We want Willie: Senior Knights eager to recruit Mason
BY BRETT KEEBLE
02 Feb, 2010 04:00 AM
KNIGHTS captain Kurt Gidley and senior players have given Willie Mason an overwhelming vote of confidence, effectively rolling out the welcome mat for the homeless Sydney Roosters forward to join Newcastle's NRL roster this season.
Mason is scheduled to meet in Sydney today with North Queensland coach Neil Henry and the Knights will formally discuss their interest at a football committee meeting tomorrow.
Whatever the Cowboys decide, it is understood influential figures at the Knights have been in contact with Mason and player agent Sam Ayoub to let them know Newcastle are keen to discuss the idea of him playing for the club this year, and to hold off from agreeing to anything with the Cowboys until he has had the chance to speak with the Knights.
The Herald has been told the Roosters have already paid him about $100,000, a quarter of his reported $400,000-a-year salary, as he has been on their books for the past three months. The Knights or Cowboys could be required to outlay between $50,000 and $80,000 for his services, and the Roosters would be obliged to pick up most of the shortfall.
Gidley and seasoned second-rower Steve Simpson have played alongside Mason in NSW and Australian teams, and prop Ben Cross and playmaker Jarrod Mullen have been NSW teammates of the former international.
The Newcastle and NSW skipper said it was up to Knights chief executive Steve Burraston and the club's board to determine whether it was worth pursuing Mason but believed it would make sense for the former Toronto and Valentine junior to return to his home town.
"The times I've played with him in Origin and those games, he's been great. He's been a real leader," said Gidley, who played Origin with Mason in 2007 and 2008 and for Australia in the Centenary Test.
"He came off a knee reco last year, which is always tough for any player, but he's a big man, he's quick, he's agile, and they're the sort of blokes you'd like in your team."
Gidley believed Mason was largely misunderstood because of his outspoken nature and tendency to attract publicity for his off-field activities, but he was sure the giant game-breaker would be welcomed by Knights players and supporters if given a chance.
"I think he'd enjoy coming home and probably getting out of the rat race that he's been in in Sydney," he said.
"He's copped plenty of hard times down there the last few years probably some of them brought on himself but others, he hasn't asked for, so I think it would be good for him to maybe come up here and have a fresh start and hopefully kick-start his career again.
"I talk to him throughout the year . . . and I know he's disappointed about what's gone on the last few months, because he just wants to be part of a team and preparing to play footy, so I think he'd like to finalise this and try to get back on the park and training with a team.
"It's all perception. He's a big man, so he stands out for a start, and he says what he thinks, and that's probably something that's gone against him at times."
Cross, who played Origin with Mason in 2008, agreed a return to Newcastle to be closer to his family would provide a more settled atmosphere on and off the field.
"He comes back here, his brother [Rod] is in our 20s, his Mum's out at Toronto, he's a local boy, so I think it would be good for him to come back and play here," Cross said.
"I reckon if you can pick up Willie Mason for anywhere between $50,000 and $80,000 and some other club pays for him, it would be unbelievable to have him.
"As a team player, he's a good teammate to have in your side, he plays for the team and he's just a good bloke to be around, too.
"He's a character and he'll draw more people through the gates and he's got plenty of good footy left ahead of him.
"Coming back from a knee reconstruction, that takes 18 months for some big blokes, so I think he's got a lot to prove and he'll go really well."
Mullen and Simpson said a motivated Mason would be an asset but it was up to management to decide if he was worth the risk.
"It would be nice to have him. Obviously he's a class player but at this stage it's all up in the air and we're not sure, no one in the NRL's sure, where he's going to go," Mullen said.
Simpson said: "It's out of my hands if he's here or not, but I think he'd definitely add something to the team, the way he plays.
"I've always found him pretty genuine and he's been good to me. The club has to go through the processes but if it works out that he comes here, it would be great to have him."
Gidley said Mason's "professional" attitude towards training and playing was something only teammates and those close to him were aware of.
"Away from footy, he's a good bloke to hang around because he's fun and is always having a laugh," the NRL All Star utility said.
"But certainly he's got a different side to him, probably that most people don't see, which is when he's at training or when he's preparing for a game.
"He's certainly professional when it comes to the footy side of it. It definitely comes down to a club decision but certainly, from a player's point of view, I'd rather have him on my team than be playing against him, that's for sure."
