Willie Mason reveals why he’s taking hallucinogenic mushrooms and his two-hour cannabis hell

Former NRL player Willie Mason discussed the benefits of ‘magic mushrooms’, ingesting too much cannabis, and why he was desperate to knock out England’s Stuart Fielden in a vicious attack on the pitch.

The outspoken former Kangaroos and NSW Blues striker recently appeared on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast where he discussed his life since retiring from the game.

The straight-talking former Australian and NSW Blues premier rower recently appeared on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast where he discussed his life since retiring from the game.

One of rugby league’s biggest personalities, Mason, 42, was quick to reveal the medicinal benefits he derives today from using psilocybin mushrooms.

‘I’m going to dabble in things like that [mushrooms] once a month,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to sit there and have mushrooms and party. I will sit at home. I’m very honest about it.

‘And a lot of close colleagues, I won’t name them, and we’ll sit there and have in-depth conversations. We are not drinking or doing anything else. We’re sitting there and it’s the best thing in the world.

‘With psilocybin and stuff like that, I can tell…your brain is on and the conversations are deep. Obviously, we think with one side of our brain: your brain on mushrooms, both sides are on.

Graham, who has played over 187 NRL games, spoke about the benefits of using medical cannabis, and Mason revealed one of his worst experiences with the drug.

I also have THC medicated. I had too much once and it fucked me up.

Graham, who played over 187 NRL games, spoke about the benefits he found in using medical cannabis, and Mason (pictured playing for the Cowboys) revealed one of his worst experiences with the drug.

‘I had a very important meeting in the city. It had like two drops. I felt very good, I felt good, nothing, and then when I was in the meeting I couldn’t even move.

“They were asking me really important questions and I said yes…I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move my arms.

The meeting lasted two hours.

Towards the end of the podcast, Graham asked Mason about their infamous fight in Great Britain’s last win over Australia in 2006.

Mason took a swing at Stuart Fielden, whom he explained had been ‘hunting’ for years, before English captain Jamie Peacock returned fire.

Towards the end of the podcast, Graham asked Mason about their infamous fight in Great Britain’s last win over Australia in 2006.

“I was always looking for him and he was always running against Danny Buderus and all those kinds of guys, and he was playing 80 minutes and I was just insisting on getting on the team.” [steroids] And things like that.

“I hated him, he was like ‘your juice head’ and I always liked him and he’d be like, ‘Oh shut up you fucking convict,’ and I was just calling him a cheater.”

“He was playing 80 minutes in the middle and we’re all pretty fit, but we couldn’t get to 80, but he was and he took like 26 hits, 40 tackles and was an absolute beast.” So I said, “Fuck this guy, I’m going to punch him in the head if I get the chance.”

“That was the 2002, 2003, 2004 tour again, so I was still looking for the 2005 tour, the same one again and then in 2006 I finally got it.”

Mason revealed that he and Stuart Fielden (pictured) had been on a collision course for years before the fight unfolded in 2006.

Mason then went into detail about how the fight played out.

It was only a matter of time for both of them. We’re two young bulls, alpha males, so before the game, talking about the first hit, I said, ‘I’m going to hit it, it’s going to be on and I don’t give a ***. Somebody back me up.

“So yeah bang I hit him and he was talking and as soon as we left we were banging and it happened really fast then Peacock came in. Then Sean Long came in and I didn’t know what to do with Longy because he punched him in the the head or just push it, so I said ‘fuck Longy’ and Peacock came in.

“What I love about Peacock is that after the game we shook hands and had a beer, but Fielden didn’t, he took it too personally and didn’t want to talk to me.”