Breaking the mould
26 Jul 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in Business Day Sport Monthly, says Sonny Bill Williams, far from being a sell-out to rugby union, is a pioneer.
Williams could play his last rugby union match in New Zealand when the Chiefs host the Crusaders in the first Super Rugby semi-final and Keohane argues that those with unique sporting talent should not be financially punished because of the limitations of those around them.
The only surprise in Sonny Bill Williams’ professional sporting career was the abruptness with which he left the Sydney Bulldogs, the only team he has played for where there was an emotional attachment. Williams loved the Bulldogs in a manner Dan Carter loves the Crusaders, Jean de Villiers the Stormers and Victor Matfield the Bulls.
Williams left New Zealand as a 15-year-old to take up an apprenticeship with the Bulldogs, made the senior squad before his 18th birthday and won the grand final with the Bulldogs in his first season proper as a 19-year-old.
The Bulldogs is the team which Williams associated with sporting ambition. He was a rugby league player who never had aspirations of playing for the All Blacks.
In effect he was more Australian than Kiwi when he signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) in 2010. Williams has never attempted to disguise the motivation behind his decision to test himself in rugby union. It only came about because of former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga’s influence when Umaga played alongside and coached Williams at the French club Toulon four years ago.
Williams stunned Australians when he quit the Bulldogs midway through his contract. The shock turned to anger and the sporting public voted him the most hated man in Australia.
Those suggesting Williams has turned his back on the All Blacks and on New Zealand rugby are emotional and have not considered that Williams never chased the All Blacks jersey – the chasing was done by the NZRU bosses and it was because of Umaga’s belief that the player could be massive for the All Blacks and an inspiration to New Zealand rugby.
Williams was good for the All Blacks in his first season in November 2010 and brilliant in the three-Test series against Ireland. His performance in the third and final Test was his best for the All Blacks and at the final whistle he could rightly claim to be the form international No 12, not just in New Zealand but in the world.
De Villiers, generally considered the best inside centre in the game in the past five years, is playing outside centre for the Springboks and the imposing Welshman Jamie Roberts did not play against Australia because of injury.
Anyone who disputes what Williams has achieved in rugby is deluded. His impact in the New Zealand domestic game was as dramatic and immediate as that of Jonah Lomu in 1994, and probably even more remarkable because his first introduction to rugby union was a 15-month spell at Toulon in the south of France after he quit rugby league.
Williams was a revelation in the 2011 Super Rugby season for the Crusaders. He was so different to anyone who had played professional rugby at inside centre. He did things no other player has ever done in that position in a sport he had been playing for just 15 months.
Those who dismiss his qualities on the field can only do so out of disappointment that he won’t be playing rugby union in 2013. But the New Zealand public has not seen the last of him in an All Blacks jersey because he is good enough to return in 2014 or even as late as the 2015 Super Rugby season and make the All Blacks World Cup squad.
Williams never tried to con the New Zealand rugby public about his motives for leaving France. He said Umaga had planted the seed in the form of a challenge to the player to take himself out of the comfort zone in France and test himself against the best in rugby union. Umaga was adamant Williams had the qualities to succeed, but more than that he saw first-hand the unique skills that no other current inside centre possesses or has ever possessed.
When he did play for the All Blacks, Williams was good and in his 17th Test he was exceptional. He is that good and if he committed to rugby union until his sporting days ended the potential of him being acknowledged as an All Blacks great would no doubt have been realised. His decision to put on hold that possibility means the traditional New Zealand rugby supporter will never afford him that, but again that has never been the motivation for Williams.
When he arrived in New Zealand he stated that he had a year to make an impact and prove to himself that he could play the sport at the highest level. He has certainly done that.
He has achieved his goal, even if the rugby public’s goals were something quite different.
Williams has never disrespected the All Blacks jersey and he has never asked for a handout. So many have been quick to condemn the decision but significantly there has been nothing but praise for the player from his team-mates at the Chiefs and the All Blacks and from his former team-mates at the Crusaders.
