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Rugby says no to desperate Willie Mason
Friday, 9 November 2007
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4267441a10295.html
Thats one rude head
Troubled league star Willie Mason sounded out the Australian Rugby Union about a switch of codes but was told there was no interest in his skills for the 15-man game.
Mason has left his beloved Bulldogs NRL club after falling out with chief executive Malcolm Noad.
Now his manager Greg Keenan is shopping around for Mason's future and that included a phone call to Aussie rugby headquarters in Sydney.
"There was an enquiry last week," the ARU's high performance manager Pat Howard confirmed to AAP.
"He [Keenan] asked us and we said we were not interested. I'm not sure whether he [Mason] would suit rugby and our focus is on tight five development at the moment."
The Wallabies are keen to bolster their scrum and Mason's fit in rugby would be more appropriate to the back row.
Mason, who has entertained thoughts of switching codes in the past, certainly wouldn't have endeared himself to the rugby bosses with his previous comments about the game, labelling rugby as "boring" at one stage.
Australia have openly courted league stars over the past few years and still have Lote Tuqiri on their books. But Mat Rogers' and Wendell Sailor's rugby stints were relatively short-lived with mixed success.
So Mason, who has had his share of troubles off the field, will have to stick with league and now there appears to be a tug o' war going on for his services among Sydney league clubs the Roosters, Cronulla Sharks and St George Illawarra.