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SYDNEY - The Kangaroos are stunned Willie Mason could find himself ruled out of the Tri-Nations series after an official complaint from the Great Britain camp resulted in the Australian back rower being charged with striking.
Mason sent Lions prop Stuart Fielden crashing to the earth with a
thunderous right hook just four minutes into Great Britain's win at Aussie Stadium here on Saturday night.
He will now face a specially convened hearing in Sydney tonight where he will face a charge of striking.
The Australians are known to be upset the incident has even reached the point of a charge being laid, with coach Ricky Stuart saying after the match that it was no different to instances of foul play seen earlier in the tournament.
Lions prop Adrian Morley was cleared of any wrongdoing after collecting New Zealand fullback Brent Webb with a right jab in Christchurch last weekend.
Asked how he saw the Mason incident, Stuart replied: "The same way I saw the last two over the last two weeks. Nothing to answer to."
Australian lock Luke O'Donnell, who ran in to back up Mason in the initial stages of the melee, was confident Mason would be cleared to play in the rematch between the two sides in Brisbane in a fortnight.
"It was a bit of a surprise [he got charged]," O'Donnell said. "He's one of our leaders, but I'm pretty confident once they've had a look at it I don't think there'll be much in it."
Mason was only given a warning by referee Ashley Klein before being put on report in the 10th minute for a late, high shot on halfback Sean Long.
Tournament match commissioner Greg McCallum cleared Mason over the latter tackle - deeming the contact was unavoidable - but charged the second rower for the hit on Fielden.
Great Britain coach Brian Noble declined to comment on the punch, instead praising his side for the way they overcame the early fireworks.
"We didn't blow up about that, the judiciary will make their minds up about it," Noble said. "We stood up and did what we could do about that and that's carry the ball strong and when they carried the ball next time, belt them as hard as we could."
On top of the Mason hearing, the Kangaroos have three players under injury clouds with Mark Gasnier (hip flexor), Ben Hornby and Greg Inglis (both concussion) to be monitored despite the Australians breaking from camp for the remainder of this week.
Medical officials remain confident Gasnier will be available for selection in Brisbane and claim the injury is not the same one which hampered the St George Illawarra star during the National Rugby League finals series.
Prop Petero Civoniceva denied the Australians went into the match with any complacency.
"They're a first-class team and we always knew that," Civoniceva said.
"But if anything it's a bit of a wake-up call for us, just knowing that it's very important that we complete our sets and get into the arm wrestle, and we just couldn't do that tonight."
The Australians will return to camp in Brisbane next Saturday where they will watch with interest the test between New Zealand and Great Britain in Wellington.
A win for the Lions would result in the final preliminary game between Australia and Great Britain being a dead rubber with both teams assured a spot in the final.
A win for the Kiwis would ensure the Lions have everything to play for in Brisbane.
- AAP
