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Sonny Bill Williams would be a steal at $800k a season for any NRL club – he is that good. Many stalwarts have still not accepted him as a world-class player, and when I talk to respected figures that have been in the game for over 50 years, they talk about Coote and McCarthy, but refuse to put SBW in the same class.
Some say that he never stood the test of time, although the same people never put that label on Wally Lewis, who was disappointing at club level compared to Origin. Some say that SBW was injured for a major part of his four years at the Canterbury Bulldogs and never really dominated, having only played five games in 2005 and 11 in 2008 before he famously stormed out and caught a plane to Europe.
It is understandable that SBW is unpopular with many fans, but let’s not use his off-field antics to cloud his god-given talent that he displays on a rugby league field.
When I think about the best players I have seen, I don’t think for long, as Andrew Johns is clearly the best player, and Sonny Bill Williams is clearly the best forward. There is no contest for either, as I have not witnessed another player do what they can do on a footy field. They both commanded enormous influence when rating a game and if one of them was not playing, their team would blow out in the betting by a converted try and sometimes more.
Given that SBW was not the go-to man like Johns was, and he was not the talker or tactical kicker, a forward should not normally influence the market that much, but SBW was special and when he had the ball in his giant hands something always happened.
When he played in the forwards at the Bulldogs, he could run faster than any of the backs, but he was still able to play long minutes and his defence was brutal, especially his shoulder charge that started kids saying ”Give me the Sonny Bill”.
Boring All Blacks coach Graham Henry was never going to be a SBW fan and he almost lost the recent World Cup proving it. Henry liked to programme his players like robots, and sublime skills that Sonny Bill would display like slipping a pass when he had three defenders hanging off him was frowned upon by the coach.
This was the opportunity for Roosters recruitment GM Peter O’Sullivan to make a phone call as he knew that SBW was not appreciated by New Zealand, and he knows what a difference SBW would make to the Roosters if he formally signs up for 2013.
Although O’Sullivan has signed 5/8th James Maloney from the Warriors for 2013, it may suit the Roosters best if the number 6 shirt was carried by SBW, who was devastating every time he played second receiver for the Bulldogs. With fullback Minichiello retiring, the flying Maloney would make an ideal replacement, which would allow SBW to be on the field for 80 minutes and give the Roosters a formidable spine that would also include Pearce and Friend.
Cock a doodle doo.
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