SBW AWOL – OMG (LOL)

The athlete who created a thousand acronyms for use by budding journalists is at it again. Or rather, he isn’t.

About this time every year, we sports fans await the annual announcement of the upcoming sporting plans of SBW; i.e. Sonny Bill Williams of course. Usually it’s an announcement of at least a change of team and at most a change of sport(s). But this year it’s been an interesting announcement for a different reason; Sonny William Williams will be playing the same sport next season. For the same team. Wow.

That doesn’t sound very interesting, but it is. For so many reasons. Where to start with this one…

Apparently the word on the street is that he made his decision six weeks ago. If that’s true I think Sonny needs to take a good look at himself. I know he’s not obliged to tell anyone what he’s doing; it’s his decision. But the repercussions have been immense.

Let’s start with boxing. SBW now says he’s taking a break from boxing. That’s more than likely a side-step of the highly impressive Joseph Parker who would, without any doubt in the world, knock Sonny out. But Parker’s backers have been lining up a high profile and big money (for NZ anyway) showdown between the pugilists. So now Parker is going to going to have to take a sizeable step up in opponent to garner the respect from fans that he so deserves.

Then there’s the Chiefs. Such was the confidence that SBW would be code-hopping again in 2014 that the reigning Super Rugby champions held an empty spot in their roster on the assumption that it would be filled by the return of their enormous inside back of two seasons ago. But now that’s not happening, the Chiefs are having to hunt for a replacement. The fact that the substitute may well be one M. Nonu is something of a blessing in disguise, in terms of talent and ability anyway. But ultimately it could have a massive impact on the Chiefs’ title defence.

The Roosters, and the NRL in general, are also directly affected. While the odds offered on the Chiefs achieving a Super Rugby three-peat have just lengthened considerably, the odds on the Roosters defending their NRL premiership next season have shortened by an almost identical margin.

Not to mention poor 21 year old Tohu Harris who was selected for the Kiwis Rugby League World Cup squad one day and then dumped the following day after SBW had kindly informed coach Stephen Kearney that he wanted to play after all. 

So how can one individual have such a profound effect on two sports (I’m not counting boxing because I really don’t think he’s a top-rate fighter)?  Because he’s good. He’s really good.

Whatever you think of him, SBW is an astonishing athlete. He has an amazing physique, he’s huge, he’s fast, he’s strong and he’s skilful. He’s also a good-looking bloke, seemingly a very nice and humble person who spends a lot of his time helping charities and kids and is therefore a marketing manager’s dream. 

And therefore we have the unique situation whereby an individual appears to be bigger than a sport (or two). I can’t think of too many examples where a player in any sport can sign short-term, lucrative contracts and leave everyone on tenterhooks while dictating his terms to the powers-that-be in each code while those men in suits hang on his every word. It’s an amazing situation really.

And it creates a tough dilemma. Do the Roosters need him? Yes. SBW was one of the main reasons the Roosters were able to turn the tables and win the NRL grand final. Do the Kiwis need him? Yes. Do the Chiefs need him? Yes. Do the AB’s need him? Probably; he’s definitely in the ‘nice-to-have’ category anyway.

But as highly as I rate his talents on the football field I find myself wondering if it’s time, as suggested by journalist Duncan Johnstone, for the NZRU to tell him ‘thanks, but no thanks’. But no, I think he’s still worth welcoming back in 2015.

If Ma’a Nonu continues his outstanding form in this year’s Rugby Championship through to the next World Cup, SBW’s signature becomes slightly less crucial. If Nonu’s star fades, we definitely need Sonny back.

For me the equation is simple. Without SBW we stand a very good chance of winning the next Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Olympic sevens gold medal the following year. But with him, our chances are even better.

So Where the Bloody Hell Are They (Part 2)

My last blog on how to bring the crowds back to NZ rugby seemed to strike a chord with many of you as there was a fair bit of feedback and comment.

There were a few great ideas sent in too but the most repeated was that either Super Rugby should be done away with, or that the ITM Cup should be a qualifier competition for Super Rugby with the top five teams going through. Then the top four in Super Rugby play a Champions League against the top four in the northern hemisphere’s Heineken Cup.  Sounds outstanding to me and I totally agree.

Most responders agreed with my sentiments, but there were a couple of questions/comments that I’d like to reply to.

Firstly, how could they replace current vendors with ‘mainstream’ ones (Maccas, Subway etc) when vendors are contracted to the stadium, not the sport itself?

This is definitely a tricky one but isn’t insurmountable. If the NZRU wanted to go down this route, early negotiations could see existing deals phased out and replaced. While the NZRU isn’t the only ‘client’ for these stadiums (my sister, the English teacher, would point out that the correct plural for ‘stadium’ is ‘stadia’, but I just hate that word – it sounds wrong), I’m sure they’d have significant clout in such decisions.

Secondly the issue of increased cost to unions (paying extra to ground staff, vendors etc) when curtain-raisers are played and the impact of this when I’m proposing decreased gate-takings and increased merchandise giveaways.

I’m not proposing decreased gate-takings at all. I’m simply saying current pricing structures should, by and large, be maintained. Many games currently offer $10-$15 adult tickets and free kids tickets. This should continue and become the norm.

My other idea around ‘ticket-and-a-t-shirt’ type packages would not, I think, create an additional financial burden for the unions. While there would be an initial cost to order garments as well as other associated costs, I think the union would more than make up that cost through sales. I haven’t researched numbers but I’d imagine the cost of, say, blocks of 2,000 - 4,000 shirts wouldn’