{"id":183525,"date":"2025-03-24T18:55:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T08:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=183525"},"modified":"2025-03-24T18:55:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T08:55:04","slug":"vfl-player-focus-riley-mason-collingwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2025\/03\/24\/vfl-player-focus-riley-mason-collingwood\/","title":{"rendered":"VFL Player Focus: Riley Mason (Collingwood)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>COLLINGWOOD recruit <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"46861\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"\/afl\/player\/riley-mason\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riley Mason<\/a> has garnered attention after booting four goals on his VFL debut, as the Magpies beat Sydney by 25 points at Victoria Park on Saturday. The 23-year-old earned a state league berth after posting 72 goals in 18 games for Goulburn Valley League side Seymour last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mason is a product of the Calder Cannons program, graduating in 2021 before being listed by Coburg for 2022. Despite not managing a game there, he has come on strongly since and held his own against AFL-listed opposition over the weekend. We put his performance under the Player Focus microscope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Pretty handy debut for Collingwood VFL newcomer Riley Mason, booting four goals against Sydney. The 195cm forward kicked 72 goals from 18 matches for Seymour last year.<\/p>&mdash; Paul Amy (@PaulAmy375) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulAmy375\/status\/1903300506011005125?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-player-focus\">PLAYER FOCUS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2025 VFL Round 1<\/strong><br><strong>Collingwood 13.6 (84) def. Sydney Swans 8.11 (59)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>#67<\/strong> <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"46861\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"\/afl\/player\/riley-mason\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riley Mason<\/a> <strong>(Collingwood VFL)<\/strong><br><strong>Key Forward | 195cm | 15\/02\/2002<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stats: <\/strong>10 disposals (100% efficiency), 2 marks, 2 tackles, 1 inside 50, 4 goals<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FIRST HALF:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first half was an arm-wrestle, reading like a soccer scoreline at three goals to two in favour of the Magpies. That translated to Mason&#8217;s output, with both defences picking off wasteful forward 50 entries and Swans interceptors <strong>Aaron Francis<\/strong> and <strong>Will Edwards<\/strong> having a field day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the numbers which best prove that sentiment were Sydney&#8217;s 130 disposals and 19 inside 50s before registering a major &#8211; five minutes into term two. A lack of clean and concise build-up meant Mason struggled to get involved as a marking target, though he only needed one opportunity to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The debutant benefitted from a more purposeful passage to hit up on a sharp short lead, marking uncontested before slotting his maiden goal in the opening quarter. Presenting at the kicker and making the Swans defenders accountable as they looked to peel off and intercept seemed like his best bet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-1024x681.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-183529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-1024x681.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-768x511.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-1536x1021.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-128x85.jpeg 128w, https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024-32x21.jpeg 32w, https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Riley-Mason-Seymour-2024.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mason in action for Seymour last year | Image Credit: Aidan Briggs\/Shepparton News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SECOND HALF:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The game opened up after half time with both sides having blown out the cobwebs, and Mason came to life as a result. He slotted three goals in the third quarter as Collingwood straightened up to add six straight to its scoreline and set up a game-high lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While unable to clunk a couple of overhead marks inside 50, Mason began to thrive off his side\u2019s speedy end-to-end transitions. He showed great dexterity to stay with the play after a marking attempt, recovering the ground ball and snapping his second goal under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 23-year-old wasn\u2019t done there, benefitting from a couple of impactful <strong>Ed Allan<\/strong> plays. The AFL-listed youngster burst through the corridor to catch Sydney\u2019s defence unawares, resulting in Mason nabbing a joe-the-goose goal over the back from the goalsquare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mason made it three for the term after being infringed in the marking contest on Allan\u2019s centring kick. He made good on the chance \u2013 his most straightforward set shot conversion \u2013 to hammer home Collingwood\u2019s ascendancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-summary\">SUMMARY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Mason showed great promise on his state league debut, impacting the scoreboard in a forwardline consisting of young talls like <strong>Charlie West <\/strong>and <strong>Liam Hude<\/strong>. While still relatively wiry, he has proven himself in senior competitions and clearly has an eye for goal &#8211; both over the mark and in open play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mature-ager has now put his name on the map as a potential mid-season draft candidate, though there is a long way to go yet. He still has improvement left in his game, perhaps looking to become more one-touch at ground level and in contested marking situations &#8211; particularly up the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, Mason&#8217;s ability to utilise smart leading lanes and gain separation from his opponent allowed him to produce shots on goal. Doing so in a game where tall defenders &#8211; AFL-listed ones at that &#8211; filled their boots was impressive. What&#8217;s more, he has quite sound skills for a player his size. One to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-dc-block-dc-mention _dc_mention\"><div class=\"section-heading_wrap\"><span class=\"section-heading is-small\">Mentions<\/span><span class=\"hor-border\"><\/span><\/div><ul class=\"js-overflow-list overflow-list\"><li class=\"object-mention_single\"><div class=\"tag tag--is-clickable\"><a class=\"tag-text _dc_mention_p\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/riley-mason\/\">Riley Mason<\/a><\/div><\/li><li class=\"js-dropdown dropdown overflowed\"><button class=\"btn btn-icon-only\"><span class=\"icon btn-icon\">\n                    <!-- icon - plus circle - 20px-->\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 20 20\">\n                        <path d=\"M15,9.28h-4.3V5h0A.72.72,0,1,0,9.28,5h0V9.28H5a.72.72,0,0,0,0,1.43H9.28V15a.72.72,0,0,0,1.43,0h0V10.71H15a.72.72,0,0,0,0-1.43Z\"\/>\n                        <path d=\"M10,0A10,10,0,1,0,20,10,10,10,0,0,0,10,0Zm0,18.57A8.57,8.57,0,0,1,10,1.43h0a8.57,8.57,0,0,1,0,17.14Z\"\/>\n                    <\/svg>\n                <\/span><\/button><div class=\"popover\"><div class=\"popover-content\"><ul class=\"popover-menu\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COLLINGWOOD recruit Riley Mason has garnered attention after booting four goals on his VFL debut, as the Magpies beat Sydney by 25 points at Victoria Park on Saturday. The 23-year-old earned a state league berth after posting 72 goals in 18 games for Goulburn Valley League side Seymour last year. Mason is a product of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":183528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18050,22133,8,2177,15,16699,20127,3134],"tags":[16543],"class_list":["post-183525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afl-draft","category-collingwood-vflw","category-news","category-player-focus","category-state-leagues","category-vfl","category-vfl-state-leagues","category-victoria","tag-riley-mason"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183525"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183539,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183525\/revisions\/183539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}