‘All the world knows Sonny Bill’
A rival Super League coach says the predicted arrival of ‘‘global star’’ Sonny Bill Williams at the Toronto Wolfpack will be a massive marketing tool for the entire competition.
Salford Red Devils coach Ian Watson, who is in Christchurch in his role as an assistant coach with Great Britain under Wayne Bennett, for tomorrow’s test against the Kiwis, believes the impact of Williams playing for the Canadian-based club will be felt in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Watson believes the All Blacks midfielder will bring English rugby fans to league and create pathways for more New Zealand players to play in the Englandbased Super League – as well as lifting the profile of rugby league in the North American continent.
‘‘Super League is looking to try and expand and bringing somebody in like Sonny Bill Williams,
who is a global star, would be huge,’’ Watson told Stuff. ‘‘It’s not like it’s just New Zealand who know him – all the world knows Sonny Bill Williams.’’
Williams’ move to the Toronto Wolfpack on a rich two-year deal, reportedly worth $10 million, is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
The Wolfpack, who will join the English Super League for the first time in 2020 after two promotions in three seasons, are bankrolled by Australian mining entrepreneur David Argyle and were looking for a David Beckham-type player to do for the Wolfpack what the former Manchester United football favourite did for LA Galaxy.
Watson says they have found the right man. ‘‘He’s a global name.’’
Watson says players from rival clubs will relish the challenge of going up against the dynamic Williams.
Watson says there have been big names such as Kevin Locke and Manu Vatuvei – who both played for Salford – but no Kiwi player with the global pulling power of Williams has graced the Super League in recent years.
‘‘A lot of the young Kiwi players, they want to be Sonny Bill, so him coming into our competition is probably going to light a fire in them and if these kids are seeing him in Super League and it’s getting more exposure in New Zealand they are going to be thinking ‘I want to play in the competition too’,’’ Watson says.
Williams won NRL premierships with the Bulldogs (2004) and Roosters (2013) and two World Cups with the All Blacks (2011 and 2015) and will have an impact on the professionalism of his Toronto team-mates, Watson says.
‘‘Everyone says he’s the ultimate professional, and as a coach you want all your guys to be like that,’’ Watson said.