Sonny Bill Williams is a surefire drawcard yet his NRL return still perplexes

The return of Sonny Bill Williams to the NRL has the potential to rank among the top echelon of stories in 2020. Yet it could also tarnish his legacy and do little to improve the Sydney Roosters’ hopes of becoming the first team since 1983 to win three successive titles.

Williams is poised to return to the Roosters for the first time since 2014, joining the club he helped to win a premiership on a short-term deal that will reportedly net the dual international around $150,000 for five regular-season games and finals.

Last year he signed a two-season deal with the fledgling Toronto Wolfpack for an astonishing $10m but the Canadian club have pulled out of Super League after the season stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Williams has been exploring options with the blessing of the Wolfpack.

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The NRL seems willing to accommodate him and the Roosters, happily ignoring its own contractual rules while also making public the market rate that would be accepted, something not seen before. It has been an extraordinary posture to adopt on a player who has played just 46 games of top-flight rugby league in 13 years and who walked out on the code less than one year into a five-year deal. This kind of red-carpet treatment would be expected for an Immortal but it is hard to grasp why the NRL would be so effusive to an ageing player in the dying days of his footballing career.

There will no doubt be many fond memories of the big hits and aggressive ball-playing Williams once offered, first as a teenage sensation for the Bulldogs and then as a more seasoned dual international who starred in the Roosters’ 2013 title run. His age, though – and how that stacks with his key skill-set – should not be underestimated.

Williams has built a highly successful career on being athletically superior. At 35, that simply will not be the case. He will return to one of the most physically demanding sports in the world as the third oldest player in the competition. Even the most ardent rugby union aficionado would struggle to argue that the 15-man game comes close to rugby league in terms of the athleticism required.

His stint with Toronto should be a major concern, even with the Roosters’ long list of injuries in the backrow, including Victor Radley for the season and Angus Crichton for an extended period. Williams’ performances have been widely criticised while he ranks second in handling errors in the entire competition with 12. If his poor handling and diminishing aggression are not cutting it in Super League, he is going to be wildly exposed in the NRL.

The best comparison is Ben Te’o. He left the NRL the same year as Williams after winning a premiership at Souths. He was a league backrower-cum-union centre who played union at international level. He is 18 months younger. While he was never an athlete of Williams’ class – few have been – he was not a long way off. And Te’o’s return to the NRL and the Brisbane Broncos has been underwhelming to say the least, averaging just 29.7 metres and 11.3 tackles per game with only three tackle breaks and no offloads. The pace and the fitness gulf between union and league has not been easy to overcome.

Williams’ performances on the field almost certainly will not match the hype, and his signing is going to attract significant criticism. Rightly or wrongly, the Roosters have long had questions posed about their salary cap compliance because of their ability to spend on big-name free agents while keeping the pick of their own players.

Adding Williams to a team coming off back-to-back premierships, even in the twilight of his career, will do little to dampen that perception. A market rate of $400,000 a year – on a par with the journeymen Shaun Lane and Tautau Moga – will only increase the perception that the Roosters have too much influence at HQ.

The fact that the Warriors in Williams’ native New Zealand are struggling to field a team and are relying on loan players to see out the season is another thing the NRL would surely rather avoid, but seems to be leaning right into instead.

There is also the question of Williams’ legacy. He continues to be one of the most divisive athletes in either rugby code but it goes without question that he has built a reputation as a truly elite cross-code star who reached the pinnacle of both, winning premierships, World Cups and international caps by the boatload.

In rugby league he was renowned as a heavy-hitter who could change the course of games and seasons. That is unlikely to happen this time and could do significant damage to his reputation. Whether he cares, of course, is another matter entirely. He has always been happy to play the well-paid mercenary and if he is after a payday and that is all then he will certainly get that in the NRL.

Sonny Bill Williams draws eyeballs and money. Whether that increase in interest is enough to mitigate the risk to the competition’s reputation, the Roosters’ title hopes and his very own legacy remains to be seen.