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![Not allowed!](images/buttons/up_dis.png)
Story by Colin Newboult
Sonny Bill Williams has come under fire from prominent radio host Ray Hadley, who has called for the All Blacks great to be sacked.
The Australian presenter, who is employed by the same company as the 38-year-old, has taken exception to his colleague’s social media activity.
Hadley is a 2GB presenter and former rugby league commentator for Channel Nine, and he was critical of Williams sharing a post by ‘influencer’ Andrew Tate.
Tate is a self-proclaimed misogynist and is currently facing criminal charges in both Romania and the United Kingdom.
Williams shared a tweet from Tate following an attack on a Sydney bishop, who was allegedly stabbed multiple times by a 16-year-old boy.
That prompted Hadley to criticise the cross-code great, who currently works as a pundit for Stan Sport.
That channel is part of the Nine Entertainment network, which is the group that also owns 2GB, and the radio host believes that Williams should be sacked.
“I don’t know how this bloke has continued to be employed by the network that employs me,” Hadley said.
“That’s a decision for people who are a higher post than me. It’s embarrassing he’s employed by this organisation. I’m embarrassed to be in the same camp as him.
“I’d say to the Nine board that employs me – you should be embarrassed as well, led by Mr (Peter) Costello, that you still employ him. How he sustains his job given his monosyllabic efforts on TV, I’ll never know, let alone his dim-witted approach on social media.”
Hadley also called for Williams’ position to be reviewed last October after his comments surrounding the Gaza conflict.
The ex-All Black had shared a post from American commentator Khaled Beydoun which sparked controversy.
“It’s embarrassing for me and other people connected with this radio and TV network that he’s employed by, and I think that the CEO of the company should review his employment prospects,” Hadley said at the time.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
anyone got the tweet?
"Just like we should condemn the killings of innocent human beings on October the 7th, we should all condemn the killings and injustice of our oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters that’s been happening for the last 75 years. As a Muslim and as a human being, it’s my duty to speak the truth and use the platform I’ve been blessed with to seek justice, no matter the consequences. What we’re seeing in Palestine right now is not a war, it’s genocide.
Free Palestine."
Accompanies a highly edited for emotion video.
Not a forum for politics though, so probably best we leave it about the Rugby Commentor aspect I think.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Leaving the politics out, I don't have a clue who the person is that Hadley accuses of misoginy but that would be the ultimate case of pot-kettle-black. He's been called to account more than a couple of times for being a misogynist and an overbearing bully. He thinks he's a comedian but all his jokes are at someone else's expense
Having said that SBW was a much better player than an analyst but has improved slightly. Bro.
Emphasis on "slightly"![]()
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
It’s a tough gig, you need a rugby brain, the ability to translate that into insightful commentary and articulate it well, combined with the people skills to interview players & staff who are either riding the high of a win or the low of a loss / injury. If he’s live I tune out and if it’s pre-recorded the skip 30s goes into action.
EDIT: Just listening to Kieran Read doing the halftime commentary for the Saders game - night and day between him and SBW.
Last edited by Kernow; 26-04-24 at 16:00.
Gareth Chilcott after his last game for Bath in 1993
“I thought I would have a quiet pint… and about 17 noisy ones.”
I'm the opposite. I know a fair bit about Andrew Tate and very little about Ray Hadley.
Andrew Tate is a despicable human. Anyone retweeting his stuff without condemning him is effectively condoning him (regardless of what the original tweet was about). I feel like it is up there with Folau's tweets. Not the kind of stuff I'd like to see employed in our game in any capacity. It doesn't help that SBW is a pretty average commentator.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Is Tate still a Romanian prison on Human Trafficking charges?
He's absolute shitbag of a human.