+ Cover story

At 27, hes one of New Zealands

most successful sportsmen an All
Black, a Kiwi and a heavyweight
boxing champion. So why then,
Mike White asks, do people love
to hate Sonny Bill Williams?

Sonny Bill Williams takes a

break from training during
preparation for a 2011 fight.
Phil Hillyard / Newspix

sonny
bill
we
love
him,
we
love
him
not
mike white is a north & south senior writer. Photograph by phil hillyard.

3 4 | N O RT H & S O U T H | M AY 2 0 1 3

Chris Hyde/Getty

Anthony Mundine (left) and Khoder Nasser (right) support Sonny Bill
Williams during his February fight with Francois Botha.

Critic Sir Bob Jones

said Williams
seems to be an
idiot adrift on a
float of publicity.
labelled it a sham, and boxing aficionados
decried it as a disgrace to the sport.
Critic Sir Bob Jones said Williams seems
to be an idiot adrift on a float of publicity,
comparing it to tennis, with Williams matched
against elderly women and fat chaps whove
never held a tennis racquet.
Once again the knockers were emboldened, once again the knives were out for
Sonny Bill.

t had started before the fight though.

The strange relationship we seem to
have with Williams that frequently
manifests itself in hostility was there
on the New Zealand Heralds website the
day he took on Botha.
Hes stupid as well as unethical and I
sure hope Botha beats the cr*p out of him,
spat one.
Hopefully Botha will sit that disgraceful
big mouth showboy on his a***, weighed
in another.
And so it continued.
Id love to see SBW get pummelled.
My belief is that show pony SBW will
hopefully get a good ole trouncing tonight.

You could better understand the slander

and desire for ill-fortune if the comments
were from South Africa but this was New
Zealand, Williams home, the country hed
proudly represented for a decade.
Williams had succeeded at virtually everything hed touched in the sporting world,
without being gobby or bling-ridden. Yet
here was a strong voice of his countrymen
who wanted him smacked up big time by a
lardy South African.
Its hard to know why. Every hater has their
reasons, their prejudices, their keenly clutched
logic. But if youre looking for where it began,
most would take you back five years to a midwinter night in Sydney and an act that would,
for many years, define Sonny Bill Williams.

n Saturday July 26, 2008, Williams

boarded a plane for Singapore
and then London. The then
22-year-old was already one of
rugby leagues biggest stars, but he was walking out on his club, the struggling Canterbury
Bulldogs, just two days before their next
match. Without telling his team mates or
management, Williams was on his way to
French rugby team Toulon, turning his back
on his colleagues, fans and the code hed
played most of his life.
John Ackland, a former Kiwi and league
scout, first saw Williams when he was 10, at
Owairaka Primary School. The thing that
stood out for me was how much he loved it
he just loved playing.
Ackland knew Williams parents, John and
Lee, and kept an eye on their kid. And when

PATRICK HAMILTON/AFP / Getty

t the end of the fight they

crowded around him in the
ring. Sonny Bill Williams,
dazed but grinning, glistening
under the lights that February
night in Brisbane, supported by his team.
There was Khoder Nasser, his maligned
manager, in white sun hat. His great mate
Anthony Mundine crouched at the front with
his right index finger raised, signalling Sonny
was number one. And at the back, friend and
fellow international rugby player Quade
Cooper, beaming after his own boxing win
earlier that night. This was Williams corner,
the camp of the champ.
Williams had just outpointed South African
veteran Francois Botha, a man dubbed the
White Buffalo, who had the paunch of a pisshead, a face of belligerence and an ugly blond
haircut.
For eight rounds, Williams jabbed and
danced around him, belying the fact it was
just his sixth fight compared to Bothas 60th.
But then Botha started catching him, clocking him, and all Williams could do was hang
on. And god he hung on, clutching at Botha
as the buffalo tried to finish him, staying on
his feet just long enough to hear the clang
of the final bell.
Botha might have been 44 and fat but he
was tough, fought dirty and thought hed done
enough to take the fight and the World Boxing
Association International Heavyweight title.
But all three judges scored it in Williams
favour and it was the New Zealanders heavily
tattooed right arm the referee heaved aloft
in victory, keeping his undefeated record and
dreams of boxing glory.
So they gathered round him, triumphant,
the title belt askew around Williams waist,
gloves now off, fists still taped, skin still reddened by 10 rounds of punishment.
But immediately there was controversy.
Why had the fight that was advertised for 12
rounds seemingly been cut short just when
Williams was on the ropes? Botha then
claimed Nasser had offered him $150,000 to
throw the bout. But before that slur could
gain traction, Botha tested positive for banned
stimulants.
Whatever merit there may have been in
Williams performance and no matter how
extravagant Bothas claims were, the fight
will forever be remembered for the ropy
aftermatch, the sleazy aftermath. And despite Bothas promoter admitting he knew
the fight was only 10 rounds, theres a lingering public perception the fight was shortened to suit Williams.
Bookmakers refunded bets, promoters

