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Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg says the club will take out an injunction to prevent Sonny Bill Williams from playing elsewhere after the star back-rower reportedly flew to France to take up a $3 million rugby union offer today.
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Williams stunned the rugby league fraternity by walking out on the Bulldogs, reportedly to link-up with second division rugby club Toulon on a lucrative two-year deal.
Toulon, however, have denied reports that Williams has come to terms with the club.
Mourad Boudjellal, Toulon’s president, told AFP that Williams and the club had spoken a while ago but there was no deal.
“We did make contact some time ago with Sonny Bill Williams,” Boudjellal said from Miami.
“He said to us that he wanted to move from rugby league to union but that is where it finished.
“I cannot confirm what was on Canterbury’s website. However, I deny that it is true.”
Greenberg said Williams’s manager Khoder Nasser had confirmed this afternoon his client had left the country but the `Dogs boss said if a deal had been done he had no intention of letting the 22-year-old take it up.
“Quite simply, if Sonny intends to play overseas, we’ll be looking to take out an injunction which will effectively stop him playing in France, England or anywhere else he intends to do it,” Greenberg said.
Asked whether the issue was likely to end up in the courts, Greenberg said: “I suggest at this early stage that you are probably right but we are going to have to review all our options to make sure that the Bulldogs are well covered.
“I’ve had QCs look at his contract and there is absolutely no get-out clause.
“I’m shocked that he’s left because I saw him Oatley at 7.30am this morning.
Williams had been chosen in the Bulldogs team to play the Dragons on Monday night in Sydney.
NRL chief executive David Gallop, who will hold a special press conference at midday tomorrow to address the issue, said he was disappointed with Williams’s decision.
“It is unacceptable to walk out on a contract,” he said.
“If Sonny Bill Williams has personal issues, we will be happy to discuss them with him but we will support the Bulldogs in enforcing their contract and that includes preventing him from playing other than under that contract.
“Certainly the club, his teammates and the fans are entitled to some explanation for what has happened.”
Bulldogs greats were unanimous in admonishing Williams’ walk-out, with ex-chief executive Steve Mortimer claiming the Kiwi had let down a club which had gone out of its way to accommodate him.
“I’m absolutely bewildered after what this club has done for Sonny,” Mortimer said.
“But I’m sure there’s more to this than what’s out there.”
Former premiership-winning lock Paul Langmack claimed it wasn’t just the Bulldogs who had been let down.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s not just what he’s done to the club, it’s what he’s done to the game,” Langmack said.
“I’m in shock. Canterbury have bent over backwards for him. It’s a problem for the game that blokes think they can just pack up and walk out.”
The New Zealand Test star had been signed to the Bulldogs until 2012 for an estimated $450,000 a year.
But he’s been at loggerheads with the club for sometime, claiming he’s worth more money.
Williams was also upset with what he perceives as excessive media scrutiny into his private life and at the Bulldogs making him publicly admit he had problems with alcohol last year.
His departure comes after St George Illawarra centre Mark Gasnier also signed a deal with French rugby club Stade Francais worth an estimated $2 million over two years.
Toulon are currently in the second division of French rugby but have been promoted to the top flight for next season.
They are coached by former All Blacks great Tana Umaga, with former Wallabies captain George Gregan – the world’s most-capped rugby player – having joined the club after retiring from Test football following last year’s World Cup.
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
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July 27th 2008 @ 6:05pm
Spiro Zavos said | July 27th 2008 @ 6:05pm | Report comment
Westy you are right. I would never condone what the Vichy government, with the connivance of some rugby people, did to partisans and rugby league, including persecutions, torture and confiscations. My point was that the rugby union game as a whole shouldn’t be tied into this sorry business. And not all French rugby people were implicated. You will find a very full discussion of the Vichy government’s treatment of the rugby league code in my book Watching The Rugby World Cup (Awa Press, 2007).
But as you say, the real issue of this thread is Sonny Bill Williams,especially the legal implications of his defection, and how well he might go if he does.
The NRL is asking the IRB to help it force Williams back. It also says that if Williams defects he won’t be able to come back to league in the future. All this apparently is being put forward without any irony.
But wasn’t this the sort of official behaviour rugby league authorities condemned rugby union authorities for when they banned rugby union defectors from ever coming back to union?
July 27th 2008 @ 6:27pm
Steffy said | July 27th 2008 @ 6:27pm | Report comment
Nobody is saying Williams will be banned from rugby league, just the NRL so it’s very different to the ban on rugby league (professional rugby) players playing union before 1995.
