So the unexpected news has come – Sonny Bill Williams is staying on in 2014 when many expected him to jump back to Super Rugby and New Zealand with the Chiefs in.
He was only contracted for season 2013 on a pay packet of around $700,000, but the fact he can play for the Chiefs in 2015 and still be eligible for the World Cup has benefited the NRL – and especially the Sydney Roosters.
After a superb 2013 season which culminated in a premiership win for the Sydney Roosters, SBW staying on in 2014 will keep interest levels and crowd numbers high – not just for the Sydney Roosters, but the rest of the competition they play against.
The Roosters were fine to let him go after he helped them win a premiership, but with SBW on their side again it will be easier to defend than if he wasn’t.
Not that they wouldn’t be able to defend it if he was not there, but his work rate and unrivalled ability to offload and create quick movement for a line break will help.
This is the type of athlete who can command any pay packet he wants because of the attention and income he brings to the game.
A superb athlete who can excel at both union and league with ease, with both codes sets of skill being on show over the years.
His 2013 season showed the variety of positions he can play in, and as a New Zealander he is on show when State of Origin takes out some of the best players in the game for a few weeks.
The NRL can go out and schedule as many Friday night matches as they want featuring the Roosters, knowing that with SBW playing they can cash in on the TV viewers watching a very organised side go about their business.
The professionalism he brings to the club on and off the field has been unprecedented. This will help the Roosters keep developing a stronger culture for next year and beyond – just what they needed after a few seasons of turmoil.
The NRL should aim to use SBW as the face of the game next year before the season starts. Even though he is heading back to union in 2015, it will bring more attention at the right time of year.
More importantly, it’ll direct positive attention back to the game after some of the incidents that passed this year.
If SBW did bow out in the premiership win this year, that may have been the last time we saw him running around in league thanks to the Chiefs’ ‘feel good factor’ and a boxing career that gets attended to every now and then.
It is good that he decided to have a break from boxing for the next three years. Otherwise there is every chance he could have received a ‘knockout blow’ which would cancel his Rugby Union World Cup, Olympic Sevens and Lion’s tour hopes.
Thankfully, there is at least one more season to see him in the game of rugby league. There is every chance he could return in his 30s, but given the Lions tour in 2017 for the All Blacks it is unlikely that he will be back after season 2014.
He may decide to keep playing, but if he can achieve what he wants to by the end of 2017 then he may give boxing more of a shot.
While he is still in the game, let’s all enjoy what we still have in the NRL before it is gone.
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