Carter, who was so important to Williams’ rugby union development in the 2011 Super Rugby season, said anyone engrained in rugby union would want Williams to stay because of his qualities as a player. Wayne Smith, the former All Blacks backline coach and the man who continued the mentorship of Williams at the Chiefs, said it had been astonishing how quickly Williams had matured into a world-class rugby union player.
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie added that the public perception was that Williams was a law unto himself because of the unique nature of his contract with the NZRU, which made provisions for him to continue his professional boxing career, but that it was not the case among those who worked with him on a daily basis.
Williams, far from being a sell-out to rugby union, is a pioneer. Think about it. He has never settled for comfort or convenience. He has said he has another five years as a professional sportsman and he wanted to maximise his earning potential, be it through boxing, rugby union or rugby league.
He initially had not planned to stay in New Zealand’s domestic rugby union competition this year and he has only ever operated on short-term contracts since leaving the Bulldogs. The attitude of the New Zealand rugby bosses towards Williams has been nothing but positive and it would be a surprise if he didn’t find inspiration in the challenge of a starring role in the 2015 rugby union World Cup in England.
Why begrudge a player his right to maximise his income? Why make him choose one or the other? All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s primary goal will be to defend the World Cup and he will want to select the best possible squad. If Williams commits to a year in rugby union in 2015 he would be an asset to the campaign.
The disapproval of Williams’ way among traditionalists of the sport is not dissimilar to what I heard so many South African supporters say when Frans Steyn signed a three-year contract to play in France after being instrumental to the Springboks’ 2007 World Cup success.
Steyn won a World Cup as a 20-year-old, yet was accused of lacking loyalty to the Boks because his talent allowed for a better deal in Europe than he could ever be offered playing domestically in South Africa.
I can’t wait for the game to finally grow up professionally where a player is selected for his country because he is the best. Isn’t that why it is called Test rugby? The best should play the best? Rugby is a business and it is a profession for those who earn a living from playing. Why punish those with exceptional talent?
Steyn challenged the status quo because he backed his ability to perform on the biggest stage. There wasn’t a heck of a lot of support for his inclusion in the 2011 World Cup squad. He was also accused of chasing the money. Which professional in any other business doesn’t chase the bigger payday?
Supporters and many within the rugby media need to mature and accept the reality of the game’s evolution to something far more significant than those who support rugby and will always only ever see it as a sport.
Steyn was outstanding in New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup and the Boks, as we saw in the World Cup quarter-final and in the third Test against England in June, are a weaker unit when he does not play. The same will be true of Williams’ absence from the All Blacks squad.
Good teams become great teams because of the depth in the squad. Williams, like Steyn, has something most who play the game don’t have, yet there is such a reluctance to acknowledge a player’s right to earn the most he can.
Steyn and those who manage his career were labelled the villains and lacking loyalty to South Africa. In New Zealand similar accusations have been levelled at Williams, among the public and within the media; simply because neither he nor his manager Khoder Nasser conform to what is really an outdated view on the sport.
If Williams is good enough to command the kind of money he will earn from a five-month stint in rugby union in Japan, a season in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) and however long his professional boxing career can last, then it is something to be admired and applauded.
Williams and Steyn are the risk takers, which could explain why they are also among the best in what they do. The majority of the sport’s players want the comfort of three-year contracts because of the supposed need for job security.
But the nature of this business is that there is always a conveyor belt of emerging employees and often players are still on national contracts but aren’t good enough in the third year to be making the squad on performance.
Williams demands the highest possible financial reward every year but accepts he won’t have a job if he doesn’t perform. I’d rather have that kind of mindset among players than the collective safe haven of settling on one price and one code because that is the way it has always been done.
Williams says he has no regrets about the decision because he made a commitment to return to the NRL when he walked away and the emotion of playing for the All Blacks and the enjoyment he got from being a rugby player in New Zealand could not override the practical business decisions of what was best for his professional career.
Players who are willing to challenge themselves are the loyalists to excellence. Williams has unfinished business in rugby league. Not so in rugby union.
