______________________________
Sonny Bill speaks out then sweats it out in Toulon
TOULON - Boxer Anthony Mundine has arrived in the south of France to help runaway Bulldogs NRL star Sonny Bill Williams settle into his new rugby union career.
Mundine watched his mate go through his paces during an afternoon training session with his new teammates at Rugby Club Toulon.
After about two hours sweating it out on the field in blistering conditions, the 23-year-old New Zealand international left the training ground with Mundine in a club car.
Hundreds of fans turned up to catch a glimpse of Toulon's controversial new recruit, who happily signed autographs and posed for pictures before saying "au revoir" in his best French.
Williams ignored questions from waiting reporters, while Mundine was tight-lipped about his reasons for visiting his friend on the Cote d'Azur.
The boxer, who like Williams used to play rugby league before switching sports and has publicly supported his decision to flee the Bulldogs, said he planned to spend at least a few days in France. When asked if he would attend the Top 14 club's first pre-season friendly match tomorrow, Mundine said "probably".
The Muslim boxer is believed to be one of the few people who knew about Williams' decision to walk out on the Bulldogs last month despite being just one year into his five-year contract with the Sydney club.
And in his first interview since fleeing Australia, Williams has revealed that one of his reasons for leaving was because of how his former coach Steve Folkes questioned his friendship with Mundine.
"I rock up to training and Folkesy, Steve Folkes, someone, that to be honest, has never paid any interest in my personal life, he comes up to me and starts saying: `You're not turning Muslim are you?'," Williams told Channel Nine's Footy Show, according to extracts published in News Limited newspapers.
"I just laughed. I said: `Seriously you are joking.' And then he has a go at Anthony: `You're kidding yourself if you take advice off him.'
"I start to think: `Who is he to question my friends?"'
It is not yet known whether Williams will play in tomorrow's match against third division team Hyeres, with team officials expected to make a decision later today.
Toulon's team manager Tom Whitford said while Williams still had to master the finer points of rugby, he had made a good initial impression and could have a role as an outside centre or on the wing.
"We're hoping that he will play," Whitford told AAP.
"We'll make a decision probably tomorrow, not just for him but for everybody who's going to play.
"We're going to try to get as many people to play as possible. It's a good opportunity to give everybody a go to see what they're worth."
Whitford said neither he nor his players were being distracted by the ongoing Australian legal dramas involving the Bulldogs and NRL's attempts to stop Williams playing rugby in France.
"We're not thinking about that," Whitford said.
"We just want things to work out for his sake and for our sake because obviously it's in his interest to play well and our interest as well.
"We're just going to look after the present really and what happens happens, we can't control that."
Also unperturbed about off-field dramas were Phil Croce and his 10-year-old son Antoine, who were among the lucky few Toulon fans for whom Williams signed autographs.
"Sonny Bill Williams is a star in Australia and will be in France," Phil Croce said.
TOULON - Boxer Anthony Mundine has arrived in the south of France to help runaway Bulldogs NRL star Sonny Bill Williams settle into his new rugby union career.
Mundine watched his mate go through his paces during an afternoon training session with his new teammates at Rugby Club Toulon.
After about two hours sweating it out on the field in blistering conditions, the 23-year-old New Zealand international left the training ground with Mundine in a club car.
Hundreds of fans turned up to catch a glimpse of Toulon's controversial new recruit, who happily signed autographs and posed for pictures before saying "au revoir" in his best French.
Williams ignored questions from waiting reporters, while Mundine was tight-lipped about his reasons for visiting his friend on the Cote d'Azur.
The boxer, who like Williams used to play rugby league before switching sports and has publicly supported his decision to flee the Bulldogs, said he planned to spend at least a few days in France. When asked if he would attend the Top 14 club's first pre-season friendly match tomorrow, Mundine said "probably".
The Muslim boxer is believed to be one of the few people who knew about Williams' decision to walk out on the Bulldogs last month despite being just one year into his five-year contract with the Sydney club.
And in his first interview since fleeing Australia, Williams has revealed that one of his reasons for leaving was because of how his former coach Steve Folkes questioned his friendship with Mundine.
"I rock up to training and Folkesy, Steve Folkes, someone, that to be honest, has never paid any interest in my personal life, he comes up to me and starts saying: `You're not turning Muslim are you?'," Williams told Channel Nine's Footy Show, according to extracts published in News Limited newspapers.
"I just laughed. I said: `Seriously you are joking.' And then he has a go at Anthony: `You're kidding yourself if you take advice off him.'
"I start to think: `Who is he to question my friends?"'
It is not yet known whether Williams will play in tomorrow's match against third division team Hyeres, with team officials expected to make a decision later today.
Toulon's team manager Tom Whitford said while Williams still had to master the finer points of rugby, he had made a good initial impression and could have a role as an outside centre or on the wing.
"We're hoping that he will play," Whitford told AAP.
