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In July this year, New Zealand Rugby Union CEO Steve Tew updated the media on the progress of negotiations to bring Sonny Bill Williams back to New Zealand for the 2014 rugby season.
“Our guys have been talking to Khoder for some time, as has always been the case with Khoder, it’s a very up-front conversation,” Tew said.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen also praised the manager.
“Khoder has been nothing but straight up in his dealings with myself and the New Zealand Rugby Union and kept us informed right from day one. We may not always have agreed but we appreciated his honestly and his transparency.”
These statements are hard to reconcile with the public’s perception of Nasser, who generally see him as a negative influence on SBW, and whose dealings are anything but up front.
Whether you like him or not, you can’t deny that what he has achieved with and for Williams is nothing short of phenomenal.
For the last week the Williams story has dominated the headlines on both sides of the Tasman, in a way no other Australasian based story, whether a sports one or not, could.
In doing so, SBW has been taken to a new level in the consciousness of both countries. He has become, certainly in the English-speaking world of rugby (both league and union), the most famous player in either rugby code.
I would go so far as to say that in those English-speaking markets, his fame has now probably eclipsed even that of the great Jonah Lomu.
Let’s look at what happened this week. It started with a fairytale NRL premiership with the Roosters. Of the 16 NRL teams, he just happened to pick the one that would eventually win it.
Next, he caused an uproar with his Kiwis backflip, single-handedly bringing more global publicity to the Rugby League World Cup in two days than the organisers have managed since the 2013 competition was announced a few years ago.
Third, in another complete turnaround, he pledges his allegiance to the Roosters for the 2014 season, resulting in another media storm.
The saga of the chase for his signature and where he would play in 2014 was a masterclass of how to manipulate the media.
Some people criticise this media game. But when you have a once in a generation athlete like SBW, he and his management must maximise income while they can, where they can, and that means staying with the NRL in 2014.
I was initially disappointed with his decision to remain with the Roosters next year. I thought he was turning his back on the All Blacks, and was very much looking forward to seeing him play with the Chiefs, if only because he’s a New Zealander, and this is his home.
But I don’t blame him. The Roosters and New Zealand Rugby Union would have been offering similar money, but in a non-Rugby World Cup year, the fact is, the playing in the NRL offers SBW more potential media exposure than rugby union does.
If Williams wants to make the All Blacks’ 2015 Rugby World Cup squad, the stars again are going to have to align – as they have done with the Roosters’ premiership title, and indeed, throughout his entire career.
It will be interesting to what if those stars do. No doubt, there will be another media circus this time next year, when his reported one-year deal with the Roosters ends.
When we talk about SBW on the field, we use words like phenomenal, pivotal and brilliant. Off the field, he is the most talked about person in Australasia.
People criticise him for his boxing, for example, but I wouldn’t want to step into the ring with Franz Botha or any of the other brawlers he’s taken on, knowing millions of people are watching.
Imagine the pressure in doing that, or in playing for the All Blacks, or in an NRL grand final.
And he’s come through every single ordeal under unprecedented media scrutiny, with a level head, quietly training away, focused, sober, without getting into trouble with the law, or needing rehab or a sabbatical.
I believe Nasser needs to be given a lot of credit.
He has led the way in sports marketing and promotion in this part of the world. He has consistently taken calculated risks with the career one of New Zealand’s greatest athletes, and to date, they have all paid off magnificently.
This is not about stars aligning, as I alluded to earlier, but the very astute and ingenious management of Khoder Nasser.
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