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  • Willie Interview

    That germ Rothfield has interviewed Willie and it will be in tomorrows TelUcrap.Very interested to see what is said!

  • #2
    The Tellyoucrap has recently changed its angle to "how Willie has been made a scapegoat".
    Possibly this interview will be about how he has learned his lessions and is now a reformed character looking for a final chance
    All bullshit and jellybeans to me
    Written and published on behalf of the Liberal Party, Queensland

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by The Axe View Post
      The Tellyoucrap has recently changed its angle to "how Willie has been made a scapegoat".
      Possibly this interview will be about how he has learned his lessions and is now a reformed character looking for a final chance
      All bullshit and jellybeans to me
      like i said a couple of weeks back,

      the tellucrap has changed tack, they have gone from :

      Bad Boy Rooster Willie Pisses on wall

      to

      Bad Roosters piss on our boy Willie.

      Delecto Oriens est odio Meridianus
      To love Easts is to hate Souffs

      Originally posted by Bill Shankley, Liverpool FC
      At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.
      Originally posted by Andy Raymond Commentating Souffs V Manly 18/04/09
      The fireworks at the Easter show are making more noise than the crowd tonight

      Comment


      • #4
        Where does Rothchild get that Easts will pay $320 000 for Mason to play against us..???

        I am sure this is not the case at all...

        Mason now has a simple choice - the money or his career..He can not have both in 2010..

        Comment


        • #5
          I'd best stock up on the violin music and tissues I suppose - NOT.

          Be prepared for yet another inaccurate sob story about how 'misunderstood' this asshole is and how he's good for ruby league because it needs 'characters'.

          Yawn.


          NC
          Supporting the RW&B, through good times and bad times.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Pass the Ball View Post
            Where does Rothchild get that Easts will pay $320 000 for Mason to play against us..???

            I am sure this is not the case at all...

            Mason now has a simple choice - the money or his career..He can not have both in 2010..
            Your right PTB.He is an idiot if he thinks the Cowgirls are gonna pick him up for $80,000.I dont know where he gets his info from.....oh thats right, he just makes the shit up as he goes!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Greedy666 View Post
              Your right PTB.He is an idiot if he thinks the Cowgirls are gonna pick him up for $80,000.I dont know where he gets his info from.....oh thats right, he just makes the shit up as he goes!
              Well it is in the Tell U Crap.......

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by The Axe View Post
                The Tellyoucrap has recently changed its angle to "how Willie has been made a scapegoat".
                Possibly this interview will be about how he has learned his lessions and is now a reformed character looking for a final chance
                All bullshit and jellybeans to me
                You were spot on with the headline Axe:

                Is big Willie Mason an NRL scapegoat By Phil Rothfield From: The Daily Telegraph January 28, 2010 12:00AM 29 commentsIncrease Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share
                Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these? Unwanted ... Willie Mason. Source: The Daily Telegraph
                WHY is Willie Mason on the nose to such an extent that his career is on the scrapheap at the age of 29?
                Premier coach Craig Bellamy wanted him at Melbourne but the Storm board didn't.

                Ricky Stuart wanted him at the Sharks but his management didn't.

                Des Hasler wanted him at Manly but senior officials didn't.

                League Immortal and Australia's chairman of selectors Bob Fulton wanted him at the Sea Eagles, too.

                There you have four of the sharpest brains in the business agreeing and being in no doubt that Willie Mason still has a lot to offer as a football player.

                A barnstorming forward who has played 24 internationals and worn the Blues State of Origin jersey on 13 occasions. A man once tipped by Phil Gould to be a future State of Origin captain because he was such a good leader.

                Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
                Vote: Has Willie been made a scapegoat?
                Yes No Vote now
                Related CoverageGallery: Willie Mason - the big picture
                .End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
                And a player who now comes at a price you'd normally pay a first-grade rookie - about $80,000 because the Roosters are legally obligated to pick up the rest of his $400,000-a-season contract.

                So what has Mason done to become such a turn-off in boardrooms and marketing departments across NRL clubs?

                When Bellamy desperately wanted to sign him at Melbourne, then-CEO Brian Waldron was told by a News Limited executive: "You can pay for him out of your own pocket."

                Other clubs are the same, too, concerned about a potential marketing and sponsorship backlash if they sign the former premiership-winning forward and Clive Churchill Medal winner.

                Does his notoriety exceed reality? Has the game changed that much that only squeaky clean players will be signed up in future? And are coaches no longer running football clubs or even being allowed to determine their own rosters?

                Willie Mason's file is not all that pretty. He was at the Bulldogs during the Coffs Harbour scandal but it's been established he had no involvement in any of the rape allegations.

