Sonny Bill Williams warned not to go on the field

[bort]

They showed Mundine on The Back Page (Fox) last night signing a cheque for 300k and said he needed to run around a few banks to get the lot. Wonder if it's a loan? He should be OK if it is. They reckon SBW's word is his bond.

haha yer
"ill pay you back mundine, i promise"

[KenyaQuin]

The boy has plenty of courage if you see it my convoluted way (I've read enough "he's a coward stuff".."he ran away".."let down the club/teammates/fans" diatribe, so no need to regurgitate) and happy to see this mess settled (or is it?). Welcome to Rugby, SWW, hope you love it as much as I do and hope you live up to all the hype.

[GIGS20]

The only surprise in this is that Toulon didn't cough up the reddies themselves. They surely knew what was going on before they had his signature!

No matter, it was all the predicted storm in a teacup, followed by a cash settlement and the farce of player contracts continues. When oh when will somebody write a player contract which can't be beaten by a simple cash payment of n+1 dollars.

I reckon they should have shot for the value of the remaining years of his contract! 4 years as one of the top ten earners in Oz would sit at around 1.2 Mill wouldn't it?

[bort]

yeh he was on about 450K a season
they should have sued him for 450K x 2(at least), on the basis that when they were signing other players they didnt have access to that money because it was already set aside for him, and theres enough front loading and back loading on player contracts they could maybe get away with all four years
plus the value of at least 1 years sponsorship with mitsubishi electric, their long time sponsor who hasnt renewed sponsorship (as well as several other sponsors)
and the difference between average gate takings after SBW left and before he left

if he had to pay up even a fair chunk of that money there would be much less screwing around with contracts going on
theres no doubt that he cost the bulldogs more than 750k
he probably cost the NRL at least that, let alone the bulldogs

[shasta]

I reckon they should have shot for the value of the remaining years of his contract! 4 years as one of the top ten earners in Oz would sit at around 1.2 Mill wouldn't it?

Maybe. But who's to say who eventually wins in court? Apart from the lawyers, of course. With restraint of trade and a few other worms likely to get out of the can, maybe the legal advice was to cut their losses and move on.

[BLR]

theres no doubt that he cost the bulldogs more than 750k
he probably cost the NRL at least that, let alone the bulldogs

Did they pay him in advance did they? All this figurative money loss means nothing, the price paid was more then fair, and they have a huge amount of money left in the salary cap with him leaving.

[shasta]

Did they pay him in advance did they?

Dunno about inn advance but he was made a payment after he walked away.

[bort]

Did they pay him in advance did they? All this figurative money loss means nothing, the price paid was more then fair, and they have a huge amount of money left in the salary cap with him leaving.

no but while he was contracted they had 450k per season less to spend under the salary cap. most players were already tied to contracts before he left. thus meaning they have 450k of salary cap for their top30 players. but their top30 is already full (or nearly) with very little left on the market to spend it

[laura]

Black mark against Williams
22/08/2008 12:28:37 AM

AFTER watching Sonny Bill Williams make his starting debut for French rugby union club Toulon, former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has predicted he will make the All Blacks squad for the 2011 World Cup. Williams made his second appearance for Toulon in a pre-season trial on Wednesday night and despite Jones's Saracens side winning 32-27, the former Bulldogs superstar made his mark on the match with a second-half try. "He showed tonight that he is going to be an extremely talented player," Jones told Channel Seven. "He's got all the skills and some of his offloads were just exceptional. Once he starts to understand the game better he could be one of the best transferers from a league player to a union player. You know, I could see him playing for the All Blacks in the 2011 World Cup."


SBW's home 'invasion' While Williams is in France, interest in the Caringbah house he is trying to sell has gone through the roof - thanks partly to a secretly recorded tour of the property that was posted on News Ltd websites last week. Not that the agents at Southern Waters Real Estate are impressed by the video, which they believe was filmed by a couple posing as prospective buyers. As a result, plans to hold further open houses have been cancelled and all inspections are now by appointment only. The house is due to go to auction on September 6.


Man's brotherly love Anthony Mundine cut his French holiday short to raise the $750,000 for the release of Williams from the Bulldogs. Mundine was due back in Australia yesterday but returned on Monday morning and spent the day visiting banks to come up with the funds at short notice. "I just look at it as helping out a brother," said Mundine, who re-affirmed he was now officially Williams's co-manager. "Sonny was grateful, he's just glad it's over and he can move on now to fulfil his dream."

more here...Black mark against Williams - National News - National - Sport - The Canberra Times

[shasta]

former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has predicted