NRL: El Masri loses little sleep over rep snub

Hazem El Masri made his sole appearance in the sky blue jersey of New South Wales in 2007. Photos / Getty Images

As he reflects on an NRL career littered with highlights, Bulldogs winger Hazem El Masri is at a loss to explain why there weren't more in either a sky blue or green and gold jumper.

One Origin match and one test for Australia is all El Masri will have to show when he walks away from the game at the end of the season, with "El Magic" to play his final home game against the Warriors at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

A finals series beckons for the red hot Bulldogs - meaning the highlights scrapbook may still have a few additions yet - but there won't be another representative jumper to add to a collection which does his 310 games at the top and record point-scoring feats little justice.

"Yeah it does, but there's a lot of quality players out there," El Masri said when asked if it bothered him that he hadn't played more Origin or test football. "At times I could have got a chance to play a lot more but that's the way it is. Finally I got a taste of it, that's the main thing ... even though it's one game, it's one game that I never had before."

In the end, the one game that he got for the Blues in game three of the 2007 series almost wasn't to be, the then 31-year-old called in just two days before the match as cover for Manly star Jamie Lyon.

The call-up came five years after he played his one and only test for Australia against New Zealand in Wellington in 2002.

El Masri made the most of his chance in the sky blue with a try and three crucial sideline conversions helping propel the Blues to a face-saving 18-4 win.

But when it came time for selectors to pick the side for game one in 2008, El Masri's name barely rated a mention.

"It was a big buzz, I'd waited for it for so long and when I finally got the chance, I didn't want to let myself down, my people down, let my fans and everyone down," he said. "As a side we struggled last year and that probably hinders your selection chances."

When El Masri refers to "my people" he invariably refers to the Lebanese community he represents with such pride. But in an age when NRL wingers are regularly tipping the scales at over 100kg and standing over 1.8m tall, "my people" could also be a reference to a dying breed in the game - players not necessarily blessed with the physical attributes of a Greek god.

"Of course there is," El Masri said when asked if there was still a place in the game for the smaller player.

"You can't just have the skill and the size, you need to still have the will to make it."

- AAP