                He once tested positive to cocaine in a Bulldogs in-house drug test but escaped punishment.

                We know he's urinated in the street and been drunk in public. We know he says what he thinks. We know he likes a drink. But are any of the above hanging offences?

                What is clear is that Mason has been left to shoulder most of the blame for the Roosters' year from hell in 2009 - the worst 12 months in club history with a dozen serious alcohol-related incidents thrown in with the wooden spoon.

                Mason was involved in one of the minor ones - he 'fessed up to drinking outside of club guidelines and got dropped to feeder club Newtown for one week.

                The decision to sack him from the Roosters had nothing to do with new coach Brian Smith. It was chairman Nick Politis and the rest of the board who decided he'd never wear the tricolours jersey again.

                For legal reasons they put him on extended leave - which he's still on - because there was no one reason to terminate his contract, at least not one that would stand up in a court of law.

                This is why he's still being paid $7500 a week by the Roosters to do nothing.

                So it wasn't Brad Fittler's fault that the team couldn't win matches or was a disorganised rabble for much of the year. And it wasn't CEO Steve Noyce's fault there was no discipline at the club. And don't dare blame Braith Anasta or Craig Fitzgibbon for the fact there was no leadership at the club.

                It was all Willie Mason, or so they'd have us believe. And he's now damaged goods to such an extent that only the Cowboys are still offering any hope of a start in this year's NRL.

                One of the coaches who wanted to sign Mason but was overruled by his board has accepted the decision but feels it's a lost opportunity.

                "The job of a football club is to get the two competition points each week and to get people through the turnstiles," he said.

                "Willie Mason ticks both boxes.

                "He would bring an extra couple of thousand fans to the game each week and he would help us win football games.

                "Sadly, that's not all that counts these days."

                You get the feeling that both NRL CEO David Gallop and his marketing boss Paul Kind would like to see him playing this year because of the colour and flamboyance he brings to rugby league.

                At the same time they can understand the situation with clubs, their sponsors and their fans.

                "There is no doubt Willie Mason has attracted a lot of publicity throughout his career and sometimes this has added positively to the game's appeal," Kind said.

                "The image of the game is paramount and everyone in rugby league needs to be careful that the outcomes of their decisions are positive for the game."

                Don't miss The Daily Telegraph tomorrow for Sports Editor at Large Phil Rothfield's exclusive interview with Willie Mason about his life as a rugby league pariah, his hopes, dreams, the accusations and his future
                Like i said, the tellucrap have changed their tune again, willie was the bad guy last season according to the tellucrap, now he is the scape goat?????

                they cannot even make up their mind !

                Delecto Oriens est odio Meridianus
                To love Easts is to hate Souffs

                Originally posted by Bill Shankley, Liverpool FC
                At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.
                Originally posted by Andy Raymond Commentating Souffs V Manly 18/04/09
                The fireworks at the Easter show are making more noise than the crowd tonight

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Pass the Ball View Post
                  Where does Rothchild get that Easts will pay $320 000 for Mason to play against us..???

                  I am sure this is not the case at all...

                  Mason now has a simple choice - the money or his career..He can not have both in 2010..
                  I am of the opinion that mason has a choice, take his 400k and sit out the season

                  PLay elsewhere and Easts wont stop him, at no stage did we sack him, we gave him options, if he takes up the option of leaving he forfiets his current contract.

                  The cowboys may well pay him 80k, but that is the risk willie takes, it is a good move for the cowboys also, I beleive Mase still has alot to offer as a playr and it will secure the signing of JT with mason there, mason has done alot for jt over the years

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    What a bunch of hypocrites the DT are.

                    Over the past few years, they've taken every possible chance to put sh*t on him over the some of the most petty, insignificant things.

                    Who can remember the big story last year of Terrible Willie ....having a cigarette in private on a boat.
                    Or big bad Willie ......... having a week off training up in Qld with (then suspended) Wendell Sailor, even though the Roosters had given him a weeks grace before starting with us.
                    There are countless others ....

                    For the past few years, they've taken every opportunity to take pot shots at him (sometimes justified, many times not).

                    Now it's poor villified Willie ?? ........ Gimme a break !

