Len Mason

For other people named Leonard Mason, see Leonard Mason (disambiguation).

Leonard Tasman Mason^[2] (23 September 1903 – 10 June 1953) was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for New Zealand, Other Nationalities, Dominion XIII, the South Island, South Auckland and Canterbury, and at club level for Wigan, Keighley and Bramley, as a centre, prop, hooker, or second-row.^[1]

Len Mason

Personal information
Full name	Leonard Tasman Mason
Born	(1903-09-23)23 September 1903 Huntly, New Zealand
Died	10 June 1953(1953-06-10) (aged 49) Hamilton, New Zealand
Playing information
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	15 st 0 lb (95 kg)
Position	Centre, Prop, Hooker, Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P Unknown (WRL) 1924–25 Athletic (ARL) 20 8 2 0 28 1926–27 Hornby (CRL) 18 10 4 0 38 1927–35 Wigan 362 50 5 0 160 1936–37 Keighley 36 4 0 0 12 1937–39 Bramley 64 1 0 0 3 1939–40 Keighley 10 1 0 0 3 Total 510 74 11 0 244 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P South Auckland 1924–25 Auckland B 3 0 2 0 4 1925 Auckland 1 0 0 0 0 1926 Canterbury 2 0 0 0 0 1926 South Island 1 1 0 0 3 1929–33 Other Nationalities 4 1 0 0 3 1926–27 New Zealand 27 (3) 9 (0) 3 (0) 0 (0) 33 (0)
Source: [1]

Early life and family

Born in Huntly on 23 September 1903, Mason was the son of Victor Emanuel Mason and Te Ngaehe Elizabeth Mason (née Maki).^[3][4][5]

Playing career

Waikato

Mason represented South Auckland as a teenager.

Auckland

He then moved to Auckland where he joined the Athletic club (formerly Maritime) for 2 seasons.^[6] He played for Auckland B on their Southern Tour in 1925 and then played one match for Auckland against Canterbury.

Canterbury

Work then took him to Christchurch where he joined the Hornby club in the Canterbury Rugby League competition. He played for them in 1926 and 1927, representing the South Island team in 1926, where he scored a try in a 22-31 loss. Subsequently Mason was selected for the New Zealand national rugby league team and was part of the 1926-27 tour of Great Britain that was marred by player discontent.^[7]

Following the New Zealand tour of England Mason returned to Canterbury where he played a further 8 matches for Hornby before receiving an offer from Wigan to join them. He accepted and left for England in June.

New Zealand

Mason's first match for New Zealand was against Auckland prior to the 1926/27 season. He scored a try in a high scoring 32-52 loss where it seemed as though the New Zealand team was more worried about not sustaining injury than winning the match.^[8]

On the England tour Mason played 26 matches, including 3 tests from the 32 tour matches. The large number of games that he played was partly due to the fact that 7 players went on strike and 6 of these were fellow forwards.

Wigan

Mason moved to England in June 1927 to join Wigan.

During the 1928–29 season, Mason was part of Wigan's 1928–29 Lancashire Cup, playing at second-row in a 5-4 victory over Widnes in the final at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington on Saturday 24 November 1928.^[9] He played at second-row in Wigan's 13-2 victory over Dewsbury in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 4 May 1929.^[10]

He won caps for Other Nationalities while at Wigan. He played in the 20-27 defeat by England at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Wednesday 20 March 1929, and in the 35-19 victory over England at Thrum Hall, Halifax on Monday 7 April 1930, and in the 18-31 defeat by England at Knowsley Road on Monday 7 April 1930, and in the 27-34 defeat by England in Workington on Thursday 30 March 1933.^[1]

Mason played at centre in Wigan's 15-3 victory over Salford in the Championship final during the 1933–34 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington on Saturday 28 April 1934.^[11]

Mason played at second-row in Wigan's 30-27 victory over France at Central Park, Wigan, on Saturday 10 March 1934.^[12]

Keighley

Mason later joined Keighley and was still a first grade footballer at 39 years of age.^[6]

Later years

Mason returned to the Waikato and was a Waikato selector in the later 1940s.^[6] He died in Hamilton in 1953, and was buried at Rangiriri Lawn Cemetery.^[13]

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. MASON, Leonard Tasman 1926 - 27 - Kiwi #186 Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
3. "The Leeds Loiner - Challenge Cup semi-final - Keighley v. Wakefield Trinity, Saturday 3 April 1937". footballzone.co.uk. 31 December 2016. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
4. "Birth search: registration number 1903/7432". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
5. "Victor Emanuel Mason + Te Ngaehe Elizabeth Mason". MyHeritage. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
6. Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
7. Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The. London: independent.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
8. "New Zealand Outplayed/Auckland's Decisive Win/Superiority of Local Men". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXIII, no. 19395. 2 August 1926. p. 13. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
9. "1928-1929 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
10. "Historic Wigan RL Moments: 1929 Challenge Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
11. "1933-1934 Championship Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
12. "1934 Tour Match: Wigan 30 France 27". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
13. "Cemeteries database". Waikato District Council. Retrieved 1 November 2017.

External links

• Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com