CONTROVERSIAL Australian rugby league star Willie Mason has told The Sunday Telegraph how all the players at his former team the Canterbury Bulldogs took multiple caffeine tablets before every match when they won the 2004 National Rugby League (NRL) title.
"I've been at clubs where they pump it into you," said Mason, a prop forward who has represented the Australian national team 24 times.
"We won the comp [at Canterbury] on NoDoz [the tablets' brand name]. I think the whole NRL was taking them in 2004.
"Everyone was bashing the hell out of each other. You would have three or four before a game. That was the norm. But the aftermath, the comedown, it sucks. It was a real big down.
"I specifically remember winning the grand final and sitting in the sheds and thinking, 'My God, I am exhausted'."
Mason, who now plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and does not take the tablets anymore, said he could also understand why players turned to prescribed sleeping pills to help them come down after night matches.
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"You can be so pumped on natural adrenalin after a game that you cannot sleep," he said.
"A couple of red wines and prescribed sleeping medication, I have no problem with people doing that."
"I've been at clubs where they pump it into you," said Mason, a prop forward who has represented the Australian national team 24 times.
"We won the comp [at Canterbury] on NoDoz [the tablets' brand name]. I think the whole NRL was taking them in 2004.
"Everyone was bashing the hell out of each other. You would have three or four before a game. That was the norm. But the aftermath, the comedown, it sucks. It was a real big down.
"I specifically remember winning the grand final and sitting in the sheds and thinking, 'My God, I am exhausted'."
Mason, who now plays for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and does not take the tablets anymore, said he could also understand why players turned to prescribed sleeping pills to help them come down after night matches.
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"You can be so pumped on natural adrenalin after a game that you cannot sleep," he said.
"A couple of red wines and prescribed sleeping medication, I have no problem with people doing that."