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by supermario View Post
                      You were spot on with the headline Axe:



                      Like i said, the tellucrap have changed their tune again, willie was the bad guy last season according to the tellucrap, now he is the scape goat?????

                      they cannot even make up their mind !
                      Rothfield is wrong, if we sack mason we are obliged to pay his contract, if he stays we are obliged to pay his contract, if he takes the oppotunity to ask for a release which will be forthcoming he wears the loss of income.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Don't miss The Daily Telegraph tomorrow for Sports Editor at Large Phil Rothfield's exclusive interview with Willie Mason about his life as a rugby league pariah, his hopes, dreams, the accusations and his future


                        pa⋅ri⋅ah  /pəˈraɪə/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [puh-rahy-uh] Show IPA

                        –noun 1. an outcast.
                        2. any person or animal that is generally despised or avoided.
                        3. (initial capital letter) a member of a low caste in southern India and Burma.

                        Probably describing Mason as a pariah is the only truth written by the Telucrap about Mason.
                        This will be an article where a bullshitter will be bullshitting a bullshit journo from a bullshit paper... must read article - cannot wait!
                        Written and published on behalf of the Liberal Party, Queensland

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          let's guess what his dreams are:
                          1. of playing Gridiron
                          2. of becomming a professional boxer
                          3. of playing rugby in Japan
                          4. of winning a premiership with the Roosters, Storm, Cowboys


                          Oh please!
                          Written and published on behalf of the Liberal Party, Queensland

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            At least we know the section about Willie's future will be brief
                            Written and published on behalf of the Liberal Party, Queensland

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by supermario View Post
                              like i said a couple of weeks back,

                              the tellucrap has changed tack, they have gone from :

                              Bad Boy Rooster Willie Pisses on wall

                              to

                              Bad Roosters piss on our boy Willie.
                              here it is...

                              IT'S 7.45am Thursday. You walk into the modest gym at Eastern Suburbs Legion Club in Charing Cross and it's impossible to miss the big bopper in the sweat-soaked NBA singlet as he works out with a personal trainer.

                              Next to him is a lady in her 60s doing light work on a rowing machine, young women on exercise bikes and about a dozen middle-aged men on the weights.

                              It's the last place you'd expect to find the highest profile player in rugby league. But Willie Mason has no choice.

                              He's on "extended leave" at the Roosters and despite the overwhelming support of the likes of Craig Bellamy, Des Hasler, Ricky Stuart and Bob Fulton, he's an NRL outcast.

                              This morning he's under the care of personal trainer Trent "Changa" Langlands in a gruelling 45-minute session before we sit down for coffee, orange juice and muesli at a nearby cafe. We discover a lot.

                              He's been off the booze since New Year's Day. He's got no regrets about his past. He wants to play Origin football this year. His heroes are Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva. He thinks his best footy lies ahead of him. He doesn't touch drugs and he's still furious about rumours that the Roosters threw a game last year in Craig Fitzgibbon's farewell.

                              Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
                              End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
                              I head back to the office to prepare this story when colleague Rebecca Wilson phones on the mobile.

                              "Why on earth are you supporting Willie Mason?" she asks. "He's not worth it. He doesn't deserve it. No-one wants him."

                              And that probably best sums up the mood and great divide among rugby league and sporting fans whenever the unwanted Rooster's name has been discussed in recent weeks.

                              One fan is telling a talkback radio jock he'll hand in his Manly season tickets and membership if the Eagles dare sign him. The next call is from a young supporter pleading "give 'im a go" and urging his Penrith Panthers team to sign him.

                              As for the public discord and speculation about his next club, Willie says he's oblivious to it.

                              And if he's worried about not being able to find a new club, he's doing a good job hiding it.

                              "I've made a conscious effort not to read the papers for about three weeks," he says.

                              "You can't help but hear about it because my mates text me about all the rumours and innuendo. Only I know the truth so I don't really care what they're saying about me in the papers or on the TV news.

                              "Yeah, I'm being treated like an outcast. I talk to my mum, Keeno [his manager Greg Keenan] and my mates and they know I've always had a couple of clubs interested.

                              "I don't think I've been left out in the lurch though ... it's just taking a while to get sorted. I thought I was over the line with Melbourne with the coach and the senior players saying, 'Yes, yes, yes ... sign him.' I was so confident about Melbourne I didn't talk to anyone else.

                              "Then Belly [Craig Bellamy] rang me personally and said he had some bad news and the deal was off. I was really disappointed. I had to start from scratch again. We'd told other clubs I wasn't interested because of Melbourne."

                              Whether Mason likes it or not, it's obvious he's now regarded as damaged goods. He can protest about it but the fact remains - nearly every coach and senior player want him, but marketing departments and CEOs don't.

                              "I understand clubs are really conscious of their image these days," he says. "If someone doesn't fit the norm, they're on the outer.

                              "But look at my career over 11 years. I've urinated twice in public and jumped a taxi. That's all. Compared to some people, I'm an angel. The fans can be very easily mislead when it comes to your image.