He never said he wanted to be remembered as a great of the game. He said he wanted to prove to himself he was capable of playing Test rugby and through that performance earn the respect of his team-mates, coaches, the opposition and those who support the All Blacks and the game in New Zealand.
He has more than done that. The story of Sonny Bill Williams is what he has achieved in less than two years in New Zealand rugby; not the fact that he may never feel it a motivation or challenge to return to the code.
Brad Thorn, now regarded as an All Blacks great, also returned to rugby league after the 2003 World Cup. He didn’t play in the 2007 World Cup but peaked as a rugby union player at the World Cup in 2011.
Carter and Richie McCaw have made their decisions to stay in New Zealand out of choice and not necessity. The NZRU leaders applied business practice to their two most prized assets, signed them until the end of their careers and allowed for a sabbatical between now and 2015, be that in the form of a break or a spell overseas playing club rugby.
Many who support the game deemed it a radical decision and the accusation was of preferential treatment to individuals in a team sport.
But those sporting codes that are businesses are no different to any other business, where the ethos of one company should not be confused with the individual value of those who make up the business.
Williams has an individual worth that does not need to be limited to making the choice of one code for the next five years. If he returns to New Zealand as a union player they will get a better result out of him than had he stayed for the wrong reason.
Steyn will be a greater asset to the Springboks now than had he stayed out of supposed loyalty and lost out financially in 2008. He would have been out of here now, probably never to return.
If Williams had stayed because of the feel-good factor at the Chiefs I doubt he would have been around in rugby union in 2015. I reckon he’ll be back for the All Blacks because he may just feel he wants to start in a World Cup final and not just make the match 22.
And if he doesn’t he should be remembered for doing more in 18 months than most players do in a decade.
– This article appears in the latest issue of Business Day Sport Monthly, on sale now at selected retailers. The magazine is distributed FREE with Business Day newspaper on the second last Friday of the month.
411 Comments
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26 Jul 2012, 06:10 am
Sharks 2012 Super 15 champions dragons !
26 Jul 2012, 06:55 am
“De Villiers, generally considered the best inside centre in the game in the past five years, is playing outside centre for the Springboks…….”
I think many of us outside the Cape would agree Jean is good but far from being the best in the game especially when there is literally no backline play when he is at 12.
26 Jul 2012, 07:06 am
@Lions_Soutie-2:
Bah keo making up stuff as he goes along again, closest to the truth may be that 5 years ago JDV was generally considered the best inside centre…even that may well be off the mark.
As for SBW, sorry but I just don’t buy into the hype, can’t tackle, can’t pass (shoulder charges and offloads don’t as tackling and passing), so outside of him making the NZ commentators cream their pants every time he touches the ball, I am not sure what he does to make him great.
26 Jul 2012, 07:09 am
Ho hum, another money bill article, yawn!
26 Jul 2012, 07:11 am
There are gonna be some seeeriooouusly sad guppies come Sunday
26 Jul 2012, 07:22 am
Good morning all
Here is a tune dedicated to poppa
if he is on keo today please point him to this post.
have a great day all
heaps of light and love
Chunt du Fernly
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yOGD1WkJJok
26 Jul 2012, 07:28 am
Keurboompark’s chick ditched him.
Here is a song for him/it and Dawn
I think they are a perfect match
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yHlZVwAZSB8
26 Jul 2012, 07:29 am
What a long-winded ramble, even for a SBW fanboy. When it takes more than 2000 words to justify the bloke’s actions, you can be sure the bullshit detectors are going beserk all over the place.
26 Jul 2012, 07:30 am
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19-6:
Good morning Fernly.
@Slartibartfast-3:
hehe
What the heck you been watching when Sbw takes the field? He has become more than a match for any second five out there and when he lifts the Super Trophy I will post these words again……please let it be
” so outside of him making the NZ commentators cream their pants every time he touches the ball, I am not sure what he does to make him great.”
26 Jul 2012, 07:33 am
Keo should write when he has something to write about
Pioneer, my backside is a pioneer, Ollie Le Roux did this way back in the days.Was it not Squash, water polo and ruby.Playing in SA and in Ireland.