"We'll make a decision probably tomorrow, not just for him but for everybody who's going to play.
"We're going to try to get as many people to play as possible. It's a good opportunity to give everybody a go to see what they're worth."
Whitford said neither he nor his players were being distracted by the ongoing Australian legal dramas involving the Bulldogs and NRL's attempts to stop Williams playing rugby in France.
"We're not thinking about that," Whitford said.
"We just want things to work out for his sake and for our sake because obviously it's in his interest to play well and our interest as well.
"We're just going to look after the present really and what happens happens, we can't control that."
Also unperturbed about off-field dramas were Phil Croce and his 10-year-old son Antoine, who were among the lucky few Toulon fans for whom Williams signed autographs.
"Sonny Bill Williams is a star in Australia and will be in France," Phil Croce said.
__________________________________________________________
Sonny Bill: I couldn't resist Tana's manaBy Brad Walter - SMH Friday, 08 August 2008
Email a Friend Printable View
Sonny Bill Williams has fired back at critics who labelled him "greedy" and "cowardly" for walking out on his contract with the Bulldogs and also emphasised the appeal of linking with All Blacks legend Tana Umaga at Toulon rugby.
Williams also called for the NRL's salary cap to be abolished in an interview with Fairfax columnist Danny Weidler that aired on Australia's The Footy Show on Thursday night.
Williams, who fled Sydney to sign with Toulon in France, said the Umaga fit was perfect for what he wanted to achieve with his footballing talents now.
"Everything added up - ex-rugby league player, rugby union convert, All Blacks captain, Samoan heritage, icon of the game. It sums it up, really," Williams said of Umaga.
Williams pointed out that a previous decision to stay on at the Bulldogs rather than take up an offer from St Helens had cost him $1.2 million over two years.
But after becoming disillusioned with the hard-nosed business approach adopted by the Bulldogs that led to teammates Kane Cleal and Corey Hughes being shown the door, and his fractured relationship with coach Steve Folkes, Williams came to believe NRL players should get what they could out of a game he has resigned himself to never playing again.
"I love rugby league I'm one of those young kids that used to love watching everything about rugby league but now, being at the club and seeing what's going on behind the scenes I see that it's just a business," a sometimes emotional Williams said.
"They don't care about me, they treat us like cattle.
"Anthony Mundine 10 years ago was paid $600,000 a year. If he was paid that in today's game, he'd be the game's highest-paid player. You name me a sport anywhere in the world where the player's salaries have gone [down] like that.
"[NRL chief executive] David Gallop doesn't have a salary cap on what he can earn. The chief executives don't, the coaches don't, lawyers don't, bus drivers don't, so why do players? Why are the players the ones losing out? You know, I think the salary cap should be abolished, and we should have less number of teams but better quality games."
Told he had been called a "greedy bastard" for walking out on the remaining four years of his Bulldogs contract to take up a lucrative deal with French rugby club Toulon, he said: "If I was a greedy bastard, why wouldn't I have signed for $1 million [a year]. I stayed for $400,000, so am I still a greedy bastard?"
He rejected claims that the way he left was "cowardly" and a "dog act".
"Cowards are people that run away. I didn't run away," Williams said. "I stood up, I stood up for myself, for what I believe in [and] I stood up for all those other players that are sitting at home. I had to have balls to do what I've done. I'm no coward, you know
"Do you think before I left I didn't think my name was going to get slammed, that I wasn't going to get vilified, that my family weren't going to get harassed, that I wasn't going to be made out to be some rapist, some killer, some murderer. For those people, or that person, or whoever that called me a dog, dogs take orders, I don't take orders. They need to go ask themselves who's giving them orders."
Williams said the Bulldogs had some unexpected extra cash after Willie Mason had been allowed to leave during the off-season, his departure following the loss of players such as Mark O'Meley and Braith Anasta. He then began questioning the club's tough business approach.
"All of a sudden because I think they have a little bit of money to spend they might show me a little bit of loyalty back," he said.
"They use my name [to sell sponsorships and promote the club], so I'm thinking, what's going on here it's just a big snowball, and then I start realising, do they really care about me? Do they really care about the boys? I think it is my duty now to speak up, especially for the Polynesian boys."
Williams also had a shot at his previous manager, Gavin Orr, and said he had approached Khoder Nasser to look after his affairs - a move that sparked a clash with Folkes after the coach asked whether he was going to become a Muslim, and advised him to stay clear of Mundine.
"People think he has brainwashed me," Williams said of Nasser. "[But] I am so much better off financially mentally, I'm in a great mind, I don't drink any more I don't do drugs, I don't smoke."
Williams said he had spoken to some Williams said he had spoken to some of his former teammates. "I've explained the whole situation, and at first a couple of them were a bit, 'Oh the way you left, you didn't tell,' but when I explained the situation, they were behind me 100 per cent."
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment