He’s the Nambour kid who went from “dodging ash and snakes” while training next to burning canefields to blazing a trail in the sport he loves.
Ben Ross, now 40, has shaped an impressive career – both on and off the field – in what is arguably the toughest game in the world.
And few players have navigated the highs and lows of professional rugby league so successfully.
Ross is just as excited about footy as he was as a Sunshine Coast junior, but now contributes to the game in a club management role as Head of Membership and Merchandise for the Cronulla Sharks.
Sunshinecoastnews.com.au caught up with him to talk about his rollercoaster career as he prepares to return home to see the Sharks clash with North Queensland Cowboys at Sunshine Coast Stadium on April 3.
Ross, a former Burnside State High School student, is among the region’s most impressive NRL products.
The front-rower and hardman enjoyed the highs of State of Origin and a premiership and endured the lows of a serious neck injury and horrific arm fracture.
But it was at Crusher Park in the 1990s where his passion for rugby league really gained steam.
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Ross was an up-and-coming junior at Nambour, where he spent his days playing against the likes of future Queensland team-mates Chris Flannery and Casey McGuire.
“I was quite lucky,” he said.
“I was part of a very good team. I loved playing for the Crushers, and I have very fond memories.”
“I’m still close with the mates I played with there.
“I can remember training at Crusher Park, and they’d burn the canefields in the background, so you’d be dodging all the ash and the snakes that came out of the cane,” he laughed.
“But it was exciting times as a kid, and I don’t think city kids understand what country kids go through to play footy.”
Ross and his team-mates tasted success when he was there from 1992 to 1997, claiming several pieces of silverware in the Sunshine Coast junior competition, with current Sunshine Coast Falcons coach Sam Mawhinney as halfback.
Ross made an impression, earning selection for Queensland youth sides, and it was because of this he was recruited by the St George Dragons.
He played at various levels for the Dragons during a five-year spell, debuting in the NRL in 2002.
He signed with Penrith in 2003 and was in the spotlight in their season opener, when he copped a barrage of punches from Brisbane Broncos captain Gordon Tallis.
Ross would have the last laugh that season, winning the premiership.
Then State of Origin followed in 2004 and 2005.
“The premiership with Penrith was a major highlight,” he said.
“It was probably the biggest highlight of my career, apart from Origin.
“But at the Dragons I also got to play with some of the greats of the game, who were coming through the ranks, like Jason Ryles, Luke Bailey and Mark Gasnier. Those boys were absolute freaks.”
Ross linked with the Sharks and suffered a string of injuries, including a fractured neck in the first game of 2009.
Many thought it would be the end of his career, but Ross was committed to rehabilitation and returned to the game almost two years later, with South Sydney.
“They (the injuries) were some hurdles I had to overcome in football, but it taught me a lot more about life,” he said.
After a stint with the Rabbitohs he returned to play for the Sharks in 2012-2013, before retiring from playing.
Ross used his experiences as a player to help him become a welfare manager with the Men of League Foundation, a role he held for four years.
But he suffered a horror arm injury during an arm wrestle with Wendell Sailor on The Footy Show in 2015.
“Compared to the other injuries I’d had, it affected me the most,” he said.
“I still have nerve damage and I struggle day to day trying to lift things.
“It’s one of those things. It was an accident … unfortunately I was on the receiving end.
“But I’m pretty grateful for where I am, at the moment.”
Ross is thriving as head of membership and merchandise at the Sharks.
“I learned to move on pretty quickly,” he said.
Ross has urged today’s players to prepare for life after football, while they’re still in the game.
“It’s something the NRL wellbeing team are trying to do at the moment, position footballers for life after football,” he said.
“And to get them to understand it’s a gift to play in the NRL.
“Even though you have to work hard, the real world is outside of it, and I guess that (life after football) is where a lot of payers fall into a deep, dark depression.”
He said his injuries were somewhat of a blessing in disguise.
“They gave me time out of the game to understand that I had to work for a living once I finished footy,” he said.
Ross not only holds a significant position at his former club, but he and his pharmacist wife Renai run pharmacies in Sydney.
They’ve settled at Cronulla with three young children.
“My old man told me about six months ago that he’s realised I’m never going to move home (to the Sunshine Coast),” Ross said.
“I’ve married a local girl and settled down … it’s not too bad in The Shire.”
But Ross returns to visit family and friends each Christmas break and will be back in April, for the Sharks’ clash against North Queensland Cowboys.
“As a Sunny Coast kid, I never got to see an NRL game so to be able to take games there now and show the kids what we’re all about is exciting,” he said.
“It’s exciting for the players of the junior league.
“And being a local game for me is good because I will get to see family and they’ll all be coming to the game.”
CRONULLA SHARKS v NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Tickets are limited so book now for the Round 4 game at Sunshine Coast Stadium on April 3. Prices range from $20 to $75. Family packages are available.
For more information and to book tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au
