Dave Craven: Mason set to lead way as clubs recruit star performers

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan jokingly remarked he does not leave his house anymore to avoid the constant questioning from the man in the street: Is he coming? When will he be here? What’s the problem?

The people of East Hull want to see their star arrive and get up close and personal, near enough to touch just to make sure it has not all been a surreal dream.

The capture of Willie Mason, afterall, has been dubbed the biggest overseas signing in Super League history and it is Hull KR, not their city rivals or glamour clubs like Leeds, Wigan, Warrington and St Helens who have secured the prized signature.

But it is not just over Craven Park way where the locals are getting excited. Such are the anticipation levels ahead of seeing the explosive and controversial Australian Test forward take on Super League, it has been the talk of the game.

Let’s hope he finally gets that crucial visa and pitches up.

It is understandable why nervy Rovers fans are getting twitchy given their club, obviously delighted by the marquee capture, announced the deal back in September.

Morgan explained at Rovers’ media day on Thursday – sparsely attended disappointingly but no great surprise given everyone knew the main attraction would not be there – they had decided to make it public so soon because of the sheer size of the transfer.

Rightfully so. Mason is a huge coup and his eventual arrival will have done wonders for Rovers’ marketing and commercial prospects so get the news out there.

Morgan said: “You would usually sign a player, keep it under wraps for six weeks or so, then announce it and the visa flows after that.

“But because of the magnitude of Willie’s signing we announced it when we agreed terms.

“Willie’s (Tongan) passport has arrived but we’re waiting for the visa to be approved, Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. Anyone who has applied for visas before will know you don’t get updates or text messages telling you where the process is.

“It’s like the post, you put a stamp on it, you put it in and wait for it to arrive at the other end.

“But I’ve no doubts he will be here. It’s been a drawn-out process but he will definitely get here.”

It will not be in time, though, for the opening game of the season against Hull FC on Sunday afternoon and what a pity.

Seeing the oft-irascible Mason, a giant of a man at six foot five inches, marauding forward in that inimitable style of his, full on into the likes of his ex-Kangaroos team-mates Craig Fitzgibbon and Mark O’Meley would have been pure theatre. Throw in Lee Radford too and the RFL could not have asked for a better start.

Instead, it seems Rovers fans will have to wait until their first home game against Catalans at the end of the month to see him pull on the red and white jersey while April 15 is the date he will renew acquaintances with Stuart Fielden.

Mason infamously floored the Wigan prop with a single punch when Great Britain played Australia in the 2006 Tri-Nations Down Under and, in the same match, left current Hull FC star Sean Long with a huge head wound following another crude challenge.

His chequered career has been remembered so far for such incidents and some off-field issues but there is no doubt he is also a supremely gifted player who could add a whole new dimension to Rovers in 2011.

Equally adept at prop or second-row, the burly ex-Sydney City Rooster, who was born in New Zealand but won 24 Australia caps, has a remarkable presence and knows how to use it.

But who else of the foreign contingent will be looking to make a mark in Super League XVI?

There has been a number of other high-quality recruits dispersed around the competition which will bring plenty of relish. Amid all the hyperbole about Mason, one player who has subsequently arrived in the country a little under the radar but with possibly more potential to cause an impact is Luke Patten. The State of Origin full-back has joined Salford but was chased hard by Huddersfield Giants, Nathan Brown knowing full well his fellow countryman would be the perfect replacement for Brett Hodgson.

The experienced Patten, a dynamic runner with an eye for finding space, could have the same influence on the City Reds as Hodgson did in his debut season at the Galpharm when he helped transform the Giants and won the 2009 Man of Steel.

Patten is one of the most exciting imports and the sort of class operator Salford require if they are going to push into the play-offs.

On the subject of Huddersfield, having missed out on that prime target, their big signing is Luke O’Donnell, the man who infamously has the worst disciplinary record in NRL history.

Racking up 10 bans totalling 29 weeks since 2000, he was a team-mate of Mason last year at North Queensland Cowboys but is now eager to impress in England.

Half the reason the wanted to leave Australia was to escape the perceived injustices he was receiving at the hands of their disciplinary process and that could be to Giants’ gain.

Jamie Peacock is irreplaceable for Leeds, the England captain missing until at least May due to that serious knee injury he suffered last summer.

However, in Ben Cross, a tough, uncompromising prop from Newcastle Knights, they have just the sort of no-nonsense front-row required to take up Peacock’s relentless workload.

St Helens have added a similar player in Manly prop Josh Perry while Wigan coach Michael Maguire has raided former club Melbourne for the accomplished trio of Brett Finch, Ryan Hoffman and Jeff Lima.

Another Willie – Isa – should enthral Castleford fans and then there is, of course, Joel Monaghan at Warrington....

He, perhaps even more than those desperate Rovers fans, will want Mason to finally arrive to divert some of that unwanted attention directed at himself following his embarrassing dog picture.

It is a sign of the Hull KR man’s aura that he might just be able to do that for him. Perhaps.