Manly have been warned to brace themselves for a fired-up Sonny Bill Williams in the grand final, after the Sydney Roosters star was surprisingly snubbed at the Dally M awards.
Despite his enormous impact on the Roosters’ grand final run this season, Williams didn’t feature in the top 10 on the leaderboard for the overall prize and was beaten to the second rower of the year gong by clubmate Boyd Cordner.
Roosters’ great Luke Ricketson says even after just one year at Bondi Junction, Williams had proven himself as the club’s greatest signing since Brad Fittler and Phil Gould arrived as a player/coach combination in the mid-1990s.
Ricketson said he was shocked Williams was overlooked at the awards ceremony on Wednesday, but hopes it will serve as a blessing in disguise for the Roosters against the Sea Eagles.
“He could have definitely won a few awards and hopefully it spurs him on for Sunday,” Ricketson said.
“He’s been tremendous for the game and his impact on the Roosters has been massive every game.
“He’s been one of our top two or three players every game and he didn’t get the recognition.”
Ricketson said he can’t go past Fittler and Gould as the two recruits who have had the most influence on the Roosters in the past quarter century.
However, he said if Williams decides against a move back to rugby union and re-signs with the Roosters, there’s no reason why he can’t make a similar mark.
Ricketson said Williams’ professionalism had made a vital impression on young Polynesian players at the club – a crucial ingredient in their push for a first title since 2002.
“Sonny has been huge, especially in this era where it’s all about professionalism,” said the retired 300-game lock.
“A lot of Polynesian kids look up to Sonny and he’s taught them some amazing things and they’ll keep that throughout their careers.
“He’s good on and off the field. He’s been a marketer’s dream.
“I just hope we can hang onto him for the next couple of years.”
Another Roosters legend, Russell Fairfax, also expressed surprise at Williams’ missing out on Dally M recognition, but said it showed the former Bulldog had developed into a true team player.
“It’s not about him, it’s about doing stuff for the other guys,” Fairfax said.
Jerry Kuntz
Guest
Kiwis, lets prove them in the world cup, that we are still here
Wozza
Guest
Mini shoulda got capt of the year . 31 yrs old ,captained the chooks to the MP and a GF ,best defence ,best attack has had a fantastic year in his position and they give it to CS..... They suck the storms big threes doodles something chonic ..
mike
Guest
He was nominated for 2nd rower of the year. Agreed and i also believe that Cordner is an exceptional player who has had a big year. But no way could he have fairly won that Dally M award. How long has he been out of the game injured? How many matches has he missed? Are you telling me all those previous games points add up to more than SBW's up until the Rabbitobs round 26 game? No way in hell. That is definitely rigged. I doubt Sonny cares though seeing as it went to a fellow chook. Perhaps that's why whoever judges it gave it to him and not watmough. He was nominated for the Provan-summons award yet inglis won it. No way is inglis more popular than SBW. SBW's popularity is very broad across the league fan spectrum - even if he also has more haters than inglis. The burgess brothers won the Peter Frilingos award because of 1 moment when they all played together against the tigers. Big whoop!!! Are you telling me the media attention around that was more than the hype around SBW's return. Get real!!!! Also he was nowhere to be seen in the Dally M tally reckoning. Surely he should of at least been in the top 20!!! Anyway, i agree with others that he couldn't really give a hoot. But what this snubbing will do is reinforce his inner circles belief that he isn't really respected by the NRL (beyond being a tool to sell the game to the public & sponsors), & that they can never really forgive his actions of yester-year. Rugby officials just moved a step closer to having him return after only 1 year in the NRL.
TREX
Guest
SBW haters still run rampant in the NRL. Should have been the best 12 in the game full stop.
Tui
Guest
SBW was not nominated because he is a Kiwi its as simple as that
Dr Yes
Guest
SBW is a better player than Cronk, and he's had a better year than Cronk. Dally M is broken, because: - It doesn't understand game-breaking, hard-working, defensive, nor even 'back 3' roles in teams. It rightfully rewards playmakers, but mis-values the impact of an SBW, a Parker, a Fifita, a JWH, a Watmough, a Lyon, B Stewart, a Ballin, a Fensom, a Friend. All of the players mentioned had a superior year to Cronk. It doesn't reward all of the big tacklers equally. SBW has made the big tackles, busts, cut-out passes, offloads - a player of 'quantity' & 'impact'. Ditto Parker, Fifita - players of 'quantity' that win territory & spark attacking phases. Ditto Stewart - a player of 'impact'. The fact that 10 of the top 12 players were halves, tells there's bias. No forwards have been as athletic & smart as the halves? Some have been truly Artie-like. - It favours unbalanced teams & over-rates players who do it all themselves For a given level of performance, you can score many more points if the rest of your team is under-perfoming. Taking hold of a game and making big plays should certainly be rewarded. It is. But working hard on one percenters that cause game-breakers should be rewarded more than it is. Setting up your team-mates to star, selflessly handing over the try & break stats to others should be more valued. The Dally M rewards players who have a bit of an over-played role with the ball, sometimes missing team opportunities, through 'lesser stars'. - It weights finals games as 'zero'. Probably the biggest flaw. If you wan't to get propeller-head mathematical, the first final should be a 'two' (top-half of comp), second a 'three' (top third of comp), third a 'four' (top quarter of comp) and GF an 'eight' (top eighth of comp). Then, if a team ended up playing 29 games, could reduce points (x 26/29), so that the weighted number of games was 26 for all. Cronk's performance over last few games and in finals was poor (the most critical games of the year). SBW's performance over these games has been excellent. To judge Cronk the player of the year is absurd and embarrassing. Am knocking the system here, not Cronk - he's had plenty of top-level years in the past and is a truly great player, but this year wouldn't rate in his top 5. - It doesn't understand the bad luck of a few weeks injury. Missing 4 weeks of 26 should give no penalty. Playing all 26 games gives a perverse advantage over some of the games biggest players, who expend effort and commit themselves to dangerous situations for the team, and consequently get a few weeks out injured. You could weight all players who exceeded 26 games as if they played 20. Rest assured, the true player of the year will be on the ground on Sunday. He'll be digging deep all game and working well with his team mates to win the arm wrestle. He'll have vision, athleticism and make an impact at important times. If all goes well, his team will win. For mine, it's SBW. With a few other Roosters (JWH, Friend, Pearce, Maloney) and Sea Eagles (Lyon, DCE, Watmough, Stewart), not too far behind. Good luck all!
jerry tingke
Guest
sbw,is the man. we watch nrl on tv just see him play.
eagleJack
Guest
He was nominated for second rower of the year. And the Provan-Summons
eagleJack
Guest
SBW will go out and play like a man possessed on Sunday because he is SBW. The ultimate professional. Not because he didn't win an award. The guy couldn't careless about that sort of stuff.
maximillian
Guest
Ikin mentioned on 360 last night that SBW wasn't even in the top 20?! He wasn't even a finalist for backrower of the year which is astounding! Im sick of all the SBW media exposure but there is no doubt he is 1 of the best players in the game. To me that says the Dally M scoring system needs to be looked at.