THE year was 2020 and the month was January as Mose Masoe prepared to throw off the cobwebs for his then club Hull KR in an away pre-season game at Wakefield Trinity.
However, disaster struck midway through the fixture after an innocuous clash on Masoe’s own line. With the hulking forward laid prone, the 34-year-old was taken from the field on a stretcher and rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
The news seeped out that the former Samoa international had suffered a serious spinal injury with Masoe’s retirement confirmed barely weeks later as a long road to recovery got underway.
Since then, the 34-year-old has learnt to walk again, often defying doctors’ predictions – although he will never play sport again.
That being said, Masoe has been studying hard to find a new career – and a career as a mortgage broker is within his grasp.
“I’m studying to become a mortgage broker. That’s the plan for the future at the minute but I still would love to be involved in footy somehow,” Masoe told League Express.
During his rugby league career, Masoe made almost 200 appearances with 46 coming for the Sydney Roosters and 17 for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL before the towering forward made the move to St Helens ahead of the 2014 Super League season.
61 appearances later and Masoe returned to Australia in 2016 to join the St George Illawarra Dragons, but he suffered an ACL injury that ruled him out of the entire 2016 NRL season.
As such, the 34-year-old was released by the Dragons in 2017 without playing a game before he linked up with Hull KR for the remainder of the 2017 Championship season in the UK.
During his ten-year NRL and Super League career, Masoe played alongside and against some world-class players, but it is St Helens hero James Roby that stands out.
“I have played alongside and against a lot of great players, but hands down it has to be James Roby,” Masoe continued.
“He is an absolute freak of nature – the longevity, consistency and toughness was second to none and that’s why he was able to go for so long.
“He was the ultimate professional and I cannot speak highly enough of him.”
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