it became clear how good Williams was,

Ackland suggested a professional league career
in Australia for the Mt Albert Grammar pupil.
The $5000 deal saw 16-year-old Williams
head to Sydney in 2002 as the Bulldogs
youngest signing. In 2004, he made his NRL
debut and later that year was picked for the
Kiwis, the youngest person to play in an
Anzac test. That year he also won a premiership with the Bulldogs, playing in their grand

For most of the fight, Williams had the better of his opponent, but in
the last two rounds Botha took to him. Botha was unaware the fight was
only 10 rounds rather than the advertised 12 and later claimed he had
been robbed. Shortly afterwards, Botha failed a drugs test.

and I was sort of trying to calm the situation

down a little bit, saying, Look, its a big thing
to go in a World Cup are you going to walk
out on that? It didnt happen but it wasnt
far off.
I wouldnt have been surprised if the following day he was on a plane and had been
in Los Angeles. But to his credit, he didnt
go. And as Khoder says, he stayed and he
played.
Khoder Nasser says the reason Williams
stayed was because he was determined to
achieve his goal to win a World Cup.
But Williams unhappiness continued
through the tournament, Nasser admits,
when he was again used only for a few minutes as a substitute in the big games. How
can a guy go from basically being the great
centre that played for the Crusaders and
being an incredible star, to suddenly playing
10 minutes and eight minutes and hes sitting on the bench in a World Cup? What
does that tell you about the person that
chooses that [team]?
Current All Blacks coach Steven Hansen
says Williams upset was obvious. He was
frustrated because he wanted to be out there.
And thats the competitor in the man. Great
competitors want to be on the field doing
the job. But unfortunately for him there was
another guy doing a good job too so he didnt

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Wilson charged Williams was a disgraceful

example of how greed is turning many of our
footballers into mercenaries who dont care
about anyone except the bloke in the mirror.
Williams was unapologetic, saying players
were being treated like cattle. I stood up
for myself, for what I believe in. I stood up
for all those other players that are sitting at
home. I had to have balls to do what Ive
done. Im no coward, you know.
Eventually, though, he was barred from
playing league for five years and forced to pay
the Bulldogs $850,000 to break his contract.
But the money didnt soothe the fans a bit. In
a September 2008 magazine poll, Williams
was rated Australias most-hated person even
more despised than Bali bomber Amrozi.

t didnt take long before the All Blacks

came calling. In March 2009, assistant
coach Wayne Smith visited Williams
and laid out a path to the All Blacks.
Williams was still finding his feet in rugby
but admitted that despite having league in
his blood, hed always wanted to be an All
Black. So the following year he turned down
$6 million over three years to remain at
Toulon the biggest contract in rugby history instead returning to New Zealand for
around $500,000 a year and the chance of
making the All Blacks World Cup squad.