He just likes SB money, shoulder charge player
Tell you what Keo, at least you stopped writing those stupid Kings stories
26 Jul 2012, 07:33 am
@ Te Ranged
Morning
This must be my favourite afrikaans song at the moment
Check this out.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A8y6RhgktNc
26 Jul 2012, 07:37 am
“In effect he was more Australian than Kiwi” There is a s**t load of kiwis playing for Australian NRL teams, that does not make them Australian. NSW in the State of Origin tried to entice SBW to play for them over the Kiwis, and even though there were financial gains and accolades assured, he still chose the Kiwis. I don’t think you realize how connected kiwis and rugby league are. For example I support the Brisbane Broncos with a passion on par with the All Blacks, even though I was born and raised in NZ – that does not make me Australian. Many of my friends would attest to doing the same.
26 Jul 2012, 07:43 am
@Te Rangatira-9:
Thehehe ja I am just not a fan, he is big and he is fast but I still won’t put him in a class of his own yet.
26 Jul 2012, 07:53 am
What DRIVEL just to continually re-inforce in our minds that Steyn has had as much impact as SBW, we ALL know that’s not true and it doesn’t matter how many times you say it Keo, it doesn’t make it true
26 Jul 2012, 07:53 am
@Slartibartfast-13:
Each to his own aye Slarti………I’ve followed his career since he went to Oz and to where his now, its been entertaining.
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19-11:
I’l listen to it when I get home, my speakers have gone.
.@go104realz-12:
Howzit…..what you say is the truth….Keo has no flippin idea, Sbw wore the Kiwi jersey with pride and for Keo to say he was probably more Australian when he came back to Nz is a joke.
26 Jul 2012, 07:58 am
I sincerely hope this article does NOT make it into the Business day sport in its current format! I know sometimes they float out articles here to get a feel before publishing but this has to be 1 of the worst “rants” disguised as journalistic content we’ve seen in awhile.
26 Jul 2012, 08:03 am
My 2 cents…while SBW has undoubtedly change the way Union is played, I still feel he hasn’t achieved his goal of testing himself amongst the best.
He didn’t end up contributing much in the WC.
He didn’t win S15 title yet and while destroying the Irish this year deserves plaudits the real test would’ve been in this years 4 Nations where he’d have established himself as a centre and HAVE to reproduce his talent againts the Boks!
We ALL know the only other team to challenge the All Blacks are the best and this would’ve been a fitting end to having sufficiently tested himself…Now we can’t really judge how “great” he really is…
26 Jul 2012, 08:04 am
@Te Rangatira-15:
Well we know NZ is but another province of Australia…but keo won’t understand that either
PS Part of my problem is my dislike of league, it is all over the TV, papers, news so it is hard to get away from it but I just can’t get a handle on it.
26 Jul 2012, 08:11 am
I stole this copy from the boss’ Business Day
I know a lot more about Robey Leibrandt now
26 Jul 2012, 08:12 am
And Marit Safin!
26 Jul 2012, 08:15 am
@Dawn-19:
You are a cert for employee of the month.
26 Jul 2012, 08:21 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-21: Employee of the day! there’s lots of room at the top and the bottem, apparently
26 Jul 2012, 08:22 am
@Papoose-16: Wow, you really don’t know how things work in publishing, do you? Maybe try reading the paragraph at the end? The image of the published article is also a clue.
26 Jul 2012, 08:23 am
was i dreaming or did I hear one of the NZ commentators mention the other day that this isn’t league, so the TMO can’t review further back than the in goal area. has this been tried in league and if so, how successful has it been?
26 Jul 2012, 08:27 am
@go104realz-12: i think he was referring to his love for fighting
26 Jul 2012, 08:27 am
hear hear…sbw is the real deal.
26 Jul 2012, 08:28 am
“Old Leibbrandt once went on an 18 day fast, consuming just water, charcoal and sand. He never slept on a bed as a youngster, preferring to lie on the floor.”
