Tiger Stripes
Well-known member
I can understand they wanted to see how Brooks went as fullback in Flegg before any contract offers; BUT to play Ron Massey with a team of strangers is----just to get run metres into his legs? Not form.
OFFICIAL Heath Mason #288 [Signs with Perth Bears]
- Thread starter king_sirro
- Start date
I have extreme doubt that a few of our high profile regular NRL players would even stand out at NSW Cup level.
NSW Cup is a place where you find unknown players can emerge and players not performing up to standard at NRL level should be going back to work on and fix their problem areas.
Credit needs to be given when credit is due and Heath Mason has gone back to work on his game and has noticeably improved his reliability under the high ball, noticeable improved his ball playing, link play and regained confidence in his biggest strength which is his running game.
Absolutely no guarantee that can be transferred to NRL level, but what’s the alternative keep selecting players that do not even stand out at NSW Cup level?
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Tom Shines
Well-known member
The problem is with someone like Mason - he has already had numerous opportunities at the NRL and has not looked the part ..do you not agree that they need to totally reshape this squad or we will be in for more of the same next season …? How many more times do we need to see him get further NRL opportunities?
The deficiencies in his game are athletic based…he is small, hasn’t sufficient speed , his defence is poor and he is not a great ball player …these are things that don’t really come good at age 21 …
I agree the high ball catching problem is something that can be improved …but prospectoive fullbacks even at the NSW Cup level should not really have this negative attribute to begin with IMO..
Are there other players in this squad in a smiliar position? Yes..but this is the Heath Mason thread so I’m concentrating on him at the moment ..
I agree he (Mason) doesn’t have any elite characteristics to become a genuine NRL quality fullback.
For this reason it is strange that we have not tried developing him as a 9/13 particularly when he showed some promise in a short stint playing 13 in our trial game this season.
Jack Attard has the attributes and to become an elite NRL fullback, but he like most young players has areas of his game he needs to work on.
I suppose you could say by not moving Mason to 9/13 and by mysteriously moving Attard to 6 for a handful of games on Jersey Flegg is not ideal from a development point of view. Maybe a theory by playing Attard at 6 was to try and toughen him up and improve his defence?
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Pringle Gold
Well-known member
That’s it. Liability in defence no matter what position he plays and doesn’t do much of anything in attacks
clontarfkid
Well-known member
If they show a shred of loyalty(usually because they cant a gig elswhere) the current management renews these guys regardless..we nned change
Mason has had numerous opportunities and hasnt shown a shred of potential...how long do u persevere for??Cnay tackle..cant take a high ball...and is not a playmaker.
Hes a real easy one
We let TDS and Onitini Large..and many more with much more potential than Mason..
May be a good kid ,but need to move on
Mason has had numerous opportunities and hasnt shown a shred of potential...how long do u persevere for??Cnay tackle..cant take a high ball...and is not a playmaker.
Hes a real easy one
We let TDS and Onitini Large..and many more with much more potential than Mason..
May be a good kid ,but need to move on
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Tom Shines
Well-known member
Yes ..the time has come for Heath after next week….
To quote my son describing Mason’s performance “What is bro doing?”
He did only come on with 8mins to go and likely with instructions to tackle strongly and make a difference.
He gave away a couple of penalties for being too rough or too overzealous with his tackling and made an error when trying to get a quick pass to team mates invspace late in the game.
I’d much rather what he was trying to do than someone come with 8 minutes to go and just go through the motions.
He gave away a couple of penalties for being too rough or too overzealous with his tackling and made an error when trying to get a quick pass to team mates invspace late in the game.
I’d much rather what he was trying to do than someone come with 8 minutes to go and just go through the motions.
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He’d probably do okay over in the ESL. He should seriously think about that. He tries hard and he has his moments but he’s too high up our pecking order.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to get a deal with the Bears.
LO
Both options are crap
The point is not many players are going to make a positive difference with 8 minutes of game time in 2 weeks and plenty would be guilty of making errors trying too hard to impress because of it.
Both have lacked that quality Utility player all season.
We certainly have, but nobody has really been given enough time in this role to try and prove themselves.
Jayden Brailey - lock / hooker utility.
Always liked these type of player.
Elijah Taylor like, recent times Ray Stone, Max Plath, Kurt Donoghoe.
Not sure we have any other suitable type of utility next year other than that.
Maybe Alex Seyfarth, forward utility, bring able to play front row, second row and lock.
Love to unearth a backrow / centre like utility in the make of Leka Halisima. Perhaps Mitch Tautua could be the guy?
He didnt need to try to impress he just needed to play his role.
He was costly in a game that was on the line... hes been around long enough now should be more mature...has to be... but it seemed.to me.like he was frustrated before he even got on
upthetigers
Well-known member
I'm not pro Mason or against him, but it wasn't long ago Seyfarth was the whipping boy on the forum. I am willing to give Mason more time he is all effort like baby Giraffe.
NSW cup contract
The question is who are we including in our top 30 as our back up or NSW Cup number 13?
I believe we have the promising Blake Van Drie and Siotame Havea Jr both on Development Contracts which is ideal as they both appear to need another 12 months to add a bit of size and further develop their game before being genuine NRL contenders.
That being the case do we keep Charlie Murray for another 12 months until our younger options are much more ready?
The concern with this option is that Murray has been one of our more consistent and reliable NSW Cup performers for the best part of 2 years, yet Benji does not seem to want to give him any NRL opportunities, so what would change over the next 12 months?
I would slightly prefer the smaller, but more aggressive Luke Jack as our back up 13, but he’s gone MIA in recent weeks, so I have a feeling we might have already cut him loose?
I mentioned in another post that I believe Ethan Roberts could transition into an exceptionally good 13, so is that an option and we possibly upgrade/promote or sign another back up/depth edge back rower?
I am dreading Kit Laulilli departing for Perth Bears and proving his value as a starting or top 17 number 13.
If our Jersey Flegg team goes deep into the finals, would there be any chance we could convince him to somehow backflip on the Perth deal and stay with us?
Or do we give Heath Mason a red hot crack at transitioning to a faster attack minded 13?
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