KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - The Tri-Nations league tournament might be over but the walking headline Willie Mason is at it again -- this time for allegedly tearing his shirt off and challenging pub patrons to a fight at the weekend.
The giant Kangaroos prop celebrated his side's 16-12 extra time win over the Kiwis with an all-day bender on Sunday at various Sydney pubs, the Daily Telegraph reported today.
Several witnesses told the paper Mason and brother Les were escorted out of the Beach Rd Hotel in Bondi by four bouncers late on Sunday.
"He punched a wall, kicked over a bike and then ripped his shirt off and started challenging anyone to a fight," one witness said.
"(The bouncers) just sort of pushed him down the road to get him out of the place."
A police spokesman said police were called to Beach Rd on Sunday to respond to a report of a male refusing to leave the hotel.
Media manager Chris O'Brien, from Mason's Bulldogs National Rugby League (NRL) club, denied Mason was picking fights.
"Les said he and Willie had a wrestle, just mucking around," O'Brien said.
"He'd had too much to drink, they asked him to leave, he walked out with bouncers and had a rumble out the front with Les."
Mason was a prominent figure during the Tri-Nations series.
He memorably swore at Kiwis players performing the haka in Auckland in October, was later concussed by a head-on tackle from David Kidwell, then later accused Kidwell of a cheap shot.
He was also given a one-week suspension for punching Great Britain prop Stuart Fielden.
Mason was a key man for the Kangaroos in Saturday's final, nearly winning the match in the dying minutes of normal time when he steamrolled Motu Tony and stabbed through a grubber kick which almost led to a try.
- NZPA
