Confirmed: Knights sign Mason for 2012 season

Novocastrian90 said:
Well thats just a cop out and a petty excuse.
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---------- Post added at 12:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 PM ----------

For the other players? Would be if they kept misbehaving. But they weren't completely innocent I agree. I'm just not looking forward to the bad headlines that come.
Totally agree with your you cant have it both ways post though, and I didn't really want Laurie for that matter either. Wouldn't have cared if he was playing in the Newcastle Comp, but the NSW Cup is a different story.

Yet Mason hasn't done anything to tarnish the Knights name. Its interesting how when it comes to other players who have bad or checkered pasts, especially woman bashers, people on here are all it's ok Bennett will get him straight, but somehow Mason, who is nothing more then opinionated is somehow unable to be "saved" by Bennett.

You lot cant have it both ways.

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 PM ----------

mozza said:
So Mason is responsible for every NRL player getting into strife, also didn't he leave the Roosters before Carney arrived?
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Definately not, just the clubs he has been at and the players he was affiliated with (again, it's things I heard, and it doesn't surprise me). Not Mason with Carney, but Mason with Watts when they were both at the Cowboys. Watts seemed to have bought his bad boy attitude to the Roosters from the Cowboys, and I'm pretty sure Watts never got into trouble before he became mates with Mason.

This will all be irrelevant in whether the Knights/Bennett will consider him anyway.

---------- Post added at 12:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------
Josh Hill said:
Most of us hated Tahu a year ago & were sickened by the idea of him coming here, but now we all love Tahu. I'm sure Mason will be the same with us in 6 months time.
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Easy there, not everyone ;)
 
Novocastrian90 said:
Well thats just a cop out and a petty excuse.

---------- Post added at 12:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 PM ----------



Yet Mason hasn't done anything to tarnish the Knights name. Its interesting how when it comes to other players who have bad or checkered pasts, especially woman bashers, people on here are all it's ok Bennett will get him straight, but somehow Mason, who is nothing more then opinionated is somehow unable to be "saved" by Bennett.

You lot cant have it both ways.

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 PM ----------



Many a people were saying the same of Buderus as well.
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You don't seem to understand that people are allowed to and will have different opinions on different people with different circumstances.

As for Buderus and Tahu, I was in favour of both returning. Very different circumstances - Buderus had been playing ESL and doing well. Tahu was doing well for Penrith last year until injury. Mason has barely played for one and a half years, and imo wasn't too impressive when he was.

We've been down this route before though, iirc people get mad with my opinion that he wasn't that great for North Queensland ... well that's it, I ain't changing my mind!
 
I don't particularly rate Mason anymore and thought he was nothing more than solid for the Cowboys, but the Knights are desperate for another prop. We have the smallest forward pack in the comp and our prop rotation simply isn't good enough, bar Snowden who is carrying them. I'm not sure if Mason is the answer, but he will give our forward pack some much needed size.
 
jamesgould said:
You don't seem to understand that people are allowed to and will have different opinions on different people with different circumstances.
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And you wonder why people constantly crap on about things you say.

I'm more then perfectly aware of peoples differing opinions. It doesn't mean i can't counter their validity or reasoning for those opinions, given it's my opinion.

jamesgould said:
As for Buderus and Tahu, I was in favour of both returning. Very different circumstances - Buderus had been playing ESL and doing well. Tahu was doing well for Penrith last year until injury. Mason has barely played for one and a half years, and imo wasn't too impressive when he was.
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Wasn't directed at you, just the general majority of society.

jamesgould said:
We've been down this route before though, iirc people get mad with my opinion that he wasn't that great for North Queensland ... well that's it, I ain't changing my mind!
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I think mad is a bit harsh, you were wrong, but i wouldn't say people were mad. :)
 
Would be a good signing, & don't forget he has his brothers at the club to be role models too & his mum still lives local & has said previously she will kick his *** if he plays up
 
Aidos said:
I don't particularly rate Mason anymore and thought he was nothing more than solid for the Cowboys, but the Knights are desperate for another prop.
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If we are desperate. I'd rather we save the money and go after someone more worth it who will be around. Happy (if true) that we went after Kasiano and JWH, both are beasts. There are probably other players worth investing in, looking for a chance *shrug*
We were A LOT more desperate in 2009 when we lost both our starting props in the opening 7 rounds and Brian toughed it out and worked around it. There are other options in this case too.

---------- Post added at 12:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 PM ----------
knights80 said:
Would be a good signing, & don't forget he has his brothers at the club to be role models too & his mum still lives local & has said previously she will kick his *** if he plays up
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Same thing happened when he was deciding between Newcastle and North Queensland. Went to the place where he thought he had a better chance of winning a comp. Family didn't mean much to him then.
 
Rodney Mason to keep Willie Mason in check at Newcastle Knights
838917-willie-mason.jpg

Hard yards: Willie Mason trains at Centennial Park in Sydney to keep his fitness levels up while looking for an NRL club.

FAMILY and familiar surroundings in Newcastle will keep troubled Willie Mason in check, former Knights five-eighth Matthew Johns said today.

As revealed exclusively by The Daily Telegraph today, the Knights will own Mason's rights for $40,000 pending a physical, heralding the distressed forward's return to the NRL after he left in 2010 to play rugby league in England and then rugby union in France.

