Khoder Nasser has given the great Wallaby inside centre and now one of the better commentators, Tim Horan, a verbal bollocking for having the audacity to suggest that next season Sonny Bill Williams will be playing for the Chiefs and the All Blacks.
At the risk of getting a verbal bollocking myself, I am putting up my hand to say that I think that Horan is right.
And the reason why Horan is probably right? Sonny Bill Williams is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete who is determined to leave a legacy as a rugby league great, an All Black great and (this is the problematic part) a world champion boxer.
The test of the legacy for Williams is titles. He has won a NRL grand final and this year has been sensational with the Roosters, leading them around the field, especially on attack, possibly to a premiership title for the first time since 2004.
If he stays uninjured he could galvanise them to go all the way.
Hailed before he bolted from the Canterbury Bulldogs to play rugby as ‘the greatest player in the game,’ Sonny Bill lost a host of fans, virtually the entire league community, with his sudden decision to break his contract with his club.
My feeling is that by coming back to league, supposedly because of a hand shake agreement with Nick Politis, Williams has attempted to restore his credibility with rugby league fans. And if this has happened, it means that when he enters the boxing part of his fabulous career he has opened up the Australian market to see him trying to make his mark in the ‘sweet science.’
Has his credibility been restored? With the majority of league journalists and supporters, I would say this is the case.
The journalists at The Daily Telegraph now refer to him as a ‘superstar’ and concede that ‘he has grown into a seriously decent man.’
All has been forgiven, apparently, after Sonny Bill Williams apologised on The Footy Show to the Bulldogs fans for the way he walked out on the club.
There are a handful of doubters. Malcolm Knox, a brilliant sports writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote last Saturday in an article titled, ‘League Cannot Drop Its Pants To Keep Sonny Bill Williams’:
“If all players were SBW-style freelancers, exciting admiration but not bloodthirsty rage, where would the competition be?
“League has always been a sport for mercenaries … but it is the one-club player who is league’s crown jewel, and if salary cap rules are bent or broken, far better that it happen for the one-clubber than for the mythical “marquee” player.”
The problem with this argument is that Sonny Bill Williams is no myth. He is the real deal. He puts bums on seats, eyes on TV and, like Brad Thorn, championship form for any team he plays for.
And league needs players like Sonny Bill Williams who can provide the magic, on and off the field, that makes the grunt work of the journeymen effective.
Even Phil Rothfield, the legendary sports editor of The Sunday Telegraph, is in despair over the way the newish CEO David Smith has lost support of the clubs.
I don’t want league supporters to take this the wrong way but in legacy terms league championships, titles and accolades are small beer in terms of world sport.
In Europe, the USA, Japan, all huge sporting markets, the Roosters are feather dusters compared with the All Blacks.
Sorry, but this is just the case. The world biggest insurance company, AIG, has its logo on the All Blacks jersey. Adidas puts its sponsorship of the All Blacks in the same category of business deals as its sponsorship of the Brazil national football team.
As well as world fame and a lot more money, rugby gives Sonny Bill Williams the chance to create a legacy that no one in the history of the sport might ever match.
If he plays for the Chiefs next season, he will be joining a team that is trying to create a new dynasty in Super Rugby by adding a third title in three years.
The Chiefs have held a place open for him in their 2014 squad in anticipation of an announcement after the NRL finals that he is coming back to Hamilton.
During the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Sonny Bill Williams was a very minor member of the winning All Blacks. He played a couple of minutes in the semi-final against the Wallabies and was given a yellow card.
He came on in the last minutes of the final, so was on the field when the victory was counted down. The rumour in New Zealand was that part of his agreement with the New Zealand Rugby Union was a guarantee of a place in the squad that played in the final.
But in 2012, SBW showed he had mastered the inside centre position. He was the complete rugby player. His play sparked the Chiefs to their first Super Rugby title (back to the legacy thing) and he contributed brilliantly to the All Blacks in The Rugby Championship.
There is another Rugby World Cup tournament in England in 2015. If Williams stars for the All Blacks in this tournament, he will become a worldwide superstar.
But there is more. Rugby Sevens will be played at the Rio Olympics for the first time, and rugby’s re-entry into the Olympics after it was dropped in the 1920s.
Imagine the spotlight on Sonny Bill Williams if he plays for the All Black Sevens and sparks them to Olympic Gold!
The scary thing is that while other players can fantasise about reaching such heights of glory, Sonny Bill Williams knows he can do it, and he relishes the challenge of putting himself under the pressure of achieving the seemingly unachievable.
And this is why I think he will make the jump across codes and across the Tasman.
Rod
Guest
Wow what a story lol so I guess the NBA doesn't need Kobe and LeBron or the NHL doesn't need Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin. Every game needs superstars these are the players kids aspire to, something you clearly know nothing about Spiro for an "expert".
TREX
Guest
Let him go, I'm Pacific Islander and this guy thinks we are all private school educated here in the South Pacific where rugby reign surpreme. Every rugby league fan with a chip on their shoulder have always used the same tactics and almost identical lines and sentences and any rugby or AFL fans can see it coming. Its not rugby's fault that league decided to turn professional and leave their game in the hands of a few professional clubs in NSW and Northern England while we play and stay amateur for the love of the game and spread our sport through international tours and competitions. Now that rugby has turned professional, all we needed was our clubs/provinces/grassroots to be stronger and well funded to join our already professionally well run international competitions and world cup. Long live rugby.
TREX
Guest
While in Japan Coca Cola will play against Toyota in the Japanese Top league professional rugby championship.
TREX
Guest
Of all sports in the region Australian Rules Football has the highest level of corporate sponsorship with $US136 million. Rugby is second with $US105 million while rugby league is third with $US90 million ahead of motorsport with $US77 million. The author of the report, Simon Rines said: "Rugby Union's high showing is down to the very large deals achieved by the All Blacks in New Zealand. "Adidas pays in the region of $US25 million per year and AIG, the shirt sponsor, $US12.4 million." While rugby dominates the sponsorship income in New Zealand, it is only seventh in national earnings in Australia. http://www.sportal.co.nz/rugby-union/news/all-blacks/sponsors-pay-$182-million-for-nz-sport-252907
TREX
Guest
Scotland will never win a FIFA world cup as long as their football is based on just two clubs and who wins the old firm match. Every time a RL fan come on here they always either bring up soccer to argue a rugby vs league debate or the population line. USA, Japan and China should have all been football world cup champions according to our friend from Ipswich Grammar.
TREX
Guest
Well good for your old man and for you to follow in his hatred of rugby but now and then please let him know that rugby is now the biggest team contact sport on the planet and is played by people of all walks of life and different backgrounds.
TREX
Guest
Typical RL fan. They just can't take it that rugby is bigger than their sport. I've been all over Europe and lived in the UK for over 20 years and as soon as I mention New Zealand 99% of the time the All Blacks and their Haka is the word that comes out of their mouth. Glen Innes you do realize that field hockey is the national sport of India but cricket is the most popular sport.
nzmate
Guest
GI, your comments are just turning into a complete rant... Scotland soccer v all blacks rugby as a determination of a sports global reach? snobbery - that old chestnut? a sport for fat rich kids? league and afl fans no where their game sits? keep commenting and watch your credibility on this site drop even further.
shahsan
Guest
I think you do. Your knowledge of soccer is unimpressive. (Holland not a superpower because it hasnt won the world cup? hah) "Sport for rich fat kids"? Glasgow? Ipswich? Rugby league? It all makes sense now.
shahsan
Guest
Again, I did make the qualification early on that rugby is inarguably the "world's most popular contact sport played by teams". I have never watched more than two people fighting in a boxing ring. And you insist that ice hockey is more popular worldwide. Yes, it probably will be when the ice sheets cover most of the earth's surface again in about a million years. I named those countries because I know they don't play rugby much at all in those countries. But if you go to China, Russia, USA etc, it depends whom you ask. Those who have travelled and seen the world or gone to university or the army would know about rugby, and thus the All Blacks. The ones you met on your travels or who inhabit your circle probably haven't. Yes, rugby people are happy with our place in the world etc. But we're not happy with ignorant people denigrating it with cheap shots when they don't know the facts.
shahsan
Guest
I don't know what your point is.
shahsan
Guest
It's not snobbery, mate. It's just me trying to counter stupid, illogical, uncalled for comments by people who know little but think they know a lot and take cheap, unsubstantiated potshots at a sport because they have a huge chip on the shoulder about the type of people they think play it.
shahsan
Guest
No mate, Scotland did have a chance to win teh soccer world cup when it used to produce excellent players in the 70s and 80s. With a bit of luck, and especially with a kinder draw, it could have done very well in the period 1974-86. Unfortunately, subsequent generations of Scottish players are pretty lousy. Here we go again: yes, rugby is not as popular as soccer - nothing is, and rugby has never claimed to be. But it is fairly global, with about half of the world's countries playing it. Again, I am not saying 100 countries could win the world cup, probably only 8-10, at best, could. It is the same, probably worse, with basketball, cricket, hockey, baseball, volleyball etc. And even soccer. Yes, only 8 countries have ever won the FIFA world cup. More than 200 countries play soccer, but only 10-15 could win it at any world cup. And only 8 have won. And I would say that rugby is more global than ice hockey.
Glenn Innes
Guest
Also the old Rugby latent snobbery is never far from the surface the "educated sectors" I am starting to hate the game again thanks to this bloke,
Glenn Innes
Guest
Oh and the worlds most popular contact sport is boxing, I will you on any time maye your arguments are pathetic you keep qualifying every thing you say we are no dowm to Rugby being the worlds most popular team contact sport which is maybe true although my guess is Icew Hockey will still beat it due to it's popularity in Russia, When you name countries the All Nlacks have never been heard of in you convenientlt choose obscure ones, why didn't you name China Russia the USA Mexico, India Pakistan Turkey etc etc. You then retreat to saying Rugby peoplae are happy with where their game lies on the world stage,great I
Glenn Innes
Guest
One last thing, the All Blacks are sponsored by multi national companies - so what. The AfL is sponsored by Toyota the worlds largest vehicle manafacturer and Coca Cola the worlds largest beverage maker, of course multi national companies sponsor whatever is big in whatever market they are competing in.
Glenn Innes
Guest
Anyway let the Rugby mob delude themselves - as least League and AFL fans are realistic about their place in the world, I promise to make no more comments on the issue so the Rugby crowd can dream on in their fools paradise without irritation.
Glenn Innes
Guest
Scotland has a population similar to New Zealand (a little bigger actually) and football is every bit as big in Scotland as Rugby is in New Zealand but Scotland wouldn't stand a snow flakes chance in hell of winning a world cup, let alone being the sports global power because football is a global sport and Rugby belongs to a handful of nations as The Times excellent sports writer Simon Barnes has often stated.
Glenn Innes
Guest
I don't need to google when it comes to football mate I was born in Glasgow and my dad was a mad keen rangers fan - although he developed a love of Rugby League when we migrated to Ipswich QLD back in the mid sixties,Wild horses wouldn.t have dragged him to a Rugby game he regarded as a sport for fat rich kids.
Roarer
Guest
I wouldn't. He'd be wasted in union.