Willie Mason [Discussion]

[hybrid_tiger]

Whoever is responsible for signing Cashmere ahead of him should be ashamed.

We really missed out on what would have been a super signing. Hungry, fit, aggressive and would have added much needed strike power off the bench. He would have been perfect.

hindsight is a wonderful thing.
i remember a whole heap of folk on here suggesting they would hate him to be a tiger.

Thats right.

At the time he was a 32 year old basket case who had barely played in the last 18 months, couldn't hack it in union, and was basically toxic to any club he had played at over his entire career barring his 12 months at Cowboys.

His good form at Knights was not something you could bank on. They took a chance and it paid off.

His time at the Cowboys proved he never was a basket case, that was nothing more than media garbage.

Mason's only crime is that he is a bit of a drop kick, yet he seems to get endlessly crucified for it. The worst thing he's done in recent memory is take a leak in an alleyway after a night out.

He has always been a very good player and given the low cost to sign him, it was really a no brainier by the Knights.

 

[tigerbalm]

Is the "sponsors didn't want him" even true? Sounds like a easy cop out IMO. I was excited when it was sounding like he was gunna be a tiger. He has this agro that can't be taught plus this new enthusiasm he has looks contagious amounts the team and lifts them. Admittedly the knights are doing just as bad as us on the ladder but I have no doubt that mason has gone along way in helping turn their season around.
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[jirskyr]

This is a silly thread. We did make some sort of play for Mason and it didn't work out ultimately. Nobody on here really knows why that is, whether his asking price, length of contract or history or sponsors.

These same "idiots" didn't pass on Matt Utai, they dragged him from park footy and what value he has given.

Everyone knows recruitment is more art than science, you sometimes get gems out of rocks and vice versa. So for every Mason, Utai, Pat Richards there is a Justin Poore, Albert Kelly, Nick Graham.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

We did make some sort of play for Mason and it didn't work out ultimately. Nobody on here really knows why that is, whether his asking price, length of contract or history or sponsors.

From my understanding, both Sheens and the playing group wanted Mason. The deal was blocked by sponsors and/or some board members.

These same "idiots" didn't pass on Matt Utai, they dragged him from park footy and what value he has given.

Everyone knows recruitment is more art than science, you sometimes get gems out of rocks and vice versa. So for every Mason, Utai, Pat Richards there is a Justin Poore, Albert Kelly, Nick Graham.

I never mentioned anything about our recruitment, I am not blaming them at all for missing out on Mason, nor have I suggested they are responsible. I am blaming the sponsor/board members who stopped this deal from happening.

Mason was a very minimal risk signing for very minimal outlay in terms of $$$, would have given us a huge potential upside filling one of our weakest positions.

 

[LaT]

Whoever is responsible for signing Cashmere ahead of him should be ashamed.

We really missed out on what would have been a super signing. Hungry, fit, aggressive and would have added much needed strike power off the bench. He would have been perfect.

hindsight is a wonderful thing.
i remember a whole heap of folk on here suggesting they would hate him to be a tiger.

Thats right.

At the time he was a 32 year old basket case who had barely played in the last 18 months, couldn't hack it in union, and was basically toxic to any club he had played at over his entire career barring his 12 months at Cowboys.

His good form at Knights was not something you could bank on. They took a chance and it paid off.

His time at the Cowboys proved he never was a basket case, that was nothing more than media garbage.

Mason's only crime is that he is a bit of a drop kick, yet he seems to get endlessly crucified for it. The worst thing he's done in recent memory is take a leak in an alleyway after a night out.

He has always been a very good player and given the low cost to sign him, it was really a no brainier by the Knights.

12 months at Cowboys didn't reverse his history or record at Dogs or Roosters. It all still happened.

Like it was just said, hindsight is terrific. Good form and results on the field seems to change opinion retroactively. This is the same Mason that was forced to accept a bottom dollar 12 month deal with Cowboys, then leave the country because no club was willing to sign him, and its the same Mason that ran out of options in Europe.

 

[tiger_rocket]

hindsight is a wonderful thing.
i remember a whole heap of folk on here suggesting they would hate him to be a tiger.

Thats right.

At the time he was a 32 year old basket case who had barely played in the last 18 months, couldn't hack it in union, and was basically toxic to any club he had played at over his entire career barring his 12 months at Cowboys.

