Clubs put on alert as Huddersfield forward made available

Josh McAllister
Nathan Mason, SWPix

St Helens’ Agnatius Paasi is tackled by Huddersfield’s Nathan Mason. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

Super League clubs have been put on alert with Huddersfield boss Ian Watson confirming that they are looking for a loan move for forward Nathan Mason. 

It follows the decision of allowing Innes Senior to join Wakefield in order to gain more Super League minutes.

Mason, 29, has made 59 Super League appearances to date, including 36 for current club Huddersfield.

The prop forward began his professional career with the club back in 2013, and went on to join London Broncos and Leigh before returning to the John Smiths Stadium ahead of 2022.

He is yet to make an appearance so far this season, playing for the club’s reserves side.

“We’re having a little look (at a loan move) for Nathan Mason at the moment,” Watson confirmed.

“He’s been ill unfortunately.

“He was going to play a couple of weeks ago, but then he got poorly. So that set him back.

“The key thing is getting him some game time. He’s played a couple of reserves games for us now. So he’s more than ready to play Super League.

“He’s in the squad this week, but the likelihood of him playing this week, I wouldn’t say it’s really small as it will depend on a couple of others and how they come through. But he is unlikely to play if everything goes to plan this week.”

Huddersfield squad depth allowing loan moves

Mason would become the third Huddersfield player to make a loan move in the early stages of the 2023 campaign, following in the steps of Innes Senior and Sam Hewitt.

The pair have linked up with Wakefield, with forward Hewitt initially joining on a two-week loan period earlier this month.

Senior, 22, has joined Mark Applegarth’s side just this week on an initial short-term loan and has been put straight into their 21-man squad to face St Helens on Friday.

Jermaine McGillvary has returned to fitness following a shoulder issue, and is expected to be named in Huddersfield’s squad to face Salford on Sunday.

“We’ve been speaking with Innes all along and he’s been quite happy to be patient to play,” Watson explained.

“And when we had. a couple of injuries, he got his game against St Helens and I thought he did really well in that game.

“There’s a couple of things defensively we want him to work on and he knows we want him to work on as well.

“But the key thing was getting him to continue to play in Super League.

“Wakefield came in and it’s a similiar situation to Sam Hewitt. And with Jez coming back, we felt we really pretty well covered there to let him continue learning. 

“He’s going to be with us long term and he will eventually be one of our number one wingers. Just at this moment in time, he’s still learning his trade.”

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