Willie Mason chose North Queensland over Newcastle as his new home this season because he believes the Cowboys have more chance of winning the NRL premiership, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday.

Mason, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Cowboys, was also swayed by the fact that three of his former Bulldogs teammates, Johnathan Thurston, Willie Tonga and Ben Harris, play for the club. The former Test forward is expected to arrive in Townsville later Friday to finalise the move after advising Newcastle officials of his decision on Thursday night.

With the move to North Queensland Willy passed up the opportunity to return home to Newcastle, where his family lives, as well as playing alongside his 18-year-old brother Rodney who is a member of the Knights NYC squad.

Lote Tuqiri will be keen to impress with a return to Australia that will see the former Queensland State of Origin and Kangaroos star teamed up with flashy play maker Benji Marshall.

Tuqiri joins the Tigers on three year deal, and will join the rest of the squad at the end of March when he wraps up his commitments with UK side Leicester where he's been playing since being axed from the Wallabies last year.

The new signing is hoped to help the Tigers reach the final series in 2010, as they finished off 2009 strongly yet still missed out, making it their fifth straight year without advancing.