Is in a league of his own
will, like James, be earning sums exponentially greater than his peers, courtesy of huge investment in the Wolfpack by Australian mining tycoon David Argyle.
But Williams, 34, is a more multifaceted figure than this picture suggests. For example, he has, after a trouble-plagued early life in Auckland, reached a state of inner peace by embracing Islam.
‘‘It enables me to take a step back and look at my blessings,’’ he explains. ‘‘But then it also allows me to be a fierce competitor, to know that my opportunities don’t come too often.’’
Williams could be quite the rogue in his youth: while at Canterbury Bulldogs, he was charged with drink-driving and photographed in a compromising position with a model at Sydney’s Clovelly
Hotel. In light of his subsequent religious conversion, he often veers today into the language of the born-again.
But his sincerity is beyond dispute. Last year, he wrote of feeling so happy and serene that he had tears rolling down his face.
‘‘I just try to do the best I can, bro. Some days I’m an idiot, I’m a d ...... d, I’m short-tempered. But when I pray with my heart instead of my limbs, the more I can consciously think, ‘Look at that less fortunate person.’ I’m not saying it’s all roses. With mental health, you need to work on it, the same as with your physical health.’’
Williams was introduced to Islam while staying with a Tunisian family in the south of France, having moved to Toulon in 2008. The parents and their five children all slept together in the lounge.
‘‘The solace they had in that household was beautiful,’’ he later observed. ‘‘That’s when I really started getting into it.’’
Besides staying in constant contact with his former hosts, he has encouraged family members to follow suit. His mother, Lee, also took the Shahada, the profession of faith, after the 2018 massacre at a Christchurch mosque.
‘‘My brother is now a Muslim as well,’’ Williams says.
‘‘He saw how good it was for me, how much peace it brought to my life. But it wasn’t as if I was holding up the Koran and saying, ‘Look, you can’t do this.’ Do as you wish. I’ll love you just as much.’’
His devoutness is crucial to any appreciation of his motives as he approaches the end of a remarkable career.
It helps, in particular, in understanding why he so quickly shrugged off New Zealand’s World Cup exit last month.
‘‘Yeah, you’re cut up because you didn’t win,’’ he shrugs. ‘‘But my outlook is: shut your mouth, be grateful, and try to be better.’’
Sunday Telegraph