Finding Their Bite

The Bulldogs need more of this from Tony Williams

Last season’s beaten NRL Grand Finalists the Canterbury Bulldogs came into the 2013 with high expectations. It is now year two of the Des Hasler era and along with their recruitment of Tony Williams and progress of their young players, it seemed like 2013 would be a year to give the title a real shake.

We knew they would be without James Graham for the first couple of months after he took the team mascot too seriously and bit Billy Slater in the Grand Final, but then came the injuries and the Ben Barba saga to throw a spanner in the works.

Despite those issues, most thought the Doggies would still be solid and hold the fort until all their names were back. However, after a 1-4 start to the season, including an uninspiring performance last Friday against Manly, we have to wonder if or when they will re-find their mojo.

Ben Barba ended up only missing three games and was back in time for the big match against the Rabbitohs in round 4. He went ok in that match given the circumstances and I thought the Bulldogs overall were good in a losing effort against a top opponent. But they followed that up with the Manly performance, where Barba looked like he had little interest in being there and certainly didn’t seem in a position to contribute positively to his team.

Speaking of having little interest and not contributing positively, Tony Williams has been less T-Rex and more Barney the Dinosaur since moving from Brookvale to Belmore. I don’t know if it is a fitness issue or a motivation issue, but he has been not only a bust in terms of the money he is being paid, but he is actually worse for the Bulldogs on the field than if he were not playing at all.

His defence is mediocre; he is not running hard and worst of all he doesn’t even stand correctly in the attacking line so he can receive the ball. Last year at Manly he would hit the ball at pace and put the defensive line on the back foot; this year he is standing in front of his teammates so any pass to him would be a deliberate forward pass penalty.

Right now I would imagine he is zero chance of playing in the upcoming Test match or for NSW in State of Origin and it would take a massive turnaround to get him his Blues jersey back. But for the Bulldogs to get back to contending for a title, turning Williams back into the T-Rex will be crucial.

With Inu and Graham both still a few weeks away from returning from suspension and Kasiano still not ready to go, the Bulldogs have a tough few weeks ahead of them. Being 1-4 is a salvageable position if it is turned around relatively quickly. They have been slow starters in the past and managed to contend, however the elastic band only stretches so far before it snaps.

What is very unlucky for the Bulldogs is that in a season where they were going to be under the pump with players out to start the season, they also managed to have the most difficult draw imaginable. In the first five rounds of the season, they played the four teams that finished directly below them in positions 2-5 on the ladder last season. The only other team they played was Parramatta and that of course is their lone victory.

The Storm, Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles have been the benchmark teams once again this year and whilst the Cowboys have not been great either, they played well enough in Round 1 and got the points. When you combine the missing players with the quality of their opposition, the Bulldogs have been up against it from Round 1.

That brings us to Round 6. This Friday night the Bulldogs travel to Allianz Stadium to take on the Sydney Roosters. The Roosters had been looking fantastic and with an impenetrable defence until their second half collapse in Canberra last weekend. Now both teams will be desperate for the victory.

With a logjam in the middle of the table, the difference between the Roosters going 4-2 or 3-3 at the Anzac Test week off is massive. Had they held on against the Raiders, there might have been less urgency to the match for the Tri-Colours.

For the Bulldogs, this match is everything. Not only is it the difference between being 2-4 or 1-5, it is Sonny Bill Williams’ first match against his old side and the Doggies’ fans will be calling for blood. When Willie Mason faced a similar (if not quite as hostile as this Friday will be) reaction in his first match for the Roosters against the Bulldogs, he delivered probably his best performance for the Roosters in a one sided affair. If Sonny Bill Williams’ does the same then we might be seeing the Bulldogs digging a hole from which it will be very difficult to get out.

Either way, we are going to learn a lot about both teams on Friday night. The Roosters are clearly good, but how good? At this point I think they are a playoff team without being a real threat to the Premiership. They will destroy bad teams like they did to Parramatta, but good teams won’t back down against them. If the Roosters can start beating the good teams, then maybe we will have a real contender on our hands.

The Bulldogs at their best are clearly contenders. But by the time they reach their best, if they ever get there at all, it might be too late. Not every team can go on the run Parramatta went on in 2009 to the Grand Final and the Bulldogs season needs to start on Friday night before the Test Match and City vs. Country weekend.

Come Friday night their bite needs to be as big as their bark once again.

SBW: Farce or Revolutionary?

Sonny Bill Williams at Roosters HQ

Sonny Bill Williams has received a lifetime worth of both criticism and praise over his career to date and pretty much all of it, both good and bad, was deserved. He is a rare breed of athlete, seemingly created by whatever deity you believe in to dominate whichever sport he chooses to participate.

No one can doubt that Sonny Bill is a fantastic football player, both in rugby league or rugby union and I would imagine that if he had chosen to play any other sport as a child he would have been able to reach great heights in that as well. However, whether it was due to his personality or due to the influence of others, Sonny Bill has had controversy follow him wherever he goes.

This past week’s boxing match against Francois Botha is the latest in a line of incidents that make Sonny Bill and his manager Khoder Nasser look spectacularly dodgy and honestly they don’t seem to care.

You see, Sonny Bill Williams is a mercenary. He is a gun for hire. Sure he is in team sports, but he isn’t really a member of any team but his own and that is a decision that someone with his natural gifts is able to make. People will cater to Williams’ demands because when he actually plays for them he is so good at what he does. He only signs one year contracts and doesn’t hide the fact that he might leave to go do something else as soon as that one year is up.

