Sonny Bill Williams starts his first official day at Sydney Roosters, saying simply: "It's good to be here."
Mystery still surrounds the Sonny Bill Williams v Francois Botha fight as to why it was reduced to 10 rounds.
Sonny Bill Williams hit by Francois Botha in their recent bout. Source: The Daily Telegraph
ONE of the most respected coaches in the NRL says Sonny Bill Williams will be flat out lasting the season at the Roosters.
He's not suggesting the superstar forward will walk out again, it's more a question of whether his body is up for 26 punishing rounds of brutal contact sport. Look back at Sonny Bill's record at Canterbury between 2004 and 2008 and you can understand what this coach is talking about.
Sonny Bill played in only 60 per cent of games and was out injured for the rest of the time.
His magnificent-looking physique can be misleading.
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So too can the fact that he survived two years of Super 15 rugby union almost injury free.
What I'm about to tell you won't go down well with the leather-patch brigade but we've got statistics to prove rugby league is a far more demanding sport than union. In the Super 15s, Sonny Bill averaged just eight runs with the football in each game.
In rugby league at the Bulldogs in 2007, he averaged double that - 16 runs.
In rugby union he was required to make just eight tackles a game.
A back-rower in rugby league these days has to make around 25.
What you have to remember too is that Sonny Bill is five years older than when he last played in the NRL. He turns 28 this year and is heading towards an age when injuries can occur more often.
The coach I referred to in the lead paragraph didn't want his name mentioned. He doesn't want to fire up the big guy before his team plays the Roosters.
But he insists Sonny Bill will be a marked man.
"Everyone will be out to smash him," he says, "He'll know he's back playing rugby league."
Roosters coach Trent Robinson is reluctant to talk about his plans to manage the workload of the superstar forward.
We do know he has been recovering from a serious pectoral muscle injury and has done virtually no rugby league training.
Up until last Monday, he'd spent the previous six weeks preparing for a heavyweight fight.
Anyone will tell you a boxer's training sessions are vastly different to a rugby league player's pre-season preparation.
Because of the pec injury, Sonny Bill has done no wrestling. He has done no contact work in defence, either.
Robinson is being carefully guided by his medical staff.
"He has definitely done a different preparation to our off-season program," he says.
"We're working hard on his pec and shoulder to make sure he's ready to tackle.
"We're not going to rush that and we're not treating him any different to another player with the same injury.
"When he's ready we'll put him into some wrestling and then some tackling and contact."
It sounds like the game's biggest off-season signing for years will only just be ready for round one of the competition.
The big minutes of game time he averaged in rugby union are out of the question, at least for the first half-dozen rounds.
Robinson might be happy about that anyway.
"I've been avoiding a lot of the talk about Sonny," he said. "It's about making him part of the team, not trying to make him separate.
"It will be the team that decides whether we go well this year or not.
"It's really important for us that everyone contributes."
And even more important if the coach is right, and Sonny Bill doesn't last the season.
NRL 2004-2008
Avg games: 14.6
Avg minutes: 61
Avg runs: 14.6
Avg meters: 124
Avg tackles: 19.5
Super Rugby 2011-2012
Avg games: 16.5
Avg minutes: 73
Avg runs: 8.9
Avg meters: 75
Avg tackles: 8
Same old Eels
NOTHING appears to have changed at the Parramatta Eels.
The only difference to last year is that Ricky Stuart has replaced Stephen Kearney and Nathan Hindmarsh and Luke Burt are no longer there.
Rugby league trial form and results are always misleading. There are no competition points up for grabs and players just want to escape uninjured. But there is nothing misleading about a 41-4 scoreline. According to those at the game, the Wests Tigers flogged them.
Sure, there was no Jarryd Hayne. And sure, the result meant nothing.
But the scoreline did. No team should be getting beaten by almost 40 points in trial matches.
Security for players
PLAYERS didn't get the big pay increases they were looking for from the new NRL television deal.
The game's TV income went up 100 per cent from $500 million to $1 billion yet the salary cap was increased from $4.4 million to only $5.2 million.
The biggest victory for the players in the new collective bargaining agreement is long-term contract security. If a player suffers a career-ending injury, he gets paid 100 per cent of whatever is remaining on his contract. It used to be 25 per cent.
If a club goes broke and loses its licence, the independent commission will now guarantee the contract.
The minimum wage has also gone up from $55,000 to $75,000.
HIGHLIGHT
The absolutely stunning return of sportswoman-of-the-year Black Caviar at Flemington on Saturday afternoon.
LOWLIGHT
The poor trial form of the once traditional powerhouses Manly and Parramatta. Both will be flat out making the finals.
BRONCOS UNREST
Details are beginning to emerge of player unrest at the Broncos. I'm hearing it might be worth having something on Anthony Griffin to be first coach sacked this year. The fact he signed a new deal last season means nothing.
NORMAN AN EEL
And still on the Broncos, there's very strong mail utility Corey Norman is not the only player who wants out. Norman, once earmarked as a replacement for Darren Lockyer, is heading to the Parramatta Eels.
WANDER YEAR
This writer is no expert on the round ball game, although I once coached under 9's at Lilli Pilli. The good judges are predicting the Western Wanderers are a serious chance of winning the A League this year.
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