Keith Mason had the chance to play in both Super League and the NRL during his career.
He joined Melbourne Storm early in his career prior to joining St Helens and speaking to Serious About Rugby League, Mason explained why he feels the fact that the sport is mostly associated with the M62 corridor in the UK is one of the reasons the NRL is so appealing to players.
“Look if the money was similar to Australia, then by all means stay in England but not many people get the chance to go to Australia so you’ve got to go,” he said.
“It’s their number one sport, rugby league in England is just like the M62 corridor.
He went on to say he would encourage his son, Lukas who is currently at Wigan Warriors, to take on a move to the NRL:
“Lukas has the same agent as Will, Kevin Brown and me and Kevin are good friends. He believes Lukas’ pathway is in the NRL and I because he’s so fit, when you see him doing the fitness tests, he’s probably one of the fittest in the club. He’s a unit as well.
“He has natural fitness, but I think what I would like him to do is establish himself at Wigan and if he keeps progressing, Kev has said the NRL will be the next step.
“The only thing I will say about why I think he should go to the NRL, I went when I was 19 years old, it was an amazing experience, I played with some of the best players whoever played Cam Smith and all them lot and I came back 10 times the player and signed with Saints and had success at Saints.
“Lucas is very dedicated, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t go out on weekends. He’s so dedicated to who he wants to be and that’s a rugby player.
“The money over there is much higher, if he has the chance to go to Australia, he has my full support because you’re going to make as much money as you can because it’s a short career and you put your body through so much stress but I’d like him to really stamp his place here and going over there at 22 or 23 would be good for him.”
