Steve Price won’t get excited about Sonny Bill Williams’ mooted return to the NRL until he hears his former Bulldogs teammate pledge his desire for a comeback to the 13-man code.
NRL crisis club Newcastle will need to content themselves with an “above average tradesman” to replace departed Chris Houston and Danny Wicks, with the salary cap preventing them from chasing the game’s superstars.
Sonny Bill Williams is set to become the greatest modern day dual code forward to represent his native country. While that may sound impressive, the fact is that the honors list of is not that honorable. At least in size.
It seems logical. Mark Gasnier completes his contract with Stade Francais in June, signs with a Super rugby side for 2010, plays midweek matches on the Wallabies’ spring tour and heads to the 2011 World Cup. Maybe, maybe not, says Gasnier’s former coach in France, Ewen McKenzie.
It was announced today that Jarryd Hayne has won the 2009 Jarryd Hayne Medal for the best player of the NRL in 2009.
I’m a true All Black supporter from Namibia. We do have an average fan base here, but we are outnumbered by far by public enemy No 1: Bok supporters!
It’s time for an Australian television channel to start showing French and Japanese rugby. With the enormous number of Aussie rugby and league stars playing in these competitions, interest in the games is growing daily.
Although I am not a Broncos fan, Hunt was a great asset for the NRL when he burst onto the scene in 2004. In his debut game for Brisbane, his irst touch of the football saw him on the end of a thunderous shoulder charge from then Warriors winger Francis Meli.
So another player leaves from rugby league to head to another code, only this time the code is not rugby union but AFL. Suddenly the articles written about the TAB odds of Lote Tuqiri heading to the A-League aren’t so funny.
Karmichael Hunt’s switch to Australian Rules “doesn’t mean the sky is falling” on rugby league, says NRL boss David Gallop.
Dear Sonny Bill, or perhaps that should be Bonjour! I’m writing to you to congratulate you on achieving what your manager Khoder Nassar proclaimed was your goal when you left rugby league: to “transcend sport”.
Forget the big chill in Canberra, Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock was more intent on turning up the heat up on Craig Gower ahead of his eagerly-awaited Test rugby debut on Saturday night.
Historically regarded as a team that takes time to warm into a Test season, it was a portentous performance from the Wallabies in what will be a challenging season for the Australians.
Sonny Bill Williams’ first touch for the Barbarians (7) against the Wallabies (55) saw him step inside Stirling Mortlock. The big crowd at the Sydney Football Stadium erupted in an explosion of noise that carried the message: ‘He is going to make it in rugby union!’
Rugby convert Sonny Bill Williams has revealed he is eligible to represent the Wallabies because he has an Australian grandmother, describing himself as “a bit Aussie”.
The Wallabies tamed Sonny Bill Williams and thrashed a disjointed Barbarians side to open their international season with a 55-7 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night.
Despite Greg Growden’s lobbying in the SMH and the much touted claims that the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) is the “spiritual” home of Rugby in Sydney the facts are apparent. The SFS is a small ground and for the Wallabies v Barbarians game, the fans did not fill it.
Barbarians centre Sonny Bill Williams would have scored a try with his first touch of the ball in international rugby if not for an outstanding last-gasp tackle from Wallabies halfback Luke Burgess.
Stirling Mortlock sees no need to remind Sonny Bill Williams that shoulder charges are illegal in rugby union, but uppercuts are another matter.
It will be an examination that coach Robbie Deans will cherish, when his first Test match of 2009 is against one of the most star-studded selection sides ever seen.
