Off the Wall

The Australian Rugby League today is under enormous pressure to finally get tough with the Bulldogs and Kangaroos player Willie Mason.

At Sydney Airport last night, Mason allegedly abused a reporter from radio 2GB (the official rugby league station) while he and other team members were preparing to travel to Brisbane for the Anzac Test on Friday night.

Not only is he accused of embarrassing and belittling reporter Michelle Keighran, he apparently also tried to disrupt other interviews she was conducting with players -- having refused to be interviewed himself.

Mason also cast credibility on the Test selection process by loudly proclaiming that he knew "two weeks ago" he would be in the team! That will go down very badly given the chorus of criticism that the team was chosen on the basis of "history" and not "form".

When it comes to players behaving badly, the last week has been a very unhappy one for rugby league, with the media still highlighting an unsavoury "incident" involving fellow Bulldogs player, Sonny Bill Williams, and "Ironwoman" Candice Falzon.

AFL fans will find this hard to follow, but the National Rugby League has no role in any investigation into Mason