Mason Lino

Mason "Mase" Lino

Personal information
Full name	Mason Lino
Born	(1994-02-04) 4 February 1994 (age 30) Apia, Samoa
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1]
Weight	13 st 3 lb (84 kg)
Playing information
Position	Scrum-half, Stand-off
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2015–18 New Zealand Warriors 17 3 16 0 44 2019–20 Newcastle Knights 17 2 48 0 104 2021– Wakefield Trinity 79 13 151 2 296 Total 113 18 215 2 444 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2016–19 Samoa 3 0 3 0 6
Source: [2] As of 17 February 2023

Mason Lino (born 4 February 1994) is a Samoan professional rugby league footballer who plays as a scrum-half and stand-off for Wakefield Trinity in the Betfred Championship and Samoa at the international level.

He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Background

Lino was born in Apia, Samoa.

Early years

Lino was a Marist Saints junior and attended Avondale College. ^[3]

Lino is of Samoan and Chinese descent. ^[4]

Playing career

2012

Lino trialled for the New Zealand Warriors' NYC squad in 2012, earning a place in the squad. He finished the season as the team's top points-scorer with 144 points in 23 games. He attended an NRL rookie camp on the 24 and 25 November 2012. ^[5]

2013

Lino scored 147 points for the Junior Warriors in 2013, taking his total to 281 from 41 appearances. ^[3] The side lost the 2013 Holden Cup Grand Final 30-42. He also played for the Junior Kiwis in their 26-38 defeat by the Junior Kangaroos on 13 October 2013.

He was named in the Samoan train-on squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. ^[6] He did not make the squad after the cut to 25 players. ^[7]

2014

In 2014, he co-captained the Junior Warriors Holden Cup team in their 34-32 grand final victory over the Brisbane Broncos, kicking five conversions out of six and finishing the match on the pitch despite suffering a partial shoulder dislocation. ^[8] He finished his Holden Cup career with 503 points from 62 appearances, becoming the third most-capped Junior Warrior behind Ben Henry and John Palavi. ^[9]

Lino playing for the Warriors in 2015

2015

Lino had signed with AS Carcassonne for the 2015 season, but the contract was cancelled after his shoulder dislocation in the 2014 Holden Cup grand final. Instead, Lino re-signed with the Warriors, for 2015, to play in their New South Wales Cup squad. ^[8]

He made his NRL debut on 22 August 2015 against the North Queensland Cowboys, replacing an injured Chad Townsend. ^{[9] [10]}

2016

On 8 October, Lino made his international debut for Samoa in their test match against Fiji in Apia. ^[11]

2017

Lino played for the Warriors in the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines. ^[12]

In June, Lino signed a further two-year contract, committing both parties until the end of the 2019 season. ^[13]

On 28 August 2017, Lino was named in The 2017 Intrust Super Premiership NSW team of the year. ^[14]

2018

Lino played in 8 NRL games for the Warriors in the 2018 season. ^[15] In September, he signed a 2-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2019. ^[16]

2019

In Lino's first season for the Knights, he debuted in round 4 against the St. George Illawarra Dragons. He played 12 games for the Knights, scored two tries and kicked 33 goals. ^[17]

2020

In 2020, Lino only managed to play in five games for Newcastle before being released at the end of the season. ^{[18] [19]}

In November, he signed a three-year contract with Super League side Wakefield Trinity starting in 2021. ^{[20] [21]}

2021

Lino played 24 games for Wakefield Trinity in the 2021 Super League season as the club finished 10th on the table. ^[22]

2022

Lino played 24 games for Wakefield Trinity in the 2022 Super League season which saw the club narrowly avoid relegation as they finished 10th. ^[23]

2023

Lino played 22 games for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League XXVIII season as the club finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the RFL Championship which ended their 24-year stay in the top flight. ^[24]

References

1. Mason Lino newcastleknights.com.au
2. Mason Lino rugbyleagueproject.org
3. Mason Lino Archived 22 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine warriors.kiwi
4. "China set for Rugby League - rleague.com". 14 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
5. Junior Warriors at NRL Annual Rookie Camp Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine rleague.com, 23 November 2012
6. "Samoa name strong train-on squad". RLWC2013. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
7. Samoa call up new Salford star Tony Puletua Archived 9 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine skysports.com, 5 November 2013
8. "Warriors offer young star Mason Lino a lifeline". stuff.co.nz. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
9. Late Mail:Lino to Make NRL Debut warriors.kiwi
10. "Chad Townsend replaced by Mason Lino for Warriors game against Cowboys". stuff.co.nz. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
11. "Sport: Anticipation building in Apia for Toa v Bati test". RNZ. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
12. "Warriors have no regrets over resting stars despite early exit from Nines". Stuff. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
13. Media, NRL Digital (13 June 2017). "[Signings] New deals for six" . Retrieved 9 December 2018.
14. "2017 Team Of The Year - ISP NSW". 28 August 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
15. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
16. "Lino becomes a Knight - Zero Tackle". 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
17. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
18. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
19. "Signings tracker: Knights deals and departures for 2021". Newcastle Knights. 17 November 2020.
20. Toohey, Barry (24 November 2020). "Ex-Knight Mason Lino signs with Wakefield in English Super League". Newcastle Herald.
21. "The NRL recruits moving to these shores for the 2021 season". www.skysports.com.
22. "Terry O'Connor's 2021 Betfred Super League season review". www.skysports.com.
23. "Wakefield Trinity 2022 Super League season". www.superleague.co.uk.
24. "Super League: Wakefield Trinity relegated after loss at Leigh Leopards, St Helens and Wigan Warriors win". www.skysports.com.

External links

• Newcastle Knights profile
• New Zealand Warriors profile
• NRL profile