If Mason passes the physical, he will join younger brother Rodney Mason, who plays for Newcastle's Under-20 side. Johns said the relationship will keep Mason from acting out.

"Willie's like a father to Rodney," Johns declared on Triple M.

"So if Willie goes up to Newcastle and starts playing up and stuffs up, that's going to reflect on Rodney."

In addition to reuniting Mason with his younger brother, the move will signal Mason's return to Newcastle, where the Toronto product played junior rugby league.

"Willie Mason's a Newcastle boy," Johns said.

"He gets to go home, reunited with his family.

"I think its a good move, I really think it's a good move for Willie Mason."

Former Test star Mark Geyer said playing at home will yield different results from Mason's past NRL stints at Canterbury, Sydney Roosters and North Queensland.

"He's never played in his local town, that's something very special to do,'' Geyer said on Triple M.

"He's back home in familiar setting. The Bulldogs, Roosters and Cowboys didn't provide that and it's his last chance to learn."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ewcastle-knights/story-e6frexnr-1226329842195​
 
Novocastrian90 said:
And you wonder why people constantly crap on about things you say.

I'm more then perfectly aware of peoples differing opinions. It doesn't mean i can't counter their validity or reasoning for those opinions, given it's my opinion.
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Cool, so people can have it both ways. Laurie is a totally different kettle of fish to Mason.

I don't see what you're on about with the first bit.
 
Are we crazy we need a big prop!!!!

Here it is. THE Newcastle Knights have distanced themselves from reports linking them to controversial former NSW and Australian forward Willie Mason.
A Sydney newspaper reported today that the 32-year-old journeyman, who hails from Toronto and played his junior league with Macquarie Scorpions and the now defunct Hunter Mariners, was poised to sign a contract with the Knights worth $40,000 plus match payments, pending the outcome of a medical assessment today.
According to the report, Knights coach Wayne Bennett wanted to sign Mason, who he has coached in Australian teams, to bolster Newcastle’s pack for the rest of the NRL season after just three wins from their first seven games.
A Knights source said there was no offer on the table for the premiership-winning former Bulldogs, Roosters and Cowboys enforcer, and that he would not be undergoing any medical and fitness test authorised by the club today.
The Newcastle Herald has been told Mason’s agent, Sam Ayoub, contacted the Knights on Sunday asking about the possibility of the 2004 Churchill Medallist joining his home-town club.
Mason has been considering his career options since parting company with Toulon last December after an eight-month stint with the French rugby union club.
Ayoub was told that the Knights would give him an answer today, and they had planned to spend the past 48 hours conducting their own inquiries about Mason and whether he would be accepted at the club by supporters and sponsors.
Wests Tigers went through a similar process last month after they were on the verge of signing Mason, but the deal fell through after negative feedback from their key stakeholders.
Knights chief executive Matt Gidley, a former NSW and Australian teammate of Mason’s, said there had been ‘‘nothing agreed at all’’ and the club was ‘‘still not sure what direction to take’’ regarding a player who has polarised the rugby league community for much of his career.
Mason was close to signing with the Knights in March 2010, as a replacement for convicted drug dealer Danny Wicks, but he instead chose the Cowboys in the belief that he had more chance of winning a premiership in Townsville than in Newcastle and to play alongside former Bulldogs teammates Johnathan Thurston, Willie Tonga and Ben Harris.
The Cowboys finished second-last that year – Melbourne ran last after being stripped of all their premiership points for deliberately breaching the salary cap – and the Knights finished 11th.​
 
My final say. If he signs and turns out to be a great buy I'll cheer him on. If he signs, ****es in the Civic Park Fountain and can't play I'll bag him.
 
We are in need big forwards. Edwards, Tui and Cubtho aren't getting the job done. It's hard to say no to him when he will only cost 40K...
 
Deal will have to be approved by Ian Schubert first, if anything gets agreed on. Schubert might be a **** about it & say 40k is not enough for a player that will probably be in first-grade.
 
If the Knights are waiting to see what the reaction from fans are, I'd say 90% is positive which is a surprise. Even from non-Knights fans, majority seem to support the idea and think we're the best club for him. Compared to the Tigers, I dont think 1 person wanted him there lol
 
Josh Hill said:
Deal will have to be approved by Ian Schubert first, if anything gets agreed on. Schubert might be a **** about it & say 40k is not enough for a player that will probably be in first-grade.
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I remember Ross was allowed to sign with the Souths for 48k plus match payments, maybe a very different situation.
 
All this angst about Mason is all very well but the club has a BIG front rower playing in the local comp for Macquarie........... I am referring to Daine Laurie of course. He played the part of a meat covered bulldozer on the weekend and is not short of first grade experience.............. I'm perplexed as to why the club would attempt to sign a player who hasn't played any football for many months and was a short run player even when he played in the NRL.

At the moment I think that this signing is not warranted but at the same I will never believe that I know better than Bennett when it comes to signing players and coaching a team.
 
corunetes said:
At the moment I think that this signing is not warranted but at the same I will never believe that I know better than Bennett when it comes to signing players and coaching a team.
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Feels weird though, I don't remember him ever signing these kind of scrub players with the Broncos or Dragons. Mainly just scouted kids from the area others didn't have much hope in.
 
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