My Top 5: Keith Mason names the best 5 players he played with in his career

Former Wakefield, Melbourne, St Helens, Huddersfield and Castleford forward Keith Mason names the best players he played alongside during his 14-year professional career.

5. Brett Hodgson / Billy Slater

I played with Brett at Huddersfield where he won the Man of Steel award and showed incredible leadership and durability. He was not just skilful but also one of the toughest blokes I’ve played alongside. As for Billy, what can I say, he showed individual brilliance every time he played and was a relentless competitor.

4. Jamie Lyon / Luke O’Donnell

Without doubt the greatest centre I ever played with, everything about Jamie was just class. When he came to Saints he was overweight and looked like a hobo, fast forward 10 months and he’s lifting the Man of Steel award. You should never judge a book by its cover and it was a pleasure to play with killer. As for Luke he was tough, aggressive and would never take a backward step, my type of player.

3. Cameron Smith

My old Melbourne storm teammate Cam Smith takes third. We actually lived together for a while and me and Cam both made our debuts around the same time for the Storm. The accountant, as everyone likes to call him, was the ultimate footballer and one of the all-time greats.

2. Paul Sculthorpe

Scully was the ultimate forward who could pass a ball better than a half-back. He is probably the best forward I played with and I absolutely loved playing alongside him. He was the best forward in the world in the early 2000s and was a true professional as well as a top bloke.

1. Keiron Cunningham

Kez was an absolute leader and my front-row partner at Saints. We both won a Challenge Cup and League Leaders’ Shield together and growing up I had his poster on my wall so it was a pleasure to eventually play alongside him. You could put any of the top three at number one but Kez just nicked it.