As for Vichy it’s true that the whole of rugby union or even french rugby union shouldn’t be tarred with the Vichy brush but french rugby union and by extension the rest of rugby union did profit greatly from the Vichy regime and the banning of rugby league in France and for years after war they used that profit in a non stop fight against rugby league – from petitioning the french sports authorities to disallow french RL from using the word “rugby” to having rugby league coaching banned from PE colleges (a ban which has only been lifted in the last few years)
July 27th 2008 @ 6:29pm
Koala Bear said | July 27th 2008 @ 6:29pm | Report comment
I don’t think the Bulldogs can stop Sonny Bill from playing Union or indeed if he wanted to play Soccer.. I feel the only recourse would be breach of contract and a final compensation payout to the Bulldogs for what it is worth.. $1m.. it still leaves him with $2m
~~~~~~~~
KB
July 27th 2008 @ 7:33pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2008 @ 7:33pm | Report comment
Spiro,
David Gallop in a press conference today said that an approach would be made to the IRB (by the IRL?) on the matter. This may be more sensible than immediate court proceedings against “Money Bill” or Toulon. While there are no doubt some IRB member’s reps who would happily say, after all the years of league poaching, “get over it”, cooler heads might prevail. With the realisation that cashed up clubs from either code could indulge in enticing players to breach existing contracts, both accross and even within the codes, the issue of transfer fees rasies its head. The NZRU would probably like to see a transfer fee system introduced within rugby, and there is no sensible commercial reason not to seek an agreement between rugby and league on the subject. I wonder what transfer fee the doggies might have fixed for Williams?
The cashed up french rugby clubs are already pillaging rugby in the Pacific Islands, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and seem to now have set their sights on the NRL. I’m sure the various CEO’s could come up with a scheme, but would the more parochial board memebers go for it?
July 27th 2008 @ 8:04pm
Nick said | July 27th 2008 @ 8:04pm | Report comment
I’m in Singapore for work at the moment and was wandering around the riverfront / central area and just saw Sonny Bill Williams walk into the Jumbo Seafood restaurant. He was with another bloke and was walking around like a normal tourist. I had to do a double take but it was definitely him, tats and all. My bet is he’s meeting the deal makers half way to Europe. Either way I hope he goes to rugby.
July 27th 2008 @ 8:41pm
gregH said | July 27th 2008 @ 8:41pm | Report comment
wow…
leaguies taking the moral hight ground.. union compared to the nazi’s..
im the same whenever i read the telegraph, see the NRL footy show or hear a leaguie..I think “jeez these guys are enlightened”
July 27th 2008 @ 8:48pm
Redb said | July 27th 2008 @ 8:48pm | Report comment
What was that the old saying about union makes them league takes them! Looks like the tables have been turned, no use crying about it.
Redb
July 27th 2008 @ 8:58pm
Next year! said | July 27th 2008 @ 8:58pm | Report comment
Gallop says …”it is an act of piracy”……………..
For years league took Union players …………………..and did RL care it was commiting “acts of piracy”?
Looks like the chickens are coming home RL !
July 27th 2008 @ 9:33pm
Ian Noble said | July 27th 2008 @ 9:33pm | Report comment
The French clubs are determined to become top dogs in Europe. They have no salary cap, whereas the Guinness Premier League has just raised it’s salary cap to £4M per season, which is considered to be insufficient by some clubs to compete with the French.
I am pleased there is a salary cap as it will potentially offer more chances for younger English players to get more game time, which will inevitably help the England national side. It also means that the English clubs may be more choosey in their choice of off shore players.
Transfer fees are a feature of some inter-club transactions in England, witness the recent moves of Tait and Flood from Newcastle to Sale and Leicester. In the global world they may become a feature, but the free movement of players is difficult to prevent in the EU. Although there are increasing signs that the “Kolpak” rules may change in an effort to stop the abuse of this ruling by other sports not just rugby.
I also find it a little ironic as I heard on BBC radio a discussion about the forthcoming RLWC the chief guy in Oz for the RLWC 2008 ( Colin somebody) sprouting on about how wonderful RL was and the success of the game throughout the World. When reading postings on the Roar about falling attendances, high profile NRL players moving to Union, thuggery in the game and an appearance of general malaise; no wonder some of these players want to move on. I find it difficult to reconcile his opinion with the reality which normally comes through postings on the Roar.
By the way I have no gripe with RL as a game, as I do support Quins RL in addition to Quins RU.
July 27th 2008 @ 10:05pm
jimbo said | July 27th 2008 @ 10:05pm | Report comment
Ian,
RL has got a lot of negative press lately but attendances are not falling, the Super League and NRL attendances have actually increased again this season.
I’m not surprised at Money Boy Williams making a beeline for the honey pot, this goes on all the time in professional sports. The professional footballer goes to the highest bidder and agents are the ones not respecting contracts, not the players.
What does surprise me though is how French RU and RL clubs are suddenly flushed with millions in cash to spend on RL players from the Arse-End-of-the-Earth. I wouldn’t have thought their competition would be that lucrative.
This isn’t being bankrolled by the AFL is it, as they continue to discredit RL in Sydney’s west in the battle to take spectators off the NRL for their Western Sydney Irish AFL team?