Much like Sonny Bill Williams, I can’t seem to make up my mind.
One one hand, as a New Zealand sports fan, I’m happy he’s in the Kiwi squad for the World Cup. On the other hand, I’m p****d off about the whole debacle.
Having signaled his intentions to take his “first holiday since 2008”, the Roosters back-rower back-flipped on Tuesday night – after a 24-man World Cup squad had already been selected – and announced his sudden availability to “help the brothers if they want me”.
Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney wasted little time adding SBW to the team at the expense of 21-year old Melbourne Storm rookie Tohu Harris.
The league and union worlds went crazy, and that’s where my problem is.
I want my country to win the World Cup, so I have no problem with SBW’s inclusion in the team.
It’s professional sport. Tohu Harris is a bright young star who will play his fair share of Test matches for New Zealand. He’ll be back, I have no issue there.
As a huge fan and follower of both codes, I’m not caught up the ‘loyalty’ issue either.
Sonny Bill is the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen in real life and the perception that he should remain ‘loyal’ to one sport or another, rather than capitalising on his earning potential while he can, seems ridiculous.
There’s little room for sentimentality in professional sports these days – Benji Marshall found that out the hard way. People get selected, dropped, traded, injured and old.
The world moves on, like the Wests Tigers did with Benji.
My issue is the hype SBW has created by flip-flopping and the destabilisation it could cause within a team attempting to prepare for the biggest international tournament in rugby league.
He’ll be a huge drawcard for an event that might not otherwise register on the UK sporting radar, but the press in Australia and New Zealand will probably not – for the most part – be complimentary.
He’s good enough and experienced enough to ignore it.
In Rugby World Cups, Super Rugby finals, NRL grand finals and boxing matches – probably the most mentally and physically daunting atmosphere in the sports world – he’s done it time and time again.
He lets his actions on the field speak for themselves.
But no matter how good the man is, it’s a team sport, and I wonder what impact his late inclusion could have on the rest of the squad.
Harris played a Test for New Zealand earlier this year, while Williams hasn’t been part of the national side in over five seasons.
Roosters players excluded, how much interaction has he had with his new teammates? How do they feel about SBW floating into the side on a whim?
After a few weeks of hype at the start of the season, the Roosters settled into their work and ground out win after win on the way to a premiership with SBW leading the charge.
But an NRL season is a marathon compared to the sprint of a World Cup. The team had time to bond and the hysteria soon subsided.
His positive influence – particularly over youngsters like Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Daniel Tupou – has been widely lauded.
But, does he have enough time to make a meaningful impact on his representative teammates amid the chaos by the clutch end of the World Cup?
Geez, I hope so.
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