North Queensland coach Neil Henry hopes the NRL side can make an official offer to former Test star Willie Mason as soon as possible.

Henry, who met with Mason over dinner on Tuesday, said things were looking "positive" for the club going after the Sydney Roosters forward.

According to Henry the only stumbling block is if the Cowboys board decides not to pursue Mason because of his off-field reputation.

"Willie and I had a discussion last night about the possibility of him coming north, I relayed the contents of that conversation to Peter Parr this morning and he's talking to the board today," Henry said.

"It was a fairly positive conversation, I know Newcastle have weighed in fairly heavily for him too and he is from that area and he's got family up there so he'll have to make a decision but it is looking positive for us.

"We haven't made a formal offer at the moment but I'm probably hoping Peter Parr will talk to the board today and we might be able to finalise something tomorrow."

Henry ruled out any chance of a bidding war between the Cowboys and Newcastle.

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