Did Willie Mason Win?

[MrCharisma]

So we've now lost Steve Folkes, Malcom Noad and Willie Tonga this season. Malcomn Noad was Masons no#1 enemy, Folkes was the coach who never taught him anything and unnamed players had been claimed to follow his departure...

After losing two Internationals, a CEO and a Premiership winning family coach, what have we achieved? Willie Masons targets have also left the club now but he isn't there either.

Player retention was criticized under the Noad reign yet the first player off contract has taken a long term up north to our Queensland RSPCA base (Thurston, Harris, Tonga).

What was this all for? Despite having $1 mil in the bank we haven't attracted any interest from the open market, already being knocked back by Isreal Falou and Carl Webb.

The club which Mason "loved" so much yet was "forced" to leave, has he left his mark of destruction or are these changes for the good which haven't yet been seen?

 

[sammy08]

i dont think that this is a argument over whether willie mason won or not, tbh what does willie have to prove? imo willie has made a desision to move on and i think that's what canterbury are doing aswell, we are going through that rebuilding stage that every club goes through.

 

[Bulldog_NJ]

Everytime I hear Willie speak, im convinced that he is not happy at the chooks. When he says he is happy at the Roosters, look into the bloke's eyes and he looks away from whoever he is saying it to. He said it on the footy show to please gus and to try justify it to himself that he made the right move, he did not bag the dogs after the loss because he did not want to lose their respect, he said in the telegraph when the board elections were on that "his heart is still at the Bulldogs", pressure from his Bulldogs loving family, and now that Noad and Folkes are gone, I think a lot is going through his head. God i'd love to see him come home. Lets do a Roosters on the Roosters.

 

[A_C]

I don't think he has - infact I think he has lost out. If he really does/did "love" the dogs, as he claims - then he is the loser in all this. Why? Because all the reasons he claimed he wasn't happy here are now on their way out or are out so he made all that fuss - when had he waited a few months, he would have got what he wanted.


Nevertheless mason or no mason - it was going to happen. Canterbury have needed a cleanout - I personally would have like to see the cleanout of players and give folkes a chance with some fresh talent, rather than getting rid of the coach first but that is not to be. Andrew Johns summed it up very well in two lines today - he said when the team is winning, the players are applauded - when they are losing, the knife gets stuck in the coach.

 

[BulldogStar]

i think the changes were due to happen anyway. If anything i believe he lost as he claimed on the footy show noad was the only reason he left.. and now he has lost a great number of friends and respect from his peers and the general public.. all to prove a point

 

[chipandchase]

Mason lost because he is no longer a bulldog, simple as that

 

[_G-Dog_]

We may still go ok, the reason were not a powerhouse is because we let all our quality players go.
Roosters have managed to snag 4 of them, and look like resigning Tupou. You cant expect DJ to start killing it hes not a no7, same as Cleal and co upfront they try hard but there not star players.
On Mason - I feel the club should never of released him to other NRL clubs

Dont think there is a winner or loser in all of this. ATM we arent faring that well though, things can turn around by adding good players or if the team gels

 

[Moe]

So we've now lost Steve Folkes, Malcom Noad and Willie Tonga this season. Malcomn Noad was Masons no#1 enemy, Folkes was the coach who never taught him anything and unnamed players had been claimed to follow his departure...

After losing two Internationals, a CEO and a Premiership winning family coach, what have we achieved? Willie Masons targets have also left the club now but he isn't there either.

Player retention was criticized under the Noad reign yet the first player off contract has taken a long term up north to our Queensland RSPCA base (Thurston, Harris, Tonga).

What was this all for? Despite having $1 mil in the bank we haven't attracted any interest from the open market, already being knocked back by Isreal Falou and Carl Webb.

The club which Mason "loved" so much yet was "forced" to leave, has he left his mark of destruction or are these changes for the good which haven't yet been seen?

Yes he did.

 

[KINGARI]

God i'd love to see him come home. Lets do a Roosters on the Roosters.

You MUST be joking..the guy is a c*ck in every possible way...
OMeley yeh luv to get him back.

Spoke to Roosters fans since Friday and even they are saying yeh good player
but he does so much damage with his mouth.

 

[ash160]

Mason didn't win...all he did was show everyone what loser he really was. Us dogs fans defended him for so long but in the end it turned out that everyone else was right all along...he is a total loser, he has no respect for anyone or anything...

He made his bed and now he can get used to playing in front of 8 or 9 thousand heartless Rorters fans for the rest of time....no-one gives a crap about Mason anymore.

