Sonny Bill Williams joins first Roosters training session since returning
Sonny Bill Williams has turned heads at Moore Park after joining his Roosters teammates for his first training session after quarantine – and it wasn’t just fans that were star-struck. SEE THE PHOTOS HERE.
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JOEY Manu says he and his mates used to mimic Sonny Bill Williams at school. Josh Morris recalls the time a rampaging SBW ran over the top of him to score.
The centres may be at either sides of their respective careers but they trained alongside SBW for the first time on Saturday afternoon at Moore Park.
Manu was star-struck when they crossed paths.
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“I’m excited to have him here,” Manu said.
“Growing up he was one of the top sports players in New Zealand. I looked up to him coming through school.
“All our mates would talk about him at school the next day. I’m excited to hopefully play next to him. It was pretty cool. I didn’t talk to him much.
“Just said hello. (I’ll) get to know him a bit more. It’s crazy to see him around here. “Hopefully I get to talk to him a bit more and learn a few things.”
Morris has only experienced Williams as an adversary. He joined the Bulldogs the season after SBW left the club but the pair have crossed paths on the field a few times.
“I think he ran over me one day to score a try,” he said.
“It’s a bad memory.”
Morris said Sonny Bill had given the injury battered squad a huge lift.
“It’s cool that he’s finally here,” he said.
“Just meeting him over the last few days, he has a presence about him. I can’t wait to get out on the training paddock with him.
Co-captain Jake Friend said SBW was instrumental in re-shaping the club’s culture during his first stint at the Roosters in 2013.
“He was a big part of that,” Friend said.
“We have done really well to continue on with that. “He looks fit. He could run out next week but we have to give him time to get ready. With the injuries we don’t want to rush anyone back or have any more.”
Sonny Billl’s last game of rugby league was March 20, 149 days ago before the UK Super League shutdown as his club Toronto Wolfpack folded.
Suggesting he can immediately solve the Roosters’ worst injury crisis in the club’s history with 11 stars sidelined is wishful thinking.
The champion forward on Saturday afternoon stepped out onto the training field at Moore Park for the first time for his first run.
“Mentally I’m ready now,” he said.
“But physically I know I am underdone.
“We have some of the best staff in the world here and they’ll play it smart.
“It’s very performance oriented here, and there are definitely similarities between the Roosters and the All Blacks.”
Asked about a comeback date, SBW said: “Ideally (Rd 17), but we’ll just have to see how we go. Time will tell.
“I haven’t run for three weeks. I haven’t played for six months, I am coming off surgery.”
“Mentally I am like most other sportsmen where I would like to go straight away.
“But I’m 35 now, not 21 where the body can recover in a day.
“It’s about being smart and building up to getting back out there.”
Sonny Bill watched the Roosters loss to Melbourne Storm from his lounge room on Thursday night and the shocking injuries to Luke Keary, Mitch Aubusson and Lachlan Lam.
He was pleased they could still hang in and keep the scoreline respectable.
“It was tough, I felt for the boys,” he said.
“There were a couple of freakish injuries.
“It wasn’t a blowout score. They showed some grit to hang in there without all the personel.
“It was really good to see. You live to fight another day.
“I’m just focusing on the things that are going to help me perform and make the side.
“It would be crazy for me to say I’m going to get out there and do this and that.
“It would be disrespectful for me to even say that.”
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Because of his age, Sonny Bill is expecting to be targeted.
“Definitely,” he said.
“Out on the field I think I will be targeted from the point of view I haven’t played for so long. It’s just common sense really.
“But at the same time I have been around for a long time and hopefully I can bank on a bit of that experience to help me out.”
The superstar forward is still trying to take in all the NRL’s bio-security protocols.
On Friday he wasn’t sure he was allowed to get a haircut.
“I actually messaged Hargreaves and said ‘bro are we allowed to get our hair cut.” Sonny Bill said.
“He told me to shave my head but turns out I was ok, it’s an essential service.
“I spoke to Chris James, the Roosters football manager, to get some clarity about what we can and can’t do with the bio-security rules.”
Originally published as Sonny Bill Williams joins first Roosters training session since returning