'Saved my life to be honest': Canberra Raiders stars' heroic golf-course rescue

But it slowly became clear it was much more serious than that. Gold Creek greenskeeper Nathan Bell was desperately crying for help.

Trapped under a tractor. Six broken ribs, a broken arm - in 12 places - broken leg, dislocated hip. Help.

"I was getting ready for my putt ... and I could hear someone yelling out at me and I thought someone was trying to put me off while I was taking my shot so I just ignored it," Rapana said.

"Then I heard it again and I was like, 'That doesn't sound like someone putting me off, that sounds like someone's in distress'.

"And I was looking around and I couldn't see a thing.

"Then I could see over in this ditch I could see wheels still spinning and I initially thought, because there's a road near where I was playing, it was a car that had crashed off the road and come into the golf course.

"I ran over and realised it was a big three-tonne, ride-on lawnmower that's flipped itself upside down. It was huge. And this guy's stuck underneath it."

But Rapana, Josh Papalii, Joey Leilua and Junior Paulo could only lift it enough to give Bell some relief.

Luckily, another group of four footballers just happened to be playing right behind them.

"We were able to lift it enough to give him some breathing space. We couldn't lift it off him because it was too big," Rapana said.

"Then [Leilua] went back and got the other four Islander boys that were behind us from the Brumbies and then there was eight of us and we had enough then to lift it off this guy and help him."

That was the last time they saw Bell. Just before Anzac Day. Two years ago. Back when Paulo and Leilua were still Raiders. He's been trying to thank his saviours ever since and reached out to The Canberra Times to do exactly that.

They say time heals all wounds, but Bell's still getting over his. Two years hasn't been enough.

Some of his planned surgeries have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Elective surgeries are only just starting to begin again now. If you call making your arm work again elective.

He was forced to move back to Batemans Bay so his family could take care of him. Now he's hopeful the healing process can resume again.

"I was suppose to have surgery this month, but because of the virus I've got to hold off for that," Bell said.

"I've got to get a rod put in my arm and a replacement knee and hip, which is really fun for a 36-year-old.

"The brakes snapped in the tractor and I was riding behind a heap of people on a path so I had the choice of either riding it into the people or riding it down a gully.

"So I rode it down the gully and it flipped and landed on me. I broke six ribs, broke my arm, broke my leg, dislocated my hip, multiple lacerations.

"I was stuck in there for about 20 minutes and then I heard a couple of fellas come running over ... saved my life to be honest.

"I've never got a chance to thank them."

From Bell's perspective, underneath the aforementioned tractor, it looked like Papalii lifted it off him on his own.

But both Rapana and the Queensland State of Origin hero say that's not the case. It was a team effort from about 800 kilograms of prime football beef.

Not hard to see why you'd think Papalii could do it on his own though. The way he bends opposition lines. Lifting machinery might just be his warm up.

"The tractor was just too big to move. We just lifted the tractor until he got out and then their staff member took over," Papalii said.

"We just made sure he was alright, but he was in a pretty bad shape to be honest.

"He's definitely a good guy, one of the greenkeepers on Gold Creek."

Bell's hopeful if he can get his surgeries then he can also get back to work.

"That'd be great. I'd be very keen to get [the surgeries] done so I can start moving again," he said.

"I'd have to go through some type of rehab, but I'm dying to get back to work. I just want to get out there.

"Everyone else is suffering from the virus, but this is Friday for me. This is what I'm like every day."