Sonny Bill Williams has 90 per cent chance of playing in first round of UK Super League
Sonny Bill Williams admits he’s a “bit rusty” but his new coach has revealed why he might not even play in the first round of UK Super League.
NRL
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Sonny Bill Williams’ new Toronto Wolfpack coach will not be risking any injury to his superstar recruit this weekend, as the team prepares to make its UK Super League debut.
Brian McDermott told News Corp Australia the Canadian club’s $10 million marquee player was a 90 per cent chance of playing in the round one match.
“I know the expectations of him and his own desires are massive,” McDermott told News Corp Australia.
“The expectation of him to come in round one and say ‘look at me I’m the best player in the world’ that’s a very real temptation but I think that would be foolish.”
McDermott said the 34-year-old cross code star and successful boxer had been training hard, but acknowledged the early mission was not headline grabbing.
“The objective is not to be brilliant by round one, it’s to make sure that at the end of the year when it really matters, when we’re fighting for playoffs or fighting relegation we’ve got the best Sonny Bill Williams there, not an injured version who has been pushed too far too soon,” he said.
“We’ve got a real sprint finish and the end and if he’s not in that sprint finish because we’ve pushed him too hard to grab some headlines in the first 10 rounds of Super League and he’s injured because of that then that’s silly from us.”
Williams, who is making the transition back to league, after five years playing rugby union, joined his teammates at Manchester City’s Premier League training campus to launch the club’s season.
“It’s a long game and that’s what we’re trying to play here,” Williams said.
“I’ve been out of the game for five years and if I do play I know I’ll be a little bit rusty, I’m just banking on hard work, keeping it simple and trying to fit in with how the Toronto boys play.”
He said he still had the hunger to achieve at the elite level.
“I still wouldn’t be around after 18 years if I didn’t have that inner drive to succeed,” he said.
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“I know comparison from outside sources doesn’t get you anywhere but sometimes if you use a little bit of that for motivation.”
He rejected suggestions he was in the frame to play in the Rugby League World Cup next year.
“I don’t mean to cut you off but when it comes to that situation I am going to cut you off, I haven’t proved myself at Super League level, I’ve been out of the game for five years,” he said.
“For me to start thinking about playing for New Zealand or playing for Samoa is just ridiculous. I’m here fully focused with the Toronto boys.”
Williams has settled in well with his teammates — and has been a target for some ribbing — despite his megastar status.
His new Toronto Wolfpack teammate Jon Wilkin has a taunting photograph of the rugby star shirtless as his phone cover, which he said he bought for his wife for Christmas.
Wilkin flashed the phone this week in front of Williams, where he managed to get a laugh, even from the 191cm man himself.
Wilkin was asked about what it was like having the cross code World Cup winning star in his side at Toronto, he said: “He just made me feel immediately inadequate if you’ve seen Sonny in his pants (underwear) you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
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“He’s got a great sense of humour, he laughed about the phone case but he also slapped me across the back of the head and it’s at that point I realised not only is Sonny better than me at rugby if he wanted to he could knock me out at any stage.
“I’ve met a lot of people in sport and you can be at his level with an ego, you can’t bring your ego to work. He’s one of the best rugby players on this planet but you wouldn’t know. I don’t care about the status he brings, I care about the man that he is everyday.”
The World Cup winning All Black is the star signing at the Wolfpack, a Canadian franchise that has been promoted to the UK-based Super League this season.
Williams talks often about his family, with his wife Alana due to give birth to the couple’s fourth child within weeks.
He will head back to New Zealand for a week for the birth.
Williams said he knew he was taking on a challenge.
“We understand the pressures that come with being a foreign team,” Williams said.
“It’s such an exciting time, yeah there’s challenges but if you walk towards those challenges we could do something special here.
“There’s a bit of a spirit over there at the moment and so be it because the boys have been so successful in the last couple of years and hopefully we can carry on that momentum.”
The All Blacks culture of sweeping the sheds was on display away from the cameras this week.
As Wilkin, who roasted him earlier in the day, left Manchester City’s training ground he stopped him and offered him a lift.
There have been some pundits who have written him off, but Williams is determined, and he is timing his run.
Originally published as Sonny Bill Williams has 90 per cent chance of playing in first round of UK Super League