NRL success stories: Meet rugby league’s first billionaire former player Wes Maas

This is the extraordinary tale of a working class boy from Camden whose rise through the business world now sees his company valued at a whopping $1.4 billion.

Wes Maas in action during the South Sydney Rabbitohs pre season training in preparation for the 2002 NRL season. Picture: Scott Barbour/ALLSPORT

Meet rugby league’s first billionaire.

This is the extraordinary life story of Wes Maas, a former South Sydney first grader who also played with Parramatta and Wests Tigers.

Now 43, Maas returned home to Dubbo after his Sydney rugby league career and started Maas Group Holdings, which is now listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at $1.4 billion.

Maas’ personal wealth sits at $800m but he should crash through the billionaire barrier within two to three years given his business has grown 30 per cent annually for the past 20 years.

Maas remembers winning a reserve grand final for the Eels by 40 points, and playing two NRL games for the Rabbitohs as a prop and back-rower.

Maas still runs the water when his two sons – Alex (16) and Tom (14) – play rugby league for St Johns Dubbo on weekends.

Maas Group has multiple business units including construction materials, building subdivisions, roads and dams, electrical, residential property, commercial property and machine manufacturing. He now owns 55 per cent of the business and employs 2000 people.

Wes Maas in 2002 for the Rabbitohs. Picture: Scott Barbour/ALLSPORT

His company was involved in Sydney’s WestConnex motorway, the Snowy Hydro renewable energy project, and has acquired more than 8000 residential lots.

Maas has a rugby league, working class background. Camden-born, he grew up playing for the Campbelltown City Kangaroos before moving to Dubbo aged 11.

He was signed by Parramatta as a 15-year-old and moved to Sydney aged 17 in late 1997.

The following year he played Jersey Flegg, when coached by Shane Flanagan, losing the grand final 28-12 to North Sydney in a side that included Jason Cayless, Eric Grothe and Nathan Hindmarsh.

He progressed the following season into a reserve grade team which won the 1999 grand final 44-4 over Balmain. The side was coached by Daniel Anderson and included Ian Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan, Jason Bell, Nathan Barnes and Shane Whereat.

By the end of that reserve grade game, around 110,000 fans had packed into the new Olympic Stadium for the 1999 NRL decider between Melbourne and St George Illawarra.

Maas moved to Wests Tigers in 2000, the joint venture’s inaugural season, and played five reserve grade matches before sustaining a shoulder injury which required a reconstruction. It took Maas nearly two years to fully recover.

Former rugby league player Wes Maas started his company with a $14,000 Bobcat.

He then shifted to Souths, who were starting up in 2002 after being readmitted to the NRL.

In round eight, Mass made his NRL debut off the bench against Brisbane, losing 42-16 to an opposition that boasted Darren Lockyer, Lote Tuqiri, Gorden Tallis, Petero Civoniceva and Shane Webcke.

South Sydney player number 972, Mass shared the bench with Shane Rigon, Frank Puletua and Duncan MacGillivray.

A week later, Mass played against the New Zealand Warriors, his Rabbitohs losing 25-18. Maas started on the bench alongside Nathan Merritt, who was making his debut. Souths’ run-on team included Russell Richardson, Scott Geddes, Jason Death, Paul Stringer and Luke Stuart. The coach was Craig Coleman.

Several weeks later, Mass left Souths. By 22, he was back in Dubbo running a new business and playing with Dubbo CYMS. He played 15 years with Dubbo CYMS, winning 10 grand finals in group 11, before retiring aged 35.

“Souths were a new team and didn’t want to take many risks so I struggled to get a chance. I probably wasn’t quite good enough either,” Maas said.

“I was definitely a better defender than attacker. I don’t want you to emphasise that I was a good player. I’m just extremely grateful.

“I was extremely nervous playing against those Broncos players. You grow up looking up to those players, Lockyer, Tallis. I also remember playing against (Warriors forward) Monty Betham and getting a whack across the nose and thinking: ‘Well, this is what I signed up for’.

“In hindsight, I probably didn’t mature in my head or body until I was 22, 23, 24. I wasn’t an early developer in confidence and aggression. Had I stuck it out, I could have played more but I would only have been a journeyman, rather than a top player.

“I lost faith in my ability and said I would go home and start a business. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. It was hard mentally and footy is 50 per cent mental.

“I went to two start-up clubs so I lost some faith and didn’t have a happy time. If you compare Souths today to the set-up back when I played, it’s chalk and cheese. Parramatta was a highly professional club when I was there.

“I don’t have any regrets. I always say everything happens for a reason. It was meant to be.”

Maas will soon become the game’s first billionaire.

Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis is said to be worth $2 billion but never played first grade.

Former rugby league stars Adam MacDougall, Sean Garlick and Lou Zivanovic have also forged highly successful and lucrative post-career businesses.

Maas says the leadership and team work he learned playing rugby league has played a pivotal role in his business success.

Wes Maas has made a fortune since retiring from rugby league.

“I learned so much in rugby league about leadership and playing in a team, how you need your team to win; doing all the one percenters and not letting your teammates down,” he said.

“It’s the exact same philosophy in business. We talk about our culture in business – commitment and care. And being highly professional.

“In my opinion, usually the most successful rugby league clubs are run by business people. The number one thing for me is our team and people. We do a huge amount on our culture. We have extremely high retention – I don’t lose any people.”

Maas started his company by buying a $14,000 bobcat before borrowing $25,000 for a tipper. He is a self-confessed workaholic who was once a greenskeeper at the old Parramatta Stadium and Stadium Australia.

“There has been plenty of hard work,” he said. “I never talk about money. It’s not normal to go to the pub and talk about it. That’s one of the reasons why I listed the company – to get more sounding boards. I grew up in Campbelltown and live in Dubbo – we’re not high flyers or anything like that.

“The business is in Dubbo so when you’re talking about large sums of money, it’s not a pleasant thing to talk about. It’s sort of frowned upon. Money is just an outcome of the operation, people and great culture. We talk about success rather than money.”

Told he was still a country knockabout, Maas said: “I hope I haven’t changed. I want people to call me out if I have been. We want to make sure we’re grounded. I don’t have to buy extravagant things. I live in Dubbo with four kids (and wife Emma). I run the water on Saturdays for my son’s footy teams. I also help out at my girls’ (Abbey, 12, and Zara, 10) league tag.”