Williams made his debut against England

at Twickenham in November 2010, All Black
1108, only the second player to represent
New Zealand in rugby after being in the
national league team.
But All Blacks match time was hard won,
Williams competing with two of the worlds
best centres, Maa Nonu and Conrad Smith.
He wasnt used to being second pick or
parked on the bench, feeling hed well and
truly done his apprenticeship.
When the All Blacks beat the Wallabies
in August 2011 to retain the Bledisloe Cup,
Williams got only the final 12 minutes on
the field.
He was fuming when he met Nasser,
Mundine and Cooper at an Auckland hotel
after the match, still wearing his game shorts
and socks. Mundine was ranting about coach
Graham Henry using Williams as a reserve
and told his friend they should just get on
a plane and go to Los Angeles for some shopping. Flourishing his cellphone, Mundine
offered to book the tickets there and then.
Hes got the worlds best player in his
team and he leaves him on the bench. Who
the fuck does he think he is?
Australian journalist Greg Bearup witnessed the scene and remembers how close
Williams came to quitting the All Blacks
that night. It was touch and go. I was there

get as much game time as he probably

wouldve liked.
Hansen says Williams reaction to not being selected was more about eagerness than
ego. I dont think he has an ego at all. I
think what he does have is a huge desire to
be a winner and be competitive and to be
the best you possibly can be. And sometimes
he allows that to get in the way when he
doesnt get what he wants so he gets disappointed and hes probably a little bit impatient to get to the very, very top, like a lot
of great athletes are. You become great because you want to be great and you dont
want too many things to get in the way of
that. Though its a great strength, it becomes
a little bit of a weakness from time to time.

illiams stayed with rugby

for another season then,
after a brief stint playing in
Japan, announced he was
heading back to rugby league in Australia in
2013, signing a one-year deal with the
Roosters. His return was the biggest talking
point of the new season, with Channel 9 ads
featuring a stripped-off Williams surrounded by smoke appearing to wake from his
league hibernation as large red letters pulsed
onto the screen: SBW OMG.
But along with the hype and headlines

and expectation came the knockers and

detractors, revising history and revisiting
Williams supposed sins.
When the Roosters came to Auckland in
March, Herald columnist Chris Rattue wrote
a stinging piece accusing Williams of being
interested only in himself. Describing
Williams as a bloke of no particular charm
who dabbled in rugby and is to team ethics
what Kim Dotcom is to marathon running,
Rattue dug up his Bulldogs walkout of 2008
and the fact he arrived late to Roosters training because of his joke of a boxing promotion against Botha. Maybe this is old school,
but SBWs attitude stinks.
He disparaged Williams donation of
$100,000 to the Canterbury earthquake appeal from a previous fight as boxing under
a charity pretence and claimed he effectively bludged a place in the World Cup final
thanks to sycophantic coaches.
It may seem strange such sentiments can
still be sustained but Rattues outburst tapped
into the latent anti-SBW attitude which survives in sporting suburbia. Somehow being
good enough to represent your country at
two sports as well as being a reasonable
boxer is of no moment. Seeking to extend
your sporting ability is frivolous. Looking
after your own interests is mercenary. But
only if youre Sonny Bill Williams it seems.
N O R T H & S O U T H | may 2 0 1 3 | 3 7

Chris Hyde/Getty Images

final win over the Sydney Roosters.

Former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott noted at the time: It can be dangerous to say
this about someone so young but I can tell
you hes going to be something very special.
Players like him come along once every 10
or 15 years, if that.
Penrith captain Craig Gower summed up
what it was like to face off against the teenager: He just looks like a big bastard that
wants to run over the top of you.
Williams star and price continued to
rise. In May 2007, he re-signed with the
Bulldogs for five years and more than $2.6
million. But even though he was on $10,000
a week, Williams began to realise hed sold
himself short. In 2008, he dumped his agent
Gavin Orr after meeting Khoder Nasser, whod
already taken another league star, Anthony
Mundine, under his wing. Nasser encouraged
Williams to maximise his sporting value and
when Toulon offered him $1.5 million a year,
Williams jumped.
The Bulldogs were stunned and ran to
their lawyers, taking out an injunction to
prevent Williams playing for Toulon.
The fans were septic. He became Money
Bill Williams, Dollar Bill, $BW. His leaving was a dog act, and he was now the
Frog Dog.
And the media let rip. Columnist Rebecca

Mark Nolan/Getty

Above: A Bulldogs fan holds up a sign at Williams first game back in league in March, referring to the players walkout from his old team
in 2008. Above right: Williams with friends Anthony Mundine (left) and Quade Cooper after winning his fight against Francois Botha.

Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Anthony Phelps/Getty

Above left: Williams, the teenager. Above: Bulldogs player Williams in 2004, celebrating victory as the full-time siren sounds in the round 18
NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Bulldogs on July 13, 2008. Thirteen days later, he was gone to France and to rugby.

Phil Walter/Getty

There was never an outcry when Brad

Thorn turned his back on league in an effort
to make the All Blacks and then went back
to league and then back to rugby to make
the World Cup team like Williams. While
Thorn is lauded as an honourable workhorse, Williams is a show pony as Warriors
co-owner Owen Glenn dubbed him.
While its okay for other players even
the hallowed Dan Carter to take time out
to play for big money overseas, its ugly exploitation when Williams does it.
And while there was once a fine tradition
of our top rugby players being boxers Kevin
Skinner, Tom Heeney, Maurice Brownlie,
Morrie McHugh its a deluded distraction
for Williams. Perhaps someone should have
told All Black legend Sir Wilson Whineray
that when he played an All Black trial one
Saturday afternoon in Christchurch then drove
to Dunedin to win the New Zealand universities heavyweight boxing title that evening,
he should pull his head in.
Some of the antipathy towards Williams
comes from his association with the
uncompromising Khoder Nasser who looks
like Al Pacino from his Serpico days and
describes his ace in contract negotiations
as: The option to be able to say to the other
side, Go fuck yourself, and then walk out
of the room.
Greg Bearup of The Australian, who was
inside Williams camp during his latest fight,
says Nasser sees himself as an outsider with
no fear of affronting the establishment. Hes
mercurial. Hes got a Mediterranean temperament he fires up one moment and hes
shouting at people and the next hes hugging
someone. Hes a great character.
The common depiction is that Nasser somehow cast a spell over Williams, encouraging
him to bolt from the Bulldogs, chase big
money and convert to Islam. But from what
I saw from spending time with them, I thought
it was a really positive thing, says Bearup.
After several booze-related incidents earlier in his career, Williams environment is
now alcohol-free and there have been no
personal scandals in recent years. And since
Nasser took over Williams management,
Bearup says hes had a sparkling career, having made millions more than he would have
by staying in league; hes become an All Black,
won a Rugby World Cup and launched a successful boxing career.
In truth, Williams is very thoughtful and
humble, Bearup says, and the negative perceptions of him may have as much to do with
the public as with the man himself. The All
Blacks are this revered sporting outfit. And
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roar. No matter what you do, its very tumultuous, rocky, stormy thats part and parcel
of being Sonny Bill. Theres no such thing as
plain sailing theyre always at him.
Despite the image, Nasser says Williams
is generally a shy guy who lives simply. And
Sonny is the harshest person on himself. Ive
seen him walk off the field when the All
Blacks won 60-0 against Ireland and he was
still filthy with himself. Hes never satisfied.
Sometimes I get bamboozled. I think hes
had a phenomenal game and Ill say that
and hell shoot you down and youll think,
Shit, mate, am I blind? Sometimes youd
like to think hed walk off the field and say,
Yeah, I did well. I cant remember one of
those instances Im being dead serious.

