After recently being farewelled by the North Queensland Cowboys at the end of the 2023 season, Ben Hampton has taken up a surprising new job.
The dual Grand Finalist - 2016 with the Storm and 2017 with the Cowboys - was released by the Cowboys in mid-September this year along with Mitchell Dunn, Brendan Elliot, Gehamat Shibasaki, Jake Bourke and Taniela Sadrugu.
However, instead of continuing his career overseas or in local footy competitions, Hampton has elected for a career change and will join the fire brigade soon, per Wide World of Sports.
A former Queensland Under-16s representative, Hampton had an illustrious junior career that included being chosen to represent the Under-18s Queensland team, awarded the captaincy for the Under-20s Queensland team and being selected as a fullback for the Junior Kangaroos.
Beginning his career with the Melbourne Storm, Hampton would make his NRL debut in the 2013 season in the Round 15 clash against the Gold Coast Titans.
He would spend four seasons at the club, appearing in 35 games before making the move up north to the North Queensland Cowboys.
The Cowboys' 2019 Club Person of the Year would play a variety of positions over the next seven seasons for the club but failed to really cement a position in the starting team and only registered 82 games - scoring 68 points (17 tries).