Signed a 3 year deal according to the Newcastle herald

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/stor ... dUyzzEO5BQ

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/stor ... dUyzzEO5BQ

Good news. The club have acted quickly and have signed a promising player with a fair few years left in him.

Respectfully can the experts just give him a chance and welcome him on board. Feel free to have an opinion once the lad has played a dozen games. Only seems fair and polite.

Very good signing for you.
He is a very good playmaker and game organiser and he has worked really hard on those skills in the Knights reserves for the last few years.
He is too small and not a good enough defender for the NRL, but a poor defender in the NRL is fair to average in the ESL, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Trust me that’s not totally true, you do need to defend in SL it’s vital! The only difference is that there are less monster sized players so size is not such an issue. So the small bit isn’t such an issue.

All the same he won’t get an easy ride here, if his defence iis a weakness he’ll need to work on it.

I agree there Vasty. No hiding place on a rugby pitch if you can’t tackle, other teams players do target weaknesses, and this is the same in most sports.

I was a fan of Williams, but was surprised we were being linked in bringing him back. Good work by the club in focussing on someone else and getting the deal done quickly.

Not yet confirmed by the club, but if and when it is, welcome aboard Mason

Good deal for both parties, I suspect. He's a young guy not getting his chance in the shop window, and we need a quality half-back.

The clips of him I've seen show he can certainly play.
And an accomplished goal kicker too.

FWIW I think we dodged a bullet with Williams. I never thought he was much good last time and now he's two years older with little game time. No idea about this guy but our overseas signings have been pretty decent in recent years. Welcome aboard.

I'd guess, that with him being at Newcastle Knights, we may have taken some feedback from Colin Sanctuary on signing Lino.

Let's be positive.

Anybody got access to the article to post the content, not gonna subscibe just for this.

If confirmed, welcome him with open arms and hope he can be the leader we need.
I did not really notice any defensive frailties this season, some good hits on the big guys- although defence is important in all positions, its not the first thing I would look for in a half.

I have seen every game he played during the current season with Newcastle and based on what I have observed his defence is indeed lacking and he likes to jump the defensive line. With Newcastle he defends on the left and I have not seen any obvious game running skills or long kicking game but that may be due to the instructions he received at Newcastle.
I am willing to see how he goes but I would suggest that some will need to give him time which was not granted to Williams.

Obviously read what Vasty said then.....

The poster was partly right in that SL is less physical due to most players being a normal size, so smaller players don't get quite as battered. However, if you don't know how to defend ie be in position and execute the tackle correctly you'll be found out in SL as much as the NRL.

The first thing most NRL recruits say is that SL is tougher than they expected.

That said it's one posters opinion.

A lot of Knighrs fans seem to think he will kill it over here, which is promising.

Let's hope he does, and if he does, let's hope we can keep hold of him

Why wouldn't we, it's 3 year deal as far as I can tell.

Must admit I like him as a player and was surprised when NZ Warriors let him go as I think he's better than Tevita-Harris. That said Knights have loads of halves...Pearce, mann, green, watson, hoy so he was up against it and suffered in terms of game time...I'm hoping he'll benefit from a decent run of games and additional responsibility but he will need time to settle in...good luck Mason & welcome to Waky

So Miller, Hampshire, Lino for the halves. Jowitt, Hampshire for FB. I can see either Gigot or Walker being loaned to the new SL club or maybe both.

Must admit I haven't seen much of this lad, saw him a couple times for the Warriors a few years back and he looked a really good prospect.

As Vasty said, lets give him a chance to actually play before we judge him, players take on different roles in different teams, it`s no use looking at his organisational skills and long kicking game in a side that has Mitchell Pearce in it, he will obviously take the reins in the coaches plans.

Comes with a good wrap from Newcastle fans which is always good (Aussie fans are notoriously ruthless when it comes to judging players) and also a 3 year deal fills me with confidence that the club 1. Think he is the right choice for us and 2. We are building for the future, rather than just looking at next year.

With player recruitment looking good and the positive stadium news dare I say I am feeling very positive about the next couple of years.

Also confirmed on Wiki!

Must be true then

Only reason I said it was with the scenario in mind he has a good season and half or so with us, then some club with a big fat cheque book come sniffing around. It has happened before, but would like to think that is becoming a thing of the past

It definitely is as shown with Tanginoa, don't think we've lost a single player that we really wanted to keep since Carter took over. Money talks and there comes apoint where you can't say no but these days we actively fight to keep what we have, you can't ask for more.

I like the way the Knights fans refer to him as a 'midget'! His stats state he is 5'9'', not a midget for a HB. I know there are some monsters in the NRL but I think he's big enough to survive either comp. God knows what they would think of Hampshire or the Wood twins