NEVER SAY NEVER: Knights leave door open to signing Willie
BY BRETT KEEBLE
30 Jan, 2010 04:00 AM
THE Knights have not ruled out making a bid for controversial former NSW and Australian enforcer Willie Mason.
The prospect of the 29-year-old Macquarie Scorpions and Hunter Mariners junior returning to Newcastle to try to resurrect his NRL career is a long shot, as he is tipped to join former Bulldogs teammates Johnathan Thurston and Willie Tonga at North Queensland.
It is understood Knights management are investigating Mason's chequered past to determine whether it would be worth gambling on his reputation while they continue to deal with the Danny Wicks drugs scandal and the possibility other players are implicated.
Stacked against that is Mason's star power and ability to draw fans through the turnstiles, whether they like him or not, as he would become the most charismatic player in Knights colours since Andrew Johns retired.
"We're keeping an eye on developments regarding Willie, put it that way," a Knights source said. "In rugby league, you never say never. Stranger things have happened."
Knights chief executive Steve Burraston and coach Rick Stone said yesterday that the club had not held formal discussions with Mason or his manager, Greg Keenan.
But neither indicated the door was closed on Mason, who remains one of league's most colourful characters and in his prime was considered the NRL's most damaging running forward.
"No, we haven't said no, but we haven't even entered any negotiation," Burraston said. "Unless the coach tells me that he wants another player, and he wants someone like Mason that fits the bill, we probably wouldn't speak to him."
Mason has a year to run on his $400,000-a-season contract with the Roosters but is unwanted by the Bondi-based club now coached by former Knights mentor Brian Smith.
He has been shopped around to a host of NRL clubs, including Melbourne and Manly, but all have knocked him back.
The Roosters are obliged to pay the bulk of his salary this year, meaning his new NRL club could gain his services for as little as $50,000 to $80,000.
As Mason's options are whittled away, so is his price tag, which is keeping the Knights interested.
The departure of Wicks, who would have reportedly earned more than $200,000 this season, has given the Knights breathing space under the salary cap which could allow them to snap up Mason for the right price.
Stone said Mason would have to be approved by Burraston and the club's board before he even considered throwing the former Churchill Medallist a lifeline.
"I probably think it would be a board matter first," Stone said.
"I suppose, like every coach, you'd be interested in a good player getting added to your roster; particularly with us losing a decent player, we'd be interested for sure.
"But I think it would be up to Burro and the board to see whether they would see that would be an appropriate type of player to bring to the club."
Apart from his own junior roots on both sides of Lake Macquarie, at Toronto and Valentine, Mason still has family living in this area and his 18-year-old brother Rodney is a member of the Knights' National Youth Cup (under-20) squad this season.
He also has a strong connection with Knights strategic development manager Keith Onslow, who was instrumental in helping Mason join the Bulldogs when the Mariners folded in 1997.
[PI9016] Former Knights director John Duncan has been appointed to the club's board to fill the vacancy created by Mark Fitzgibbon's resignation last month.
[PI9016] An MRI scan has confirmed explosive Knights prop Richie Fa'aoso will be sidelined for six weeks with a grade-two tear of the medial ligament in his right knee.
