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Sonny Bill Williams

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Sonny Bill Williams
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
SchoolMount Albert Grammar
Occupation(s)Professional rugby union player
Rugby union career
Position(s) Second five-eighth
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008-2010
2010-present		 Toulon
Canterbury		 33
6		 30
15
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011- Crusaders ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
New Zealand 2 0(0)
Correct as of November 14th 2010
Sonny Bill Williams
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Lock, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–2008 Bulldogs 73 31 0 0 124
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–2008 New Zealand 7 2 0 0 8

Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He currently plays for Canterbury Rugby Football Union in the NPC ITM Cup and is expected to play for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition.[1]

He started his career as a rugby league player with the Canterbury Bulldogs in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). He has represented New Zealand in rugby league.

On 17 October 2010, Williams was named in the 2010 All Blacks squad to tour Hong Kong and the Northern Hemisphere.[2]

Early life

Williams was born on 3 August 1985, in Auckland, New Zealand, the son of John and Lee.[3] He grew up in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert. He is of Samoan & New Zealand descent.[citation needed] [4] Though his father was an accomplished rugby league player,[4] Williams said it was his mother who introduced him to the game.[3] He attended Owairaka Primary School,[5] and Wesley Intermediate, and his secondary schooling was at Mount Albert Grammar School.[citation needed][4]

Career

Rugby league

Williams was a Marist Saints junior.[6] He was spotted playing in Auckland by Bulldogs talent scout John Ackland. In 2002 he was offered a contract and moved to Sydney to play in the Bulldogs junior grades.[7]

Williams was playing in the S.G. Ball Cup for Under-18 players where in 2001 he was named 'SG Ball Player-of-the-Year'. In 2002, he went up the ranks and quickly became a starting player in the forward pack for the Bulldogs Jersey Flegg Cup side. The following year in 2003 Williams worked his way up again into Premier League, again cementing a starting spot in the side. As each year progressed Williams moved through the Bulldogs ranks and in Round 1 of the 2004 season, at only 18 years old, he made his National Rugby League debut against the Parramatta Eels at Telstra Stadium.

In 2004, he was selected to represent his country after only a handful of NRL matches and on 23 April made his debut for New Zealand national rugby league team in the 2004 ANZAC Test against Australia. He played 15 NRL premiership matches and firmly established himself in the Bulldogs squad. He experienced Premiership success in his rookie year, playing off the bench in the Bulldogs 16–13 victory over the Sydney Roosters in the 2004 Grand Final. Williams capped off a magnificent debut season by being presented with the International Newcomer of the Year Award and was named in the BBC's 2003 World XIII squad.[8] He was also in close contention for the Dally M Rookie of the Year Award. As his contract was due to expire, Williams received several lucrative offers to attempt to lure him away from the Bulldogs, with the largest reported being from Super League club St Helens RLFC in the UK worth about $3 million.[9][10] Despite this and many other offers, Williams decided to stay loyal to the club and signed on for a further two years with the Bulldogs. However, revelations later emerged about the veracity of this claim including St Helens RLFC chairman Eamonn McManus stating "No, we never made Sonny Bill Williams an offer in 2004,... I remember it well because Sonny was at the height of his powers that year... We had had some initial discussions (with Williams' management) but we certainly hadn't put an offer to him. And if we had, it would've been nowhere near the amounts now being bandied about."

After making a impact on the NRL in his debut year, Williams had a disappointingly short 2005 season. A severe knee injury plus several other minor injuries restricted Williams to only five games through the year [citation needed] and he subsequently missed several international fixtures for New Zealand. Williams had publicly expressed his frustration at his limited participation through the season stating "It seems like I've had injury after injury". "More than anything, when you're not on the field a lot, it's tough mentally. You've got to be pretty strong mentally when you have injuries, and I've had a few."[11] Williams would later dismiss claims he was injury prone as "bullshit".[12]

Williams had a greatly improved 2006 season. He stayed relatively injury-free throughout the year playing in 21 matches, scoring 8 tries and just missing out on a Grand Final berth, losing to eventual Premiers the Brisbane Broncos at the last hurdle in the Preliminary Final. However, having been mostly injury free throughout the year, off-season surgery forced him to miss the Tri-Nations for the Kiwis for the second year running.

