Rugby league: Former NRL star Masada Iosefa dies in tragic accident hours before birthday - report

Masada Iosefa has passed away. Photo / Getty

Former NRL star and Kiwis squad member Masada Iosefa has died - a day before his 33rd birthday.

According to nine.com.au, Iosefa passed away following a tragic quad bike accident last night.

Born in Samoa, Iosefa moved to and was raised in New Zealand and Mt Druitt, western Sydney, where his footballing talent exploded while he was at the famous league breeding ground of Patrician Brothers High School.

He won numerous man-of-the-match awards there and was part of Penrith's 2007 Jersey Flegg age group title-winning side.

In 2008 he was named in the under-20s Toyota Cup "team of the year", overtook Paul Aiton and Keith Peters who were ahead of him in the hookers' pecking order and grabbed the job of incumbent Luke Priddis, who has since left for the Dragons.

Iosefa played for the Junior Kiwis in 2007.

"I don't want to show any disrespect to Samoa, but my heart's with the New Zealand team," he said at the time.

He signed for the Panthers in 2008 and made 43 appearances across four years at the club, before spending two years at Wests Tigers.

He also played two tests for Samoa and was a member of the wider 2008 New Zealand World Cup squad.

Teammates at Rockhampton, where he was set to captain the Emu Park team this season, have been mourning his death.