D
Sonny Bill Williams with manager Khoder Nasser at the
2012 Heineken Tennis Open in Auckland.

for someone to say, Ill play for you on my

terms, is a bit galling to some Kiwis.

heres no doubt Williams is immensely gifted at sport. He was

always a kid that could throw the
discus and put the shot and run
long distances and sprint, says John Ackland,
the scout who spotted Williams as a kid. In
fact the last time we crossed paths was down
at Coxs Bay and we were having a family
game of cricket and he just wandered in out
of the blue, picked up the bat and hit a
lovely off drive, left-handed.
But its Williams foray into boxing that
critics most like to use as a stick to beat him
with. They claim his opponents are deadbeats
and easy beats forgetting perhaps that most
boxers begin their professional careers with
softer options. David Tua didnt fight anyone
with more wins than losses until his 11th bout.
Francois Botha is portrayed as a fat has-been.
But you dont fight Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis,
Wladimir Klitschko and Evander Holyfield
without having a few skills and tricks.
Former New Zealand boxing coach Chris
Kenny says Williams did well to beat someone as tough as Botha, especially given hes
only boxing part-time and has no amateur
background.

Kenny, who has trained many New Zealand

and Oceania champions, says: As a boxer,
hes good talent but not the finished goods
yet. I just wish I was training him because
Id give him a kick up the backside and say,
make a choice and go for it for the next
couple of years. If he devoted himself to it,
he could develop into something.
Khoder Nasser has no doubts Williams
could be world heavyweight champion.
If he puts his mind to it, yeah. He doesnt
do anything in half-spades, he doesnt do
anything as a joke, he doesnt do anything as
a gimmick. You dont stick your head out like
that, especially in a sport like boxing, and do
what he did in the last fight unless youre
dead serious.
I mean, people can say whatever they
want, but you look at all the great boxers from
this part of the world and tell me which one
that you can compare, in their sixth fight,
fought someone of Bothas experience, having only fought one round in 12 months. If
you can find me anyone in the world thats
done that give me a call.
Nasser says the media, which he once described as the knockers and the peddlers of
mendacity, havent left Williams alone since
he was a teenager. Its impossible to take in
all the headlines you just get lost in the

etractors frequently compare

Williams with league convert and
former All Black Brad Thorn
when arguing why Williams
doesnt deserve the mantle of greatness. But
Thorn better than anyone appreciates just
how gutsy Williams has been and praises him
swapping sports to see what he can achieve.
The worst thing is never actually doing
something and having that question, I wonder if I could have done this or that.
You know, you get one life. Hes just a
guy, loving what hes doing, going hard, testing himself. I played next to him and I loved
having him next to me. It says a lot about a
guy to me, to see him challenging himself.
And I get on really well with Sonny really good sense of humour, a lot of banter,
a lot of competitive fun. Id say most guys
who know Sonny will tell you they enjoy
hanging out with him. I call him a mate.
Sonnys one of those guys that loads of
people just love for his ability and who he is
but theres probably a lot that like to see him
get knocked over as well. Its just part of being an athlete. It comes with the territory.
You either accept it or go and dig a hole somewhere or do something else.
Mind you, the attention Williams gets is
extraordinary, from international ads to action
figures to kids wanting an SBW haircut.
Australian sports writer Spiro Zavos says
Williams is the new Jonah Lomu. Hes a
prodigy. This is a fantastic athlete and were
not going to see a guy like that again for a
very long time.
Zavos doesnt buy into the easy criticism
of Williams as a money-grubbing mercenary.
No, I think thats a load of crap. Of course
hes getting a lot of money but he could have
made a hell of a lot more money in Europe.
Hes a guy that realises hes athletically

After spending much of

the Rugby World Cup
on the bench, Williams
came into his own as a
player in 2012, winning
a Super 15 with the
Chiefs and starring
for the All Blacks. All
Blacks coach Steve
Hansen said Williams
took his game to another
level and became a
world-class player.
Above left: Williams
and Frederic Michalak
of the Sharks in action
during the Super 15
final. Left: Williams
offloads the ball
during the All Blacks
60-0 third and final
test win over Ireland
in Hamilton, 2012.