Just four minutes into his first match of the 2007 NRL season Williams was sent off for a reckless high tackle on Andrew Johns. At the start of the season, Williams' contract status was a frequent news item in the Australia print media. The speculation ended when Williams re-signed with the Bulldogs on the 9 March 2007, with a 5 year contract believed to be worth over $2.5 million that would have seen him stay with the club through to the 2012 season.[13]

Commenting on the re-signing, Williams said: "I'm happy to be staying here with the boys and I'm happy to be here with the Club. I want to be a Bulldog for life. The club is just as much apart of me a part of me as I am of the club. I love the Bulldogs." Coach Steve Folkes said: "Sonny is a great athlete, a great footballer and will only get better over the next few years."[14] When it came to the football Williams again was strong playing in 21 matches and scoring 14 tries. Unfortunately the season did not end well as Williams broke his forearm in a tackle on Nathan Hindmarsh during the Semi Final against the Parramatta Eels and went straight from the field. His team ultimately lost the match. In addition, Williams was again ruled out from representing his country in the post-season 2007 Great Britain Tour due to the broken arm. For the first time in his career Williams was nominated for 'Second-Rower of the Year' at the 2007 Dally M Awards but lost the award to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles second-rower Anthony Watmough.

Rugby union

As far back as 2005 it was recognised that the NRL's salary cap restrictions could prove problematic for trying to keep top-grade players in rugby league.[15] In July 2008 Williams left Australia to join French rugby union club Toulon.[16] Canterbury Bulldogs club officials and players were not notified of his defection until after Williams had already departed for Europe. Williams was only 18 months of the way through a five year contract with the Canterbury Bulldogs. His breach of contract was resolved when Toulon paid a transfer fee of around £300,000 to the Bulldogs.[17][18]

Williams' contract with Toulon ended in June 2010, and in 2010 Toulon reportedly tabled a three-year offer to Williams worth $6 million, while the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) could only come up with $550,000 per year. Sonny Bill Williams rejected the largest offer in rugby union history and opted to sign with the NZRU and a bid to play for the All Blacks.[19] He chose to play with Canterbury, and the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition. Williams hoped his All Black selection prospects would be improved by playing alongside Dan Carter.[20]

Williams' debut for Canterbury was against Bay of Plenty on 3 September 2010. He was named at number 22 on the bench, but was playing on the field after 18 minutes due to the starting second five-eight, Ryan Crotty, having an ankle injury. Williams' scored his first try in the ITM Cup off a Canterbury team effort against Taranaki; then the following week scored another try against Wellington. On 2 October, against Otago, Williams scored a 60m try. Williams once again scored an ITM Cup try against Counties Manukau on 16 October, the following day he was called up to the All Blacks.[2]

On 6 November 2010, Williams made his All Black debut against England starting at outside centre replacing Conrad Smith and combining with Ma'a Nonu to form a 212kg midfield partnership, reportedly the "heaviest in All Black history."[21] His debut was the most anticipated in New Zealand rugby union history since Jonah Lomu's 16 years earlier.[22]

On the 14th, November, in only his second game for the All Blacks, Williams was awarded the man of the match for his performance against Scotland- for which he had a hand in four of the All Blacks seven tries.[23]

Boxing

On 27 May 2009, Williams made his debut as a professional boxer and easily defeated Garry Gurr with a TKO in the second round in Sydney.[24]

On 30 June 2010, he defeated New Zealand-born Ryan Hogan in a bout that ended by way of TKO after only two minutes and 35 seconds. Williams described the preparation for the fight as "good off-season training" for his imminent debut for the Canterbury rugby team.[25]

Controversies

Williams has been involved in a number of controversial off-field incidents. On 17 August 2005 it was reported he had been charged with drunk driving; the Bulldogs fined Williams $5,000 over the incident and he was forced to appear in Waverley Local Court on 7 September. He was convicted of drunk driving, with a blood alcohol level of .075.[26]

In 2007, Williams was caught in a compromising position with Australian model/ironwoman Candice Falzon. Several witnesses saw Williams and Falzon enter a toilet cubicle together at the Clovelly Hotel in Sydney. A photo taken by a mobile phone of the incident was published on the Daily Telegraph website. Williams later apologised to his girlfriend (Genna Shaw) over this incident.[27] He said he was "ashamed and embarrassed" about his drunken encounter with Candice Falzon.[28]

