steve McNamara (born 18 September 1971) is an English professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and a former professional player. He is a former coach of England, and a Gr ...

, Francis Maloney, Martin Masella,

Steve Prescott Stephen Prescott (26 December 1973 – 9 November 2013) was a professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s and 2000s. Prescott made his début for St Helens in 1993, and soon established himself as the club's first choi ...

Bright Sodje Bright Ojamohare Sodje (born 21 April 1966) is a retired dual-code rugby player, who played for rugby league clubs; the Wakefield Trinity (Wildcats), Hull Kingston Rovers, and the Sheffield Eagles in England as well as rugby union for Wakefie ...

Francis Stephenson Francis Stephenson (born ) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and was the Operations Director at the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. He retired from playing during the 2007 close season, a ...

and Glen Tomlinson. Masella was one of a group of players who were awarded compensation from an industrial tribunal as a result of the dismissal. Masella came out of retirement to play for Tonga against

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

at the age of 36.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
World Cup 1995 details
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at leedsrugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masella, Martin 1969 births Living people Balmain Tigers players Illawarra Steelers players Leeds Rhinos players People from ʻEua Rugby league locks Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs players Tonga national rugby league team captains Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players Wakefield Trinity players Warrington Wolves players