 

[Khanzeera]

Mason lost.

btw about losing tonga, wasn't it inevitable that he went to the Cows?? he is from up that way and ya know...

as for attracting players, i think time will tell...not sure how much time though lol

 

[Hansta]

Willie Mason is asking 4 a release. He wants back 2 Belmore

 

[Hammer]

There are no winners tbh everyones done it tough

 

[B-Train]

Mason might think he won, and will have more short term success at the Roosters then we will at the Dogs.

However, the Dogs, in the long term will have benefited from his departure, and with a new board, CEO and coach, and introduction of new players, the old Bulldog culture will remain whilst the changes for the good will be seen sooner rather than later with us being a few pieces of the puzzle away from being contenders for many years to come.

With most of our young talent and good senior players tied up for some years to come as well as a whole lot of cap room which hopefully gets used wisely the Dogs shouldn't be far away from making Mason look like more of a loser than he already is, and the Bulldogs the victors.

 

[Dognacious]

[/b][/b]


You MUST be joking..the guy is a c*ck in every possible way...
OMeley yeh luv to get him back.

Spoke to Roosters fans since Friday and even they are saying yeh good player
but he does so much damage with his mouth.

They can keep Omeley...hes looks the same as last year...no impact + has been. Mason was good, but he is a scrote and id rather lose than have him.

 

[Hansta]

like i told rami, i dont agree with wat Mase did but i dont hate him for it. I dunno y i just cant hate him. Its funny lol cuz tbh i'd prob take him back if possible

 

[farenhyt]

no matter what hes done, he hurt alot of people by walking away, but as outspoken as he is, there must of been a reason for him to do so, he knew what would happen if he walked out, so i dont think he would do such a thing to himnself, and his image....

he is a champion player, and an asset to any team...........when his mouth stays shut

 

[Özil]

well we needed a major clean out in our plAying roster and i think its about time we did by getting rid of the deadwoods we have.

but one thing i did not expect us to get into was the major backroom dramas with noad and the board of directors after the mason saga.

it was never malcoms fault that players like thurston, anasta, nate etc decided to leave... they left on their own terms which i respect. but the way how mason left, who can ever forgive him? i still never forgived when dymock, j.smith, mccracken and dean pay walked out on us to play for parra 12 years ago... that was a slap in a face for us canterbury fans.

and with the money we have available... i didnt really think that what happened with us in the last 2-3months would actually effect our recruitment.

 

[Bluebody]

Did Mason do us a favour?

Did Mason do us a favour? (Started a new thread because of this one)

He lost because he really wanted to at the Dogs, but his pride forced him to walk.

We lost in the short term; Friday was massive proof - ouch!

But I explain in the above titled thread the chain reaction I believe was set off by Mason walking that now holds us in good stead to play the game more competitively, although we still have a lot of work to do.

Nevertheless, we seem to be headed in the right direction.

 

[Bluebody]

Did Mason do us a favour?

Could Mason have sacrificed himself for the Dogs, but not intentionally?

Him leaving created a massive chain reaction which could be seen as helping the Dogs prepare for a new era in the way the NRL is played: -

1. He was no longer there to deposition us with his loose tongue in the media, hyping up teams to play with more motivation against us and embarrassing us with stupid behaviour.
2. Noad, wrongly or rightly, did not succeed in galvanising the administration with the players. Now that he is gone, there is no bad blood to deal with.
3. Board members were replaced with new Dogs that are focused on players to fix that problem. Whether they will succeed or not, this is their passionate focus, so we can hold some level of optimism.
4. Folkes is prompted to change his style after public criticism that was magnified by Mason's pathetic personal attack.
5. Joey Johns is brought in to add a new dimension in attack.
6. Folkes resigns making room for new ideas and an even modern approach to the game.
7. Our forwards no longer have to tip toe around established arrogant players - they all have permission to rip in equally and work as a team.
8. We lose Willie Tonga who has not shown long term consistency since 2004.
9. We free up enough money for the first time since 2002 to make fresh decision based on the new interchange and pace of today's game.


Like the rise of the phoenix, The Bulldogs are going through a massive metamorphosis meaning with time (and not that long in my opinion) we will be a force second to none.

And it all started with Willie sacrificing himself to expose the cracks, allowing all the shaky foundations to be destroyed and rebuilt. He did not intend to help us, but inadvertently, he his actions triggered a mass detox, starting with himself.

We will be smarter, faster, stronger, more resilient and much more synergised as a team to take the game to the next level where Melbourne held it to date.

And every fan is a brick that contributes to this power structure set to turn the NRL on fire.

Long live the Dogs!