AUSTRALIA—National Rugby League (NRL) has been receiving more than its fair share of media attention in Sydney – none more controversial than the headline story of the recent defection of Sonny “Bill” Williams to Rugby Club Toulonnais on the French Mediterranean coast.
Never far from the media spotlight, the highly decorated Williams has been accused of simply chasing the dollars. Recent reports have spread globally about the long-going contractual disputes between the “extraordinary” star and the Canterbury Bulldogs.
News emerged last Saturday July 26 of his controversial defection, mid-contract, mid-season and switching from the league-code to the union code by joining Toulon in the “Top 14” – stunning many.
With his move from the Sydney-based Bulldogs symptomatic of the shape of the predominant type of football competition in the north-eastern border states of Australia, first the struggling club and then the NRL went into damage control seeking legal direction.
NRL survival
Australia’s National Rugby League is besieged by the other national football codes, which are closer to having clubs located in each state or territory. With the ongoing expansion of soccer’s A-League and Australian football’s AFL, Sonny Bill’s contractual news strikes hard with ramifications stirring deeply into sports clubs and the trading of players globally.
Sporting bodies around the world all function differently particularly in their trade rules between clubs. One common issue is the effect of mid-season transfers, or breach of contract defections, and the immeasurable impact it has on a clubs’ present and future.
Although league has established competitions in England, France and New Zealand and recognised as the national sport in Papua New Guinea, most would agree that unless they re-vamp their strategies Australia’s NRL days are numbered. Earlier in the year the idea of a merger with the ARU was mooted, booed and cast aside.
The Australian Rugby Union plays the oldest form of codified football a form of rugby that has quite separate rules to the league’s. A re-merger since the schism in England in 1895, where the Rugby football code split, is fraught with impossibilities for both. It’s further complicated by both having a World Cup that establishes the globe’s pinnacle team – prestigious events that Australians have a deep national-pride in being part of.
With four football codes scrutinized in their off-field and on-field management, amid fierce competition for audiences, the NRL is faced with many obstacles in what is an arguably rapidly dwindling local, national and world market. They need to look within and out and be willing to contemplate rival codes’ existing operations locally and abroad, listen closer to fans’ opinions and be prepared to relinquish hold momentarily to take a better grip on their future.
As for the Williams defection? An important factor to note is that he has not spoken for himself yet, in his tight-lipped approach. Whispers often lead to half-truths or misinformed speculation as reports have surfaced that he will make a statement on August 7 on Channel 9’s NRL Footy Show; however, it is unlikely Williams will tell all. Rather, it is expected that his statement will be a veiled attempt to appease fans’ frustrations, without revealing the full extent of his deep-rooted issues.
While it is left unknown when the 7-time New Zealand Test representative will play again, the relationship for Sonny “Bill” and rugby is far from over for the Kiwi who will celebrate just his 23rd birthday on August 3.