                              "A lot of people judge you without knowing what you're like because they've never met you. A lot of people have rubbished my name.

                              "Until you meet me and find out what sort of bloke I really am, you shouldn't be making judgments.

                              "I've just got to keep positive and listen to the people important to me. I'm not going to listen to the media because I'll go cuckoo if I do.

                              "People either love me or hate me. There's no in between. No one says, 'Oh, he might be a good bloke. It's love or hate. Full stop.

                              "Anyway, this popularity thing - I'm not running for president. I'm not out there trying to get votes or approval. I'm not out to please everyone, otherwise you'd spend

                              24 hours a day not being yourself.

                              "I'm the way I am."

                              Mason is still on the Roosters' payroll, earning almost $8000 a week. He spends his mornings and afternoons training. In between, you'll find him at the beach or going to lunch with his mates. He's still in almost daily contact with Braith Anasta, Nate Myles and other players at the Roosters.

                              "I got blamed in certain circles for a lot of the problems at the Roosters," he says. "But I'm still great mates with the boys.

                              Last year was a bad year and people always have to point the finger at someone. They weren't going to point it at anyone else. I can handle that. I can take responsibility if it's all my fault, but I'm not going to cop all the blame for everything that happened because we couldn't win games and a couple of the kids went off the rails.

                              "People have got to take responsibility for their own careers.

                              "When I came through the grades I didn't have any help. No one got accused of leading me astray.

                              "At the Dogs when I started the senior guys were Steve Price, Ricky Stuart and Brad Clyde.

                              "I got into a bit of strife but no one blamed them for influencing me - and rightly so.

                              "I don't go out and encourage young blokes to get behind the wheel when they've had too many.

                              "People have got to make their own decisions."

                              Despite knockbacks from half a dozen clubs since late last season, the former Origin and Test forward is convinced he'll play NRL this season - and even produce the best football of his career.

                              "I'm pretty pumped to play footy. I can tell you it will be sad for the clubs who miss out," he says.

                              "Whoever gets me is going to get me in the best state of mind. I'm real hungry. I know my best footy is ahead of me. Just wait and see. You look at blokes like Pricey and Petero. "They're an absolute inspiration for blokes like me. They're legends to be still doing what they do at the highest level. That's what makes me think I could play Origin again because I'm a lot younger than they are.

                              "I'm 100 per cent fit. I don't even consider last year as a football season.

                              "I was playing on one leg. Blokes like Joey Johns and Darren Lockyer can do that, but I can't. I just need to find the right club."

                              And that's been the difficult part.

                              No interview with Mason is complete without asking him about the rumours as to why so many clubs have spoken to him - but then baulked at the last moment.

                              I ask him straight - do you do drugs? "Puh ... lease. That's the sort of rumours and innuendo that gets spread," he says.

                              "It's easy for people to start rumours. I'm open to a drug test whenever anyone wants to do it."

                              And what about the rumours that the Roosters ran dead in the final premiership game against the Cowboys to get paybacks from a brothel owner?

                              "That's all a load of s. . t," he says.

                              His personal trainer Langlands, a renowned fitness guru with more than 30 clients including a number of NRL stars, has no doubts Mason is ready for football again.

                              "A month ago Willie and I made a pact to get him into good shape and get off the drink," Langlands says.

                              "He's doing really, really well. He's been smart with his training. He's not a 21-year-old. He's doing a lot of stuff that he couldn't do last year because of the knee operation.

                              "If his recent commitment counts for anything, he'll have a huge season in 2010."

                              His sprint trainer Roger Fabri is equally as excited: "I trained Willie at the Roosters for two years but this is the most mentally motivated I've ever seen him. He's come good since Christmas and lost about 5kg.

                              "I'm trying to get his running style a bit more explosive. You're going to see one serious athlete ready to rock by round one."

                              Hopefully, Mason says, he'll soon be wearing club colours again, rather than the NBA singlet we saw him in at the Charing Cross gym.

                              The big man is putting on a brave face but it's not hard to tell he's desperate for his manager to get the right deal ... whether it's at the Cowboys or anywhere else.

                              "It's been hard without the team environment for such a long time," he says.

                              "It's not lonely but I love the camaraderie around footy clubs and the fun you have together.

                              "You know ... Wendell Sailor made a great comeback and he was a bit like me. It's what I'd like to do.

                              "I've spoken to him about it over the last couple of months.

                              "He's good motivation and a real inspiration for me. He's 35, I'm 29. It can be done with the right attitude."




                              Was this a paid ad?
                              Written and published on behalf of the Liberal Party, Queensland

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