Beans, beaches and basketball: Mason Peatling loves life in the Illawarra

If you’ve come across a 6ft 8in (203 cm) lump of a lad walking a little Havanese pup in a pink harness called “Beans” on the seaside footpaths around the Illawarra, chances are you’ve encountered Illawarra Hawks big man Mason Peatling.

When he’s not pounding the boards and doing the gritty grunt work for the region’s National Basketball League team, Peatling can be found with the tiny fluffball he loves dearly. Peatling is a literal walking contradiction.

“Her name’s Bonnie, but her nickname is ‘Beans’,” Peatling says with a beaming smile.

“Beans gets a good run around town and everyone sees me with her all the time. So that’s where you’ll see me off the court most likely.”

Of course, coffee and lunch with wife Laura is also a high priority for the Melbourne native who is already talking like a long-term Illawarra local.

“On a day off, I’ll get up and go for a swim to get the legs moving,” he said.

“Then Laura and I will go for lunch somewhere so we can mentally refresh … North Break Cafe at Woonona is our main spot, but I’m a big gatekeeper … we don’t tell anyone about it because we don’t want it to get too busy. You know what I mean?”

Yes Mason, we all know what you mean. Keeping good things a secret is a Wollongong rite of passage.

The beaches of the region too have also proven to be a major change to his lifestyle.

“I do a lot of water recovery and before in Melbourne I used to go to my grandmother’s place. She had this pool that wasn’t regularly cleaned, and so I would jump in and move my legs around and stuff,” he chuckles.

“Now I never have to do that, because I’ve got the beach right there.”

As much as Peatling has taken to the Illawarra, the Illawarra has taken to Peatling.

His blue-collar work ethic on court and willingness to do everything that’s hard to make his team and teammates better has endeared him to Hawks fans.

Peatling’s injection into the starting line-up this season helped stabilise the team as it created history and won the Hawks’ first ever NBL minor premiership title.

And it’s no surprise because Peatling is no stranger to hard work and success.

During a four-year college career with Eastern Washington, he completed a five-year degree in that shorter time frame, graduating with a Masters in Business with an undergraduate degree in finance. That is also where he met and married Laura.

He returned home and signed a three-year deal with Melbourne United, playing a critical role in United’s 2021 championship, all while working part-time at a finance company.

On signing a two-year deal with what was an embattled Hawks outfit two seasons ago, he elected to commit full-time to basketball.

“When Laura and I decided to come to Illawarra, it wasn’t like, ‘Let’s give this NBL career more attention,’” the 28-year-old said.

“It was like, now we’re relocating our lives to this, let’s really commit to this. I wanted to try and get some longevity out of my career and win as much as possible.

“Coming to a team that was 3-25 (wins and losses, in NBL23) I knew I’d have to be great for our team to be great, and I knew I’d have to make a material impact on the team for us to have some level of success.

“Obviously I’m not the only contributor to that. There are other contributors on our team, and every one of them deserves to have their moment, but being a part of that turnaround is something I take a lot of pride in, almost more so than jumping on United as a development player and winning a championship with that squad with that talent.

“I was an important piece of that, and I was a valued piece of that. But this is another challenge in itself that has been awesome to take on.”

While Peatling’s output in points and rebounds has increased measurably this season, it’s the intangibles that Peatling brings on court – the hustle, the defence, the willingness to put his body on the line – which are the things which make him invaluable as the Hawks launch their assault at winning the NBL foundation club’s second title.

And for someone who has tasted championship success with an NBL powerhouse, Peatling has no doubt what is making the Hawks successful.

“Resources, bank accounts, reputation and what a club has available to them is one thing,” he explains.

“But what really drew me here, and I probably didn’t realise it fully at the time, was the people that are running the club and the people that are working for it.

“Our high-performance staff (strength and conditioning coach Alex Moore and performance and program manager Scott Muttdon) are the best in Australia as far as I am concerned. As much as you can have the fancy branding and facilities, they are the things that attract certain players.”

And Peatling acknowledges the role of Hawks coach Justin Tatum in garnering the Hawks success – in a style much different, he acknowledges, from his former championship coach at United, Dean Vickerman.

“The coaching sets the standard, and the coaching style sets the style. Dean Vickerman – great coach, great coaching style; it was a pleasure to play under him, and I would do again for sure, right?” he explains.

“But the difference between him and JT is … JT is a lot more … I want to say he encourages, like, freedom of play. He encourages a looseness in practice, and it allows guys to be themselves, and then they’re the best version of themselves on the court.

“I’ve never been a part of the team with such great interpersonal relationships off the court and on the court.”

So does Peatling hope he, Beans and Laura (probably not in that order) are strolling around the streets of the Illawarra for many seasons to come?

“Absolutely,” he says firmly.

The Illawarra Hawks take on the South-East Melbourne Phoenix in a three-game semi-final series, starting with a home game at the WIN Entertainment Centre on 28 February at 7:30 pm. The second game in the series will be held in Melbourne on 2 March at 2:30 pm. The third game in the series will be on 5 March at the WIN Entertainment Centre at 7:30 pm.