Sonny Bill Williams set to make NRL return in Roosters vs Raiders Round 17 clash
‘I poked the beast’. As Sonny Bill Williams gets ready to return to the NRL after six years, Sam Burgess recalls with great pride the moment he put his rival on his backside at the SFS back in 2013.
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It was rugby league at its brutal best.
Two bulls in a 226kg collision which rocked the old Sydney Football Stadium.
Round one, 2013: Sonny Bill Williams – amid similar hype to that right now – was returning to the NRL for the first time since quitting the Bulldogs in 2008.
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Wearing jumper 16, Williams had come off the bench early with his Sydney Roosters taking a goal line dropout which went straight to Souths prop Sam Burgess.
On a ferocious kick return, from 53 metres, Burgess singled out Williams in defence, charged at him and barrelled over the top of him. Williams, to his credit, valiantly clung to Burgess’ tree-trunk legs.
With the hostility and aggression levels set, the fierce rivalry continued in another club game that year before culminating in a “war” during a World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand at Wembley.
Seven years on, Burgess recalls his battles with the cross-code great.
“I poked the beast,” the Fox Sports commentator told News Corp.
“If someone had done that to me, I know how I would have felt and know what I would want to do in return.
“We had some serious collisions which started from that round one game where I probably caught him a bit underdone and I had come off a big pre-season. But in the back of my mind I wanted to test myself and see where he was at.
“We had a couple of cracking battles over time against each other. By the end of the year we played in that World Cup semi-final. He had won a comp by then and I knew it was going to be ‘on’. In the back of his mind I knew he was pissed off and that the semi-final was going to be war.
“It was the most physical game I ever played. Me and Sonny went hell-for-leather. We had that collision round one, 2013, and by the time we got to the World Cup, that was probably the pinnacle of our collisions.
“We also played each other later that year (in a club game) and had a massive crack at each other. That semi-final, when he had a year under his belt, was one of the most unbelievable games I have ever been part of because we were against each other.
“I loved playing against Sonny because I have so much respect for him. He is just a wonderful athlete. He is so great to watch. So the first chance I got to play against each I wanted to have a little go.”
Williams is back in rugby league once again and expected to be part of a Sydney Roosters side to confront Canberra in a GIO Stadium blockbuster this Saturday night.
“Expectation follows Sonny wherever he goes. That’s the nature of the beast given what he has done and achieved. He will probably thrive on that,” Burgess said.
“His presence will be good for the club and the game - everyone is talking about him. He puts bums on seats and rightly so. He will go hard but he is a wiser athlete now.
“Sonny is experienced enough to know what he can and can’t do and know his limitations but, also, on the inside there is that killer instinct that’s got him to where he is. If it gets fiery and he needs to pull something out, he will be capable of doing it. He’s a freak, a specimen.”
Years later on Fox Sports, Matthew Johns spoke about that round one clash between Williams and Burgess.
“In his (Burgess) words, he spoke about wanting to challenge Sonny Bill. He spotted Sonny Bill in the defensive line and just took off at him. They collided, Sammy Burgess went right over the top of him,” Johns said.
“In either code, rugby league or rugby union, that would have been the only time that ever happened to Sonny Bill Williams. For Sammy Burgess, it was him marking his territory. It was a great moment and Allianz Stadium just lit up, it exploded.”
In commentary, Phil Gould said: “He ran straight at Sonny Bill – that was your confrontation right there.”
Fox Sports are expecting bumper ratings for the Roosters-Raiders game which will double as last year’s grand final replay.
SBW TRAINING NO SHOW
—Fatima Kdouh
The man of the moment, Sonny Bill Williams, was nowhere to be seen when the Sydney Rooters hit the training paddock on Monday in preparation for Saturday’s blockbuster grand final replay against Canberra.
Williams now has four days and possibly one big contact session to get ready for the Raiders.
Williams might have been a notable absentee at Moore Park yesterday but Luke Keary, who has been sidelined with a painful rib injury, was all smiles during the training session.
The inclusion of both Williams and Keary for Saturday’s clash would be a shot in the arm for the back-to-back premiers.
It’s unlikely coach Trent Robinson will rush Keary but Williams’ teammates are confident the studious superstar forward will be ‘ready to go’ if he is named on to play in Round 16.
Just like he did when he arrived in Bondi in 2013 with a notebook and pen at hand ready to soak in as much knowledge as possible, Williams has taken a similar approach in 2020.
“He’s switched on and writing everything down and making sure he has everything down pat before he plays,” fullback James Tedesco said.
“He was doing that when he was in quarantine through video [during team meetings] and he’s done it for weeks now so he probably knows the plays and structures better than some in the team.”
While there is little doubt Williams is experienced enough and has the football smarts to make an NRL comeback at 35 years of age, a question mark remains over whether his body can handle the physicality of the modern game.
But Tedesco said this weekend was the right time for Williams to return as the Roosters build towards the finals series in October and three-straight premierships.
“If he doesn‘t play the next few weeks then when can we play him? Now is the time. We want to play our best team, playing our best footy heading into the finals so I think he’ll be right to go,” Tedesco said.
“It would have been a risk if we tried to rush him back straight away.
“He‘s had two weeks in quarantine looking after his body and two weeks at training just running and getting the body moving.
“The club have done everything they can to get him right to play NRL.”
Originally published as Sonny Bill Williams set to make NRL return in Roosters vs Raiders Round 17 clash