Former Kiwi backs SBW to make impact
Former Kiwis halfback Robbie Hunter-Paul says former test teammate Sonny Bill Williams ‘‘can still do things that no-one else on the planet can do’’.
Williams had a low-key debut for the Toronto Wolfpack as the Canadian club lost their first Super League game to Castleford last weekend.
Hunter-Paul, who played 29 tests between 1997 and 2006 and is now a BBC rugby league sideline commentator, believes Williams will be a great addition to the Super League after joining on a two-year deal worth an estimated $10 million.
‘‘He’s well into his 30s now so is coming to the back end of his career so we can’t expect to the see the dynamic stuff he used to come up with in his mid-20s,’’ Hunter-Paul said in a Quickfire Question and Answer fans forum on the Total Rugby League website.
Hunter-Paul, speaking before Williams’ first game, said: ‘‘One thing that comes with those years is experience and knowing how to do the right things at the right times.
‘‘Given the opportunity, Sonny can still do things that no-one else on the planet can do.’’
Hunter-Paul said that Toronto coach Brian McDermott would ‘‘need to play it smart’’ with
Williams ‘‘and use him at the right time’’.
‘‘Sonny is the ultimate professional and he does all the little extras and trains hard. For the players around him that becomes viral and they will look to replicate what he does.
‘‘He’s the stick that everyone in Super League can measure themselves against.’’
Hunter-Paul is well placed to comment on Super League impact.
The Aucklander – best known in New Zealand as Robbie Paul before hyphenating his name when he married Lisa Hunter in 2010 – spent his entire 19-year career in England.
He captained the Bradford Bulls – with McDermott at prop – in the 1996 Challenge Cup final. The younger brother of Kiwis star Henry Paul was just 20 years old, but he won the Lance Todd Trophy man of the match award after scoring three tries in a loss to St Helen’s.
He won three championship titles with Bradford, captaining them to the first treble of the Super League era in 2003, when the Bulls won the regular season premiership, the Super League grand final and the Challenge Cup crown. professional
Kiwis star Benji Marshall says being named as Wests Tigers’ co-captain is one of the proudest moments of his long NRL career.
Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire named Marshall and 2019 club captain Moses Mbye as joint skippers for the 2020 season.
The appointment marks a golden period for the 34-year-old in the twilight of his career. He made an emotional comeback to the Kiwis in 2019 after an absence of seven years, and Maguire made him captain for two end-of-year tests.
Most of Marshall’s 308 NRL games have been for the Tigers and he was humbled at Maguire’s call. ‘‘Leadership is a privilege and I certainly don’t take that for granted at a club I love,’’ Marshall said.