His good form at Knights was not something you could bank on. They took a chance and it paid off.

His time at the Cowboys proved he never was a basket case, that was nothing more than media garbage.

Mason's only crime is that he is a bit of a drop kick, yet he seems to get endlessly crucified for it. The worst thing he's done in recent memory is take a leak in an alleyway after a night out.

He has always been a very good player and given the low cost to sign him, it was really a no brainier by the Knights.

12 months at Cowboys didn't reverse his history or record at Dogs or Roosters. It all still happened.

Like it was just said, hindsight is terrific. Good form and results on the field seems to change opinion retroactively. This is the same Mason that was forced to accept a bottom dollar 12 month deal with Cowboys, then leave the country because no club was willing to sign him, and its the same Mason that ran out of options in Europe.

There was a smell of bookie trouble in his last game at the roosters with free services at a brothel. I am glad he never pulled on a tigers jersey.
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[cktiger]

There were plenty who wanted him (myself included) because we needed a **quality** frontrower with size and mongrel.
We still do.
As hybrid rightly said the coaching staff and players also wanted him but were (so it's told) overruled by a board that was scared he might do something to alienate some sponsors.
That would be the same sponsors getting more value for their dollar the further we go in the competition.
Turns out he is not leading players astray at Newcastle like some people thought but instead is being talked about as a leader and role model (who would have thought he may actually be thankful for his chance!)
He's on $40,000 at the Knights this year with an option.
Would have been same with us - a no brainer quashed by people with no brains.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

12 months at Cowboys didn't reverse his history or record at Dogs or Roosters. It all still happened.

What exactly happened?

His time at the Dogs was a long time ago. At the Roosters he was caught urinating in public twice. Can anyone here say they've never urinated in public at one stage after a big night? Hardly even worth mentioning.

Like it was just said, hindsight is terrific. Good form and results on the field seems to change opinion retroactively. This is the same Mason that was forced to accept a bottom dollar 12 month deal with Cowboys, then leave the country because no club was willing to sign him, and its the same Mason that ran out of options in Europe.

I never changed my opinion, I wanted us to sign him as soon as he was available. At that price, as ck said, it was a no brainer. Sadly the people who blocked this move don't have any brains.

 

[LaT]

12 months at Cowboys didn't reverse his history or record at Dogs or Roosters. It all still happened.

**What exactly happened?\
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His time at the Dogs was a long time ago. At the Roosters he was caught urinating in public twice. Can anyone here say they've never urinated in public at one stage after a big night? Hardly even worth mentioning.**

Like it was just said, hindsight is terrific. Good form and results on the field seems to change opinion retroactively. This is the same Mason that was forced to accept a bottom dollar 12 month deal with Cowboys, then leave the country because no club was willing to sign him, and its the same Mason that ran out of options in Europe.

I never changed my opinion, I wanted us to sign him as soon as he was available. At that price, as ck said, it was a no brainer. Sadly the people who blocked this move don't have any brains.

Who says I am talking about off field stuff though? If I was charged everytime I pissed in public while on the drink I'd be serving a life sentence haha!

We could talking about Mason not being a great influence on younger players, attitude wise. But really thats going to be hearsay. Mainly my issue was the fact he was not in good form and almost acted as an albatross around the neck of any forward pack he was a part of. And to be clear, I am talking about on field activities.

And who is to say we were negotiating with Mason for $40k a year? Thats what Knights signed him at after our deal was taken off the table, reports at the time stated Mason was keen to return home to Newcastle so if Knights and Tigers were offering $40k each why was Mason so burned by Tigers pulling out?

I guess its all just speculation in the end, but I highly doubt Mason was about to sign with us for $40k.

 

[milford_magic]

If it wasn't 40k it wasn't much more. Mason made it clear he was happy to sign for minimum NRL Contract. Even if it was 60k, thats nothing in NRL terms, thats 4 to 6 times less than what the likes of Heighno, Ellis and Fulton probably get. When you are signing someone at this price, there really is nothing to lose, and even cashmere has surved a good purpose for what we paid for him. But geez, to think we could of had Mason and knocked him back is ludicrous… He has been close to Newcastles best all year.

