Former Canterbury Bulldogs legend, Willie Mason accepted an offer to become a fulltime member of the Bulldogs Coaching Staff as the new Pathways Transition Coach in January.
In the role, the former Hull KR and Catalans Dragons forward Mason works closely with players of all ages within the Pathways Program.
Mason, who played in 148 matches for the Bulldogs between 2000 and 2007, including being named Clive Churchill Medallist in the 2004 Premiership winning team, will look to help shape and develop Pathways players in regard to the skills and attitude required to become an NRL player.
Mason is working closely with General Manager of Pathways & Junior League, Barry Ward and NRL Head Coach, Trent Barrett.
However, according to Stuff, the club has been asked to respond to Mason’s links to a betting agency.
The Bulldogs say they have complied with a NRL request for more information about Willie Mason’s role at the club amid a probe into his relationship with Australia’s TAB betting agency.
A NRL spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: “The NRL is aware of the matter and is currently liaising with the Bulldogs.”
Hull KR fans won’t feel sorry for Mason however after his recent comments.
“I made the mistake when I first left North Queensland. I signed for fu**ing Hull (KR), which is the worst place in the f****** world. I do love the f****** Hull people, but I was like, mate, I didn’t sign up for this s***. Because I’d done the Kangaroos tours from 2000 to 2005, I thought Hull was in f****** Leeds. Leeds is f****** awesome,” he said on a podcast recently.
This is not the first time that Mason has spoken out about Super League.
Mason is incredibly outspoken and recently described his former Catalans Dragons coach Laurent Frayssinous as “a bit of a d*ck” as he spoke to St Helens legend James Graham on The Bye Round podcast.
“As soon as it wasn’t fun for me and it felt like a job, I retired,” Mason told Graham, “On that day, I was in the south of France, in Perpignan, I had a little bit of an injury, the coach was a bit of a d*ck and I just couldn’t cop his s**t. I went to Ibiza for the weekend, so I was thinking really clearly,” he joked, “and went ‘I’m done’.
“We won 17 or 18 games in a row and then summer hit and everything went pear-shaped. I had a bit of an injury and it didn’t feel like fun for me anymore, I was 36 and never went back to training. That was it, the end. A good way to go out.”
