Ben Elias (Arabic: بن الياس; born 15 November 1963 in Tripoli, Lebanon) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played primarily as a hooker for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. He was one of the leading hookers from the mid-1980s until his retirement at the end of the 1994 season. Along with Wayne Pearce, Paul Sironen and Steve Roach, Elias and his Balmain teammates formed one of the best forward packs in the modern era during the late 1980s.

Since his retirement as a player, Elias has pursued media and business interests. He is the uncle of former Wests Tigers and now Parramatta Eels half back Mitchell Moses.

Elias was born in 1963 in Lebanon to Barbara Elias. The family moved to Australia at a young age.

Elias was a fan of rugby league from very young days and played his first rugby for Holy Cross College Ryde in the late 1970s as a halfback, representing Australia in the Schoolboys team from 1979 to 1981. ^{[citation needed]} He was graded by Balmain in 1981, and transferred quickly to the hooking position where he remained for the rest of his career. When he first played first grade in 1982 his potential as a teenager was immediately noticed, and he developed so well that by 1984 he was widely tipped for major representative honours.

While attending Holy Cross College, Ryde, Elias played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1979 and 1981.

These came Elias' way in 1985 when he played in New South Wales' first team to win a State of Origin series, and was selected for the New Zealand tour that year. Elias was subsequently selected for the following year's Kangaroo Tour, which was undefeated through England and France, however Elias was unable to displace Royce Simmons as the Test hooker.

Elias was instrumental in Balmain's advancement to the NSWRL Grand Final against the Canterbury Bulldogs in 1988, despite experiencing a painful rib cartilage injury during the lead-up to the finals series. Though they lost 12–24 to Canterbury, Elias won the Rugby League Week Player of the Year award (one of only two hookers to achieve this feat). He was selected for the 1988 World Cup, and only a broken thumb kept him out of representative honours in 1989. He was back at his best in Balmain's surge to the Grand Final that year, narrowly missing a vital field-goal attempt in the second half of the overtime defeat by the Canberra Raiders, a game in which Steve Walters began to assert his dominance as one of leading hookers in the game at that time.

Elias made 19 appearances for the New South Wales State of Origin team between 1985 and 1994 and was named man-of-the-match on 3 occasions ( Game I 1990, Game I 1992 and Game III 1994). Elias played State of Origin with incredible passion and is remembered for his fiery clashes with Queensland hookers Kerrod and Steve Walters. He was honoured later in his career when he captained the Blues in six games in 1990–1991. An enduring image of State of Origin remains from 1992 when with blood streaming down his face he helped NSW to a 14–6 win in Sydney. The nickname given to him by Roy and HG for Roy and HG's State of Origin commentary was "Backdoor Benny" and "The Crimea Look".