The crazy thing is, people go on about what "a risk" someone like Bennett took. RUBBISH...signing guys who are out of favour are the the most beneficial signings you can get as you pay someone half their price. Look at the likes of Bird, Carney even Maitua. All went to their clubs for a lot less than they are worth, all turned out to be good signings.

 

[Snake]

All of the above is relevant in most cases but when you have a board that blindly signs your coach to contract extensions with a 44 percent win ratio Mason was never coming here …. You need the Good the Bad and Ugly to win a premiership. I would of taken Mason in a heart beat all water under the bridge for mine.
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[innsaneink]

Anyone that cannot or more precisely - WILL NOT - see that Mason wouldve been a much much better pick up for us than Cashmere has their heads up their sleeves.

Wests Tigers screwed up again

 

[kh_canada]

Anyone that cannot or more precisely - WILL NOT - see that Mason wouldve been a much much better pick up for us than Cashmere has their heads up their sleeves.

Wests Tigers screwed up again

I think it's a 'had to be there' thing, as in he would have had to be at the Tigers to make any judgements. He has been great for Knights and could have been good for us but he could have also been a Blair.
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[LaT]

Are people saying Mason would be a bad pickup as of today 14th Aug?

Its more about people being able to look back a few months and seeing that Mason wasn't some 100% awesome pickup that every single club in the NRL was after.

Hindsight is 20/20….thats the point.

Yes Mason > Cashmere. Not a lot of argument there.

 

[jirskyr]

Anyone that cannot or more precisely - WILL NOT - see that Mason wouldve been a much much better pick up for us than Cashmere has their heads up their sleeves.

Wests Tigers screwed up again

And how much $$$ do you figure Cashy is on?

Mason was a risky unknown a few months back, mouthy, lazy, bad rep at several clubs. Cashy was well known to the entire staff, enthusiastic, hard trainer, no nonsense.

 

[jirskyr]

Everyone knows recruitment is more art than science, you sometimes get gems out of rocks and vice versa. So for every Mason, Utai, Pat Richards there is a Justin Poore, Albert Kelly, Nick Graham.

I never mentioned anything about our recruitment, I am not blaming them at all for missing out on Mason, nor have I suggested they are responsible. I am blaming the sponsor/board members who stopped this deal from happening.

Fair enough.

 

[westy81]

I can say that I was one person that did not want him at the tigers and I wasn't the only one, but I still would not like him at the tigers but u gotta remember its not our call and all the players and coach wanted him at the tigers but pulled out because the sponsors didnt want him, u have to listen to them in the end cause they are the people giving the club the money to stay afloat, u don't want the tigers to end up like the sharks bearly just making ends meet and be one of those clubs that might have to relocate if they don't want to get kicked out of the comp
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[Tigerdave]

There were plenty who wanted him (myself included) because we needed a **quality** frontrower with size and mongrel.
We still do.
As hybrid rightly said the coaching staff and players also wanted him but were (so it's told) overruled by a board that was scared he might do something to alienate some sponsors.
That would be the same sponsors getting more value for their dollar the further we go in the competition.
Turns out he is not leading players astray at Newcastle like some people thought but instead is being talked about as a leader and role model (who would have thought he may actually be thankful for his chance!)
He's on $40,000 at the Knights this year with an option.
Would have been same with us - a no brainer quashed by people with no brains.

This, it was a board decision and they stuffed up big time

 

[innsaneink]

Anyone that cannot or more precisely - WILL NOT - see that Mason wouldve been a much much better pick up for us than Cashmere has their heads up their sleeves.

Wests Tigers screwed up again

And how much $$$ do you figure Cashy is on?

Mason was a risky unknown a few months back, mouthy, lazy, bad rep at several clubs. Cashy was well known to the entire staff, enthusiastic, hard trainer, no nonsense.

Cashys on more than he's worth, you can safely bet on that.
Dont care what theyre on….but your description of mason is so way off it aint funny....I, back then wanted him here, based on his form at NQ, he found no trouble there, he finds no trouble anywhere, except in peoples imaginations

Cashy had 6 years between debut and his time in 05 for a reason, youre seeing it now.
Fitzy was a good trainer too apparently....but that gets you not far up the bloody ladder

Risky unknown - LOL- his form up north was very good.

 

[MacDougall]

So was Cashmere's tbh.