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I must admit that when I read that Sonny Bill Williams was trying to slide back into rugby league, I was not surprised. I was not surprised he wanted to come back to the game which made him, because he is more suited to it than the fifteen-man game, and can have a greater impact. I was also not surprised to learn that the Roosters were involved in this courtship.
If they are the door through which Sonny Bill Williams walks back into rugby league, they will be doing the game a great deal of damage, and will test the ability of the NRL to intervene to save the game’s dignity.
Sonny Bill Williams’ attempt to saunter back into rugby league as if he had never left cannot be allowed to pass. To do so would be to say that the circumstances in which he left were within the contractual obligations of a player, not to mention the societal obligations of common decency. Simply, if he is allowed to play in the NRL again, the NRL will be saying that the way he left was ok.
It wasn’t. Sonny Bill Williams left the NRL without telling anyone. He didn’t tell his club, he didn’t tell his coach, he didn’t tell the league. He did not seek a release, nor did he explain himself. He just left. He was offered a big fat wad of money to play rugby in France, so he took it. And that was that.
Leaving rugby league for union or AFL does not instantly make one a pariah. Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri are examples of players who have come back from the rah-rahs and won over the fans instantly. The reason? Because when they left, they went about it the right way. They didn’t just go. They waited until their contract with their NRL club expired, and they signed a new one somewhere else, just like any employee around the country is entitled to do.
But not Williams. He’s different altogether. He just went, and sorted the rest out later. He, unlike Sailor, Tuqiri and Rogers, will not be welcomed back.
If he does come back, the fans will boo him. Canterbury fans will be most fervent in their abuse, one suspects, but their scorn and outrage will be shared by those who fill every ground in Australia. Even some Roosters fans may be uneasy, and a few of them may say so. But that will not be enough, because he will still be getting paid, and he’ll still be playing the game.
If the rumours regarding the Roosters’ interest are true, and he eventually does sign a contract with them, the NRL must intervene by refusing to sanction it. Rugby league needs to have some respect for itself and be willing to say no. There will be plenty of people (Danny Weidler will no doubt be at the front of this particular queue) who will say that he is a great player and that he will be good for the game, that the NRL need him to promote their sport.
The NRL must not fall prey to this logic, which is the product of clever marketing managers.
No matter how good he is, he does not respect the NRL. If the NRL respects itself, it must tell him to look elsewhere, that they only want players who they can trust to treat the game and its fans right. Who can be sure he won’t do it again?
Rugby league has to stand up to Sonny Bill Williams and his parasitic management team, and tell them that they are not wanted. Due to the disregard shown for the game when he left it, Sonny Bill Williams does not deserve to play rugby league again. The NRL should tell him so.
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