Money Bill Williams

Readers have been getting frustrated with the low calibre of writing on this blog so Shaun and I drafted in Craig Thornley to sort things out. Here's what Craiggy has to say about Money Bill Williams....

Some would say that taking a shot at $BW is aiming for an easy target, but given that his five defeated pro-boxing opponents haven’t managed that task, I think he is fair game. Then again, I’m not a grossly overweight sickness beneficiary or facing methamphetamine charges, so compared to his previous opponents I think I have a fairly good chance.

Many of you will leap to his defence, citing that he is a ‘superstar’ who has achieved a number of impressive feats in the sporting arena. I can’t argue with that. He is a natural athlete and he has achieved highly in numerous sporting endeavours. There are others who will simply say, “don’t be a hater, bro”. To those people, go crawl back into the primordial ooze from whence you came, once you are done packing my groceries of course. Secondly, I remind you that anonymous hate on the internet is what the 21st century man does best.

There are any number of fronts you could attack SBW from. Some would start by attacking the fact that he has won a national boxing title despite having never fought someone who has seen inside a gym. Others would question the fact that he only has strong rugby performances against minnow teams and he got himself sent off for a ridiculous no-arm tackle in the first serious RWC game he played in. Some would take the easy road and point out that he is a terrible person because he is a convicted drunk driver – or has everyone forgotten that?

But wait, there’s more. While there are plenty of athletes who milk every dollar out of their contracts and sponsorship deals, my issue with SBW is that he steadfastly refuses to admit that he is just in it for himself. He claims he does it for a higher purpose and that it’s best for everyone. I call bullshit.

He’s not the first to walk out of a sporting contract, but rather than just come out and say that he got a better offer, he walked out on the Bulldogs without even notifying team management that he was doing so, and then claimed that it was a protest against the NRL salary cap. Bullshit, Sonny. If you ditch your team mates mid- season, don’t try and tell the world it was some kind of noble self sacrifice for the good of the players, don’t guiltily scuttle off in the night like that time you got caught cheating on your Mrs in a hotel toilet, and especially don’t pass up the opportunity to apologise to the fans of the team you have disadvantaged by your actions, even when given the chance to do so on national TV.

People were shocked when he bailed from the Bulldogs and were surprised when he bailed from Toulon, but at least that was so he could pursue “his All Black dream”, like every good kiwi kid should. I got that too, until he refused to sign on with the NZRFU for more than a year so he can “keep his options open”. If you were handed a contract to sign on to ‘living the dream’, surely you’d sign it, right? If you want a short contract so you can shift back to league when your ban runs out, just come out and say it. But in the mean time, stop appearing in the All Blacks ads that talk about the legacy of the jersey and what it means to you.

No matter which side of the fence you view it from, SBW is an affront to disciples of both the amateur and professional eras of sport. Those brought up on the sporting cornerstones of ‘team before self’, loyalty to the jersey and seeing things through to the bitter end find his inability to commit to a code, let alone a team, to be appalling. Those brought up in the modern era where players are tradable commodities should be equally outraged that he has defied the rules of the professional era by walking out on contracts and breaching sponsorship conditions - if you are going to build your brand by signing contracts, at least have the decency to hold up your end.

For me, SBW has trodden the well worn path of those who started with some credibility, but now are residing in a certain circle of hell reserved for those who have lost it all by selling a brand, an ideal version of themselves that can’t be backed up. At least he could probably catch a U2 concert while he’s there.