In fact, he is already talking about playing for New Zealand in the Rugby 7’s at the 2016 Olympics. Although perhaps someone should tell him that you don’t get paid for competing in the Olympics.

The fact that Williams’ camp pulled the stunt they pulled by removing the last two rounds of his fight against Botha doesn’t actually surprise me. Partly because at this point nothing that happens in boxing would surprise me and partly because Nasser and Williams stopped playing by others people’s rules long ago.

After  getting away with walking out from a binding contract with the Bulldogs several years ago, besides the public backlash of course, Williams and Nasser realised they could get away with pretty much anything, because there is always going to be another door opening as they burn the bridges behind them.

Whether Williams ever goes back to boxing is unknown, as Williams was already suggesting that it might be his last fight and given how that turned out I can’t imagine too many people will be willing to pay to watch him fight again unless it’s against a much bigger name opponent.

Khoder Nasser and his stable of Williams, Anthony Mundine and Quade Cooper are a group that we haven’t really seen the likes of before in the sports world. The best comparison I can come up with for them is the nWo from the old WCW days in professional wrestling. A group of bad guys, simply out for themselves, but talented enough to do it and become the next big thing in sport. Of course in this comparison Khoder Nasser would be Eric Bischoff.

Williams now has reported for duty at Roosters training for the 2013 season and Roosters fan are excited. Also excited are the NRL and Channel 9 who are promoting the opening match of the season between the Roosters and Rabbitohs as if only one player is playing. As long as he can stay on the field I am sure that Williams will have a great season for the Roosters and their fans will adore him.

But who knows how many seasons he will play for them and if you were another club in the NRL or Super Rugby would you consider it worth your while to invest such a huge chunk of your salary cap in a player who you might only get for one year?

The flip side to this is that in some ways Sonny Bill Williams is a revolutionary. We all admit that nowadays sports is first and foremost a business and with a limited career span it is only fair that an athlete tries to make as much money as they can in that time. Not every athlete can do this the way Sonny Bill has, but given he is so talented that he will always have new opportunities, it is financially smart of him to play his cards in this manner.

It would not surprise me to see more of the top athletes in the future following this model of one year, mercenary style contracts. Some may only do so in a single sport, but some like Williams will be able to move from sport to sport and from league to league, offering their services as long as they are the ones willing to pay the most for the privilege.

Soccer manager Pep Guardiola is already a fan of the one year contract, more for personal reasons than financial ones, but much like Williams he is talented enough and in demand enough that he can continue doing so for many years to come.

Of course there are huge risks with this strategy. Williams has been plagued by injury in the past and all it takes is one injury to shut a lot of those open doors. A long term contract provides security and it admittedly takes a lot of balls to live the life of an athlete without that security. So for that, I actually commend Sonny Bill.

There are areas in which I respect Sonny Bill Williams. He is a tremendous athlete and football player and by all accounts he trains hard and does everything he can to be the best he can be. But for the most part, I am ready to boo as loudly as I’ve ever booed when he takes the field for the Roosters on March 7 and I’m sure he won’t even notice.

By now he has heard all the booing and hating and I don’t think he cares one iota, because Sonny Bill Williams is playing for Sonny Bill Williams and so far he is winning.

Friday Footy Quick Hits

New ARLC CEO David Smith if you wanted to know what he looked like

Even though it’s off season there are some things I want to comment on going on in the world of footy.

First of all the ARLC just announced their new CEO in Lloyds International boss David Smith. Smith is from Wales and has no background in sports administration but is more a traditional business executive type. It remains to be seen how he does in the job, but this hiring says to me that in terms of actual football issues, the ARLC board itself will be the ones making the big calls and Smith will focus on the business side of things. The biggest issue of the new TV deal has already been dealt with, but I can’t imagine Smith is going to be the guy deciding on issues like the shoulder charge.

Speaking of the shoulder charge, the decision to ban it has been greeted with near unanimous disappointment and disagreement. Whilst as a fan I agree with the players, fans and media who are upset we are losing one of the most entertaining aspects of the game, I also have been following all the research coming out of the USA on the real impact of concussions. The NRL are choosing to make a decision now, before they start dealing with the issues the NFL faces of players having serious brain damage after their careers. I don’t like it, but I do get it and so I’m not going to hate on the decision like most. I might have more of an issue with it once referees and the judiciary start their near-certain inconsistency policing and punishing it.

Another issue that I’m commenting on simply because I feel like it’s not in the news enough is the situation at the Tigers. Everything I hear suggests that the Tigers development is not going to get approved and once that happens the Tigers are going to be in serious, serious trouble. Like “goodbye Tigers” level trouble. By 2014 I think we are actually likely to see the Tigers part of the joint venture fold and welcome back the Western Suburbs Magpies, who are just waiting to take over the licence the way Manly did when the Bears folded. It’s not even impossible that this could occur before the start of next season, depending on how quickly we get an answer on the development. How is this not a bigger story already?

Finally, with $onny Bill Williams now officially a Rooster, at least for a season, and with Quade Cooper quitting rugby, wouldn’t surprise me to see the Roosters do everything in their power to bring Cooper across to Bondi Junction. Given the money he will command however, they might end up paying about a third of their salary cap to just two players. Risky business for two guys who aren’t exactly durable or reliable as humans. If he doesn’t end up there, he might replace Thurston in Townsville if JT skips town.