On 17 June 2007, Williams was caught by police urinating on a wall in a dark alleyway near a well known nightclub in Cronulla in Sydney and was handed an infringement notice and fine worth $650.[29] Williams subsequently admitted he had an alcohol problem and would seek professional help for his problem.[30][31] He also said in an official statement that he would be "taking drastic measures to make sure this doesn’t happen again."[32][33]

On 25 August 2010, Williams was reprimanded by his Canterbury provincial rugby team for skiing while on injury leave. A Canterbury Rugby Union spokesman confirmed Williams had not been given clearance to go on a skiing trip on the day of Canterbury’s fourth-round NPC match against Tasman, and says Williams has been “reminded of his responsibilities.”[34]

Statistics

Season Matches Tries Goals Points
2004 15 4 0 16
2005 5 1 0 4
2006 21 8 0 32
2007 21 14 0 56
2008 11 4 0 16

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Williams agrees Canterbury deal". BBC News. 24 June 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Williams named in All Blacks squad". NZ Herald. APN Holdings. 17 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Sonny Bill is still a mum's boy at heart". Fairfax. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Profiles - Sonny Bill Williams". Sunday Star-Times. 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2008-11-09.[dead link]
  5. ^ Wilson, Andy (6 November 2004). "All eyes trained on Kiwis' boy wonder". Guardian. UK: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  6. ^ Rattue, Chris (2 September 2006). "Jerome Ropati - Miracle in the making". New Zealand Herald. APN Holdings. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  7. ^ Sonny Bill Williams upgrades to penthouse The Australian, July 31, 2008
  8. ^ "Williams has world at his feet". BBC News. 16 February 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  9. ^ "Revealed: What Sonny Bill is worth". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 March 2005.
  10. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/media/2005/03/09/1110316095529.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) [dead link]
  11. ^ "Sonny Bill slips back under the radar". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 November 2006.
  12. ^ Bill brushes off brittleness bunkum - leaguehq.com.au
  13. ^ "I want to be a Bulldog for life: Sonny Bill". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 March 2007.
  14. ^ Mitsubishi Electric Bulldogs - Official Website
  15. ^ "Million-dollar kid could expose farce corroding game". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 February 2005.
  16. ^ Jancetic, Steve (07 August 2008). "Umaga the reason for Sonny's move". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2010-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Wildman, Rob (18 August 2008). "Sonny Bill Williams set to make Toulon debut against Saracens". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  18. ^ http://www.scrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/101149.html
  19. ^ http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6193955,00.html
  20. ^ Walter, Brad (23 June 2010). "SBW signs for Canterbury … Crusaders, not Bulldogs". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  21. ^ "All Blacks: Clash of the backline heavyweights". NZ Herald. APN Holdings. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  22. ^ New Zealand gripped by talk of Sonny's debut
  23. ^ Rugby: Untouchable SBW hard to handle, Otago Daily Times, Sunday 14th Nov 2010
  24. ^ "Sonny Bill Williams shows talent in boxing debut". Daily Telegraph. News Limited. 27-05-2009. Retrieved 19-04-2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  25. ^ Walter, Brad (01-07-2010). "SBW gets win but turns attention to rugby". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. Retrieved 01-07-2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  26. ^ "Sonny Bill gets five-month driving ban". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. 1 November 2005. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  27. ^ Sonny Bill forgiven by girlfriend after sex scandal - 15 Apr 2007 - League news - NZ Herald
  28. ^ Sorry Bill Williams - leaguehq.com.au
  29. ^ League: Sonny Bill caught with his pants down - 18 Jun 2007 - nzherald: Sports news - New Zealand and International Sport news and results
  30. ^ I have a drinking problem: Sonny Bill - leaguehq.com.au
  31. ^ League: Sonny Bill takes the pledge - 19 Jun 2007 - League news - NZ Herald
  32. ^ Mitsubishi Electric Bulldogs - Official Website
  33. ^ "Williams reveals alcohol problem". BBC. 2007-06-19. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  34. ^ "Canterbury piste off over Sonny Bill skiing". The Roar. 25 August 2010.

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