N O R T H & S O U T H | M ay 2 0 1 3 | 3 9

Williams scores his second try during

the international test match between New
Zealand and Ireland at Waikato Stadium.
Sandra Mu/Getty

gifted and that he can have a career that will

be unparalleled probably in New Zealand
sport. This is a guy on a terrifically exciting
and challenging journey and hes going for
it. I always have a lot of time for people who
put themselves on the line.
Moreover, attacks on Williams personality are simply misguided, Zavos says. He
signs autographs for kids, hes not a Shane
Warne, hes affable, hes a clean-living Muslim;
hes a clean player, he doesnt fight on the
field or hit players late, hes not a niggler like
Quade Cooper. Hes not the most articulate
guy in the world but then Im not a legendary
bloody rugby league or rugby player. I mean,
whats the problem?
Its a terrible thing often in sport that you
get these people that just get these bloody
hates.
Zavos believes Williams ultimate aim is
to become boxings world heavyweight champion. Playing rugby around the world has
increased his profile in key countries where
pay-per-view TV audiences are lucrative.
In the meantime, Zavos thinks Williams
will return to rugby for the 2015 World Cup
something the All Blacks will likely need
given the uncertainty around midfielders
Nonu, Smith and Richard Kahui.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says he
keeps in touch with Williams. Wed like to
think one day he might come back. Hes a
drawcard, whatever sport hes playing, so
thats got to be good for your sport. But more
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Only my close
ones would understand how much
pain, especially on
the body, that I put
myself through.
importantly I think we havent seen the best
of him yet.
He has all the skills and attributes to be
a great All Black, but hes got to come back
and play the game to do that, doesnt he.

or his part, Williams says he has a

rough outline of where his career
is heading. But you know, it can
change from year to year.
His real planning is done week by week,
focusing on the next game, not getting too
far ahead, ticking off all he needs to do before the weekend.
Being back in Sydney has reminded him
how intense the media and public interest
is. A lot of people write things about me and
you know, half of it aint true and half of it is
straight blatant lies. I dont go out trying to
grab headlines or make noise. I just try and
fly under the radar. If I had my way I wouldnt
do any media. Id just play footy and come
home to my family. In saying that I do understand its a privilege to do what you love
doing play sport and get paid well and do
that for a living.
I was never the smartest guy in the
school; I was just lucky to be blessed with

pretty good sporting genes. So I understand

I have to give up my time for the media and
things like that. But Im my own man. I wont
sell out to anyone. No one owns me. No
media will tell me how to do it. Ill be my
own man, whether they like it or not, whether
that means them writing good stories or bad
stories. These days it just doesnt bother me.
They can do what they are going to do. As
long as my family, my close ones are happy
and my team mates respect me, wherever I
am, then Im happy.
After a decade living a life where every
action and move has been illuminated and
magnified by the medias spotlight, Williams
knows the rules of being a celebrity. Certain
people in the media pretty much hate me.
Thats fine. But dont expect me to bow down
or put on a smiley face or jump out of my
skin to talk to you. Ill just be me.
You could try and live your life in the
media and go about it that way, which a lot
of people do, I guess, and it seems to go down
with the public really well. But as soon as
you open the door to your private life to,
say, the Womans Day and things like that
it just doesnt stop. Youve got to have a
bit of privacy about things, about your life,
thats what I try and do.
For all the critics who surface like barracuda to burley at the sniff of any SBW
controversy, Williams says he gets incredible support on the street. I get a lot of love
as well, a lot of respect and Im forever taking photos with people, having yarns with
guys. And to me thats more important than
getting beautiful stories written about me.
When Williams signed that first contract
on the bonnet of John Acklands Nissan in
Avondale, he never imagined this, a life exposed and dissected. My best mate, who I
grew up with, has just moved over and we
were talking about back in the day and how
I never thought it would be this crazy. But
my mate was like, Nah bro, always knew you
were going to do it. But never in my wildest
dreams did I think that I would be as blessed as I have been.
You reap the rewards off the field but shit
its a lot of hard work. Only my close ones
would understand how much pain, especially on the body, that I put myself through.
But like I always think, Im a long time retired. And all those stories of shit that people
write thats just going to be rubbish paper.
I might get knocked out in my next fight.
I might never succeed in rugby league or if
I play rugby union again. But at least I can
look in the mirror and say Ive had a crack
I put myself out there.
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