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The Breakdown: Sonny Bill ‘could have worn green and gold’

Sonny Bill Williams could have been a ­Wallaby. It’s just one of the revelations in new rugby podcast, The Breakdown.

Teki Tuipulotu, centre, and Sonny Bill Williams
Teki Tuipulotu, centre, and Sonny Bill Williams

Superstar footballer Sonny Bill Williams could have been a ­Wallaby.

The code-crossing superstar, who won two World Cups with the All Blacks, was never ­approached by Australian rugby despite being eligible for the Wallabies, according to his long-time manager.

That’s just one of the stunning revelations in The Breakdown, a new investigative podcast from The Australian, in which rugby’s biggest names reveal how “the game they play in heaven” went broke. Prejudice, incompetence, self-interest, entitlement and complacency have robbed rugby of multiple generations of top talent, according to those who love the game the most.

In The Australian’s app, swipe to Podcasts to listen now

The six-part podcast, launching today, ­reveals how the game that once had $40m in the bank wound up broke and struggling for relevance.

App users: swipe to the Podcasts section to hear The Breakdown Episode 1
App users: swipe to the Podcasts section to hear The Breakdown Episode 1

The Breakdown features ­exclusive interviews with former prime minister John Howard, billionaire Andrew Forrest, former chief executives John O’Neill and Gary Flowers, Wallabies greats David Campese, John Eales, Phil Kearns, George Gregan and Nick Farr-Jones, former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, former board member Ann ­Sherry, current chairman Hamish McLennan and many others.

The Australian has also spoken to those who hold up the sport: the volunteers at the grassroots who feel neglected and overlooked.

In The Australian’s app, swipe to Podcasts to listen now

Campese, one of the game’s greatest players, has revealed his frustration at being repeatedly knocked back from elite coaching opportunities in Australia, despite his successful overseas coaching career. He says Australian rugby overlooked a whole generation of rugby minds, revealing he even called up NSW rugby during COVID to volunteer his coaching services and never got a call back.

“Look, I’ve come to realise … they don’t really want our help,” Campese said. “Maybe you have to look at other things to do in life … you can only try so much. You can get knocked back so many times.”

Sonny Bill Williams as an All Black in 2019. Picture: Getty Images
Sonny Bill Williams as an All Black in 2019. Picture: Getty Images

The code’s culture is called into question by several interviewees, including powerful player-agent Khoder Nasser, who says in Monday’s episode of The Breakdown the Wallabies didn’t bother ­approaching Williams when he left league. “Sonny Bill played rugby league here since the age of 15. If the ARU was doing its job, don’t you think, when they knew he was going to Toulon (to play rugby) they could have had the first crack at him?” Nasser said.

“But obviously their recruiters, the people that judge how a rugby player should be and how a rugby player should play, yeah, they’ve got no idea. No foresight, no intelligence, nothing. No accountability, nothing. I’m telling you, the discussion could have happened; the All Blacks came and visited him (in France). The Wallabies could have visited him before.”

Williams ended up winning two World Cups with the All Blacks after his defection to rugby in 2008. Australia hasn’t won the World Cup since 1999. Nasser, who also manages ­exiled Wallaby Quade Cooper, criticised the game’s leadership as being a “white, affluent, private-school boys’ club”.

Quade Cooper with Wallabies fans in Melbourne. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Quade Cooper with Wallabies fans in Melbourne. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

“I just don’t think rugby has an ability to deal with outsiders. That means anyone who doesn’t come from basically a white, private-school background,” Nasser said.

“And it’s evident because if you look at the players — of Polynesian descent, South Pacific descent, you know, more than 50 per cent of them. Who actually fights for them on a board level?

“What coaches do you see? What assistant coaches do you see? What CEOs do you see?

What player liaison officers do you see in that field? You won’t see anyone. And if you do, it’s a token person.”

Using our app? Swipe to Podcasts to listen to Episode 1 of The Breakdown now

Nasser slammed the treatment of Cooper, who is playing in Japan. Nasser said his career never ­recovered after he labelled the Wallabies environment “toxic” in 2013. Cooper had an acrimonious split with the Queensland Reds in 2017. When asked if he thought ­Cooper had been the victim of ­racism, Nasser said: “I just told you the facts, more than 50 per cent of your constituents are black, Polynesian, and you don’t have any ­positions of influence or any positions of decision-making. What do you think that is? Fair play?”

Player agent Khoder Nasser, who says Australian rugby has a race issue. Picture: Peter Wallis
Player agent Khoder Nasser, who says Australian rugby has a race issue. Picture: Peter Wallis

Nasser also pointed out the lack of Aboriginal talent in the elite ranks. “The Aboriginals are some of the most talented rugby players we’ve ever had,” he said. “Where are they? Doesn’t that tell you? Where are they? Why don’t the Aboriginals feel free to play this game they’re so great at?”

Few kids can name a Wallaby — except perhaps Israel Folau — and weekend union games are ­patrolled by league scouts.

Tongan international Teki Tuipulotu, capped 50 times, is heavily involved with club, junior and school rugby in NSW, running the Blacktown Scorpions, Hills Sports High School and St Andrew’s Cathedral School rugby programs.

“I see rugby league scouts at rugby union games but I don’t see rugby union scouts,” he said.

He says the grassroots has been “absolutely forgotten” by the hierarchy, along with Polynesian and other multicultural communities. “I feel there is a bit of still a bit of racism concerning Polynesians … I still feel there is a bit of racism and discrimination in Australia,” Tuipulotu said.

“I’m grateful for what I do … I’m not going to hold any grudges … I work as hard as everyone else does. But sometimes, you know, I’ve got to work twice as hard.”

Listen to The Breakdown now

In the app: swipe to the Podcasts section

On the web: Visit theaustralian.com.au/thebreakdown

TUESDAY: Olympics boss John Coates and rugby ex-supremo John O’Neill on today’s chaos and the night John Howard skolled from the Webb Ellis Cup.

Teki Tuipulotu with Scorpions junior rugby players Elenoa Fua, Gunther Tenner, Papani Loto'aniu and Ulrich Tenner in Sydney’s west. Picture: John Feder
Teki Tuipulotu with Scorpions junior rugby players Elenoa Fua, Gunther Tenner, Papani Loto'aniu and Ulrich Tenner in Sydney’s west. Picture: John Feder

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/the-breakdown-sonny-bill-could-have-worn-green-and-gold/news-story/32793eaefb92ec549b0da9657902460b