NRL
Where's Willie
By PAUL KENT and JAMES HOOPER
March 15, 2005
CONTROVERSIAL star Willie Mason is in more trouble with the Bulldogs after rapping at the Horden Pavilion to American hip-hop star Xzibit instead of attending Friday's season opener against St George Illawarra.
The Bulldogs will not fine Mason, believing it would be unfair because it is not a written club rule for injured players to attend home games.
Club officials remain disappointed with his actions, however, as they try to comprehend his non-appearance.
The absence comes as Mason revealed to The Daily Telegraph that he is no longer on his drug treatment for ADHD, the symptoms of which were attributed to his behavioural problems last season.
Bulldogs players will be told this morning in two separate meetings that it is now compulsory that injured players attend all home games.
"It will be made very clear at the players committee meeting and we will be addressing it with the players [afterward] as well," CEO Malcolm Noad said.
Mason claimed through his manager that he had permission from Bulldogs football manager Brad Clyde to attend the concert.
However, the club denies this, saying that Clyde was, in fact, looking for Mason on Friday for unrelated matters.
Mason has escaped a fine because the club's players manual, which they are told is their "bible", does not state that injured players must attend home games.
"There was previously an unwritten expectation that injured players go to the Sydney games," Noad said.
Mason's timing is particularly peculiar.
He is currently negotiating a new contract and the Bulldogs have already made it clear that the club is struggling to fit himself, Braith Anasta and wonderkid Sonny Bill Williams all under the cap.
He was also critical of Noad last week, questioning Noad's loyalty to the club, even as Noad is the chief negotiator for his new contract.
Mason is also recovering from a foot injury that will not see him return until July.
Mason's disregard for the club's opener amid the contract negotiations has raised suspicions within the club that a deal might have already been done at a rival club.
Defending his absence Mason said coach Steve Folkes had offered him a week's break from training to freshen up.
Mason declined to take the offer, attending all sessions until he missed the season opener against the Dragons to rap at the Xzibit concert.
His absence comes after he revealed that he was no longer on the drugs he took to control his ADHD, diagnosed last year.
"I only took them for three weeks last year," he said. "It did nothing so I chucked them in the bin."
Shortly after being diagnosed last year Bulldogs doctor Hugh Hazard said symptoms of Mason's condition included hyperactivity, boredom, high-risk taking, impulsive behaviour and irritability.
Mason confirmed the drugs did quieten him but said he was worried they would affect his football.
"I was worried it was going to make me, I don't know, have slow reactions," he said.
"I was worried about that and they said no, this stuff is proven and I said it's a lot of rubbish and I tried it for three weeks, properly, and threw them in the bin."
The drugs downed his mood too much, he said.
"I just wasn't there," he said.
"My missus noticed it, she said 'you're not the same'.
"I was a bit more quiet, I was probably normal," he joked.
Mason was not the only Bulldogs player to miss the game, with injured stars Reni Maitua (ankle) and Ben Harris (eye surgery) receiving permission not to attend.
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1264&storyid=2809901