26 Jul 2012, 08:30 am
@Dawn-27: was he sh!tting diamonds and pearls towards the end?
26 Jul 2012, 08:32 am
@Papoose-17:
william williams junior “undoubtedly changed the way rugby union is played…”
come on… talk about smoke n mirrors…
all the expectant hullaballoo about the youngster has certainly not been realized… sure he’s played okay but he never even nailed down a starting spot for the ABs…
the reality has certainly not matched the hype… which i think has more to do with his leaving union than anything else…
26 Jul 2012, 08:35 am
@Dawn-27:
What’s the big deal.
I often sleep on the floor.
Especially when I’ve had a few.
As for charcoal and sand, Fuckadilly has been cudding on that for years without any discernible side effects.
Well not many.
26 Jul 2012, 08:37 am
How can you people make gaai of Robey.
He is spartan!
26 Jul 2012, 08:41 am
@>^..^< katman-8: Keo must get paid by the word and has an expensive habit to fund. How these coke-fueled rants make it past the Business Day editor, I don’t understand
26 Jul 2012, 08:41 am
@Te Rangatira
Chur bro, yeah it was an out of it statement! Who do you support in the NRL?
26 Jul 2012, 08:42 am
Anyway.
This is another of Keos kiwi play area articles.
Expect my buddy in China to pop a little wood when he reads this.
26 Jul 2012, 08:42 am
the offload has been part of rugby since forever…
even as a kid we were taught to get your arms above the tackle to pass… or ‘offload’…
it is nothing knew and not something as defined by sonny bill…
it has become his trademark though because that is just about all he does and seems the only thing sonny does effectively… other players have been offloading as a part of their game… but unlike sonny bill they also do other things like tackle, kick etc…
sonny’s ‘tackles’ are either shoulder charges or he waves players through quicker than turnstile bosman
26 Jul 2012, 08:46 am
@29 UFO
If you pay attention to how Union has changed in Southern Hemisphere especially ito of support players putting themself in position for that offload, before called pop pass, and thereby adding continuation to play there’s no1 else to credit besides SBW.
Funny thing is his game has evolved so much further than that this year ito when he chooses to offload or take the gap etc.
He just draws the eye of soo many defenders as they don’t know what he’s gonna do next.
But in the end…he WILL break you down!!
Give credt where its due
26 Jul 2012, 08:46 am
@Simon-23: That could be your next poll- who managed to read this right through to the last paragraph?
26 Jul 2012, 08:50 am
I know who Robey was, a Nazi f ** k when you strip away all the rest. But who is fuckadilly?
26 Jul 2012, 08:55 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-38:
Captain Cunteye.
26 Jul 2012, 09:02 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-39: Still have no clue? Blogger or journalist?
26 Jul 2012, 09:03 am
@gonzo-37: I did a few times. Educational read
26 Jul 2012, 09:04 am
Vegan toilet encloser.
26 Jul 2012, 09:06 am
@Papoose-36: he has grown as a player, but is one or two years too short of realising his potential imo… and with Conrad out its a real shame, a SBW/Nonu centre pairing would have been interesting..
26 Jul 2012, 09:07 am
So Stormers have 2 days left in comp and then Sharkies are back off to NZ
26 Jul 2012, 09:07 am
@keo-41:
Who gets the keo kiss of death this weekend?
Stormers and Crusaders?
26 Jul 2012, 09:09 am
Hello dawn dearest … how is the kingdom? I must say it is great to be back. Have missed everyone
26 Jul 2012, 09:10 am
Sadeers to win Sharks to win and Saders to win at home in final
26 Jul 2012, 09:11 am
SBW is a gold digger and thats it. No loyalty no backbone and will always be remembered as a potential great who passion for the game was eclipsed by his passion for money.
26 Jul 2012, 09:11 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-42: I am going to ask Dawn. Vegan toilet enclosing fuckadillying captain cunteye – poor fellow, whoever he is.
26 Jul 2012, 09:12 am
@keo-46:
The Monarch is back
Let me get to my knees.
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