'Debuts' is an ongoing Sporting News series telling the stories of athletes' debut matches, races, fights or competitions. From funny yarns, to untold stories and tales of overcoming, we'll be publishing new articles and videos regularly. Check out more debut stories with Robbie Farah , George Rose and Tim Tszyu here.
Big men terrorising little playmakers. It's a tradition as old as rugby league, and something young guns like Sam Walker and Reece Walsh will experience plenty of times this season.
Most halves can tell a story about being trampled by a gnarled, grizzly forward whose job it was to beat them into submission.
For Todd Carney in 2004, that man was Willie Mason.
Carney had joined the Raiders as a talented and hard-working 17-year-old in 2003.
Despite battling homesickness and confidence issues, he rapidly worked his way through the Canberra system, bypassing under-20s and getting a start in reserve grade in 2004.
By round 15 of the NRL season, Carney's form forced Raiders coach Matthew Elliott to give him his first grade debut.
It was a boyhood dream come true, but a daunting prospect against a Bulldogs team featuring Mark O’Meley, Steve Price and Roy Asotasi.
Carney admits to plenty of nerves as he prepared to face a Doggies outfit that went on to win the premiership a few months later.
By game day, it became clear that Mason - an established Test and Origin star by that time - had been tasked with making Carney's life misery.
A forward leader in a rough and tumble Canterbury-Bankstown side, Mason had a well-earned reputation as a hard-hitter and merciless sledger.
Carney started on the bench, but as soon as he stepped on the field, Mason was at him.
“I remember he was barking at me all night,” Carney tells Sporting News.
“He was calling for me to run at him and that he was going to run at me all game.
“Obviously I didn’t run at him, but he went at me a few times."
It was a shock for a young kid from Goulburn who had grown up watching most of his opponents and teammates on TV.
“Willie Mason’s Willie Mason. Any room he’s in, he’s an icon and it was no different when I got on the field," he says.
“I grew up as a kid watching Willie play. I never thought I’d be lucky enough to play against him. Next minute I’m making my debut and he’s getting ready to run over the top of me.
“It was a shock, but something I’ll remember forever.”
Mason remembers the match, and his role in it, well.
"We had a beast of a team back then. A beast of a team," Mason tells Sporting News.
"We monstered him. He was just young and small - he was the next big thing, and I had to put him in his place.
"My job would've been to just get at him and break his will. And that's what I did.
"I ran over him a couple of times and he was underneath me and I just stood over him."
It's just the way the game was played back then, and the high-flying Bulldogs were masters at it.
"I've done it to a few little halves over my career," Mason says.
"That was just the game and that's what I did. My job was to get at this guy or that guy, and with Toddy, it was just because he was so talented as a halfback."
It was a rough initiation to top flight footy for Carney, with the Bulldogs earning a 24-20 win. He played another three games in 2004 and was named the Raiders' Rookie of the Year before cementing his spot in the first grade side over the next two seasons.
Despite their first encounter, Carney and Mason became great mates as their careers progressed.
"I'm close friends with Toddy, and he always reminds of that game," Mason tells Sporting News.
"I'm glad he came through it - he's one of the most talented kids I played with or against.
"I don't regret it - I wish it wasn't Toddy - but it's just the way it was at the time.
"He had a great career and he can look back on it now and be proud."
DEBUTS SERIES
Catch up on some of our other 'Debut' stories here.
- When Paul Gallen told Jason Stevens to f**k off on debut
- When George Rose shoulder charged a Knights trainer
- How Tai Tuivasa celebrated coming back from career-threatening injury
- Why Robbie Farah debuted in white boots coloured in with black texta
- Why Kostya Tszyu has only ever been to one of Tim's fights
- How Tony de las Heras' debut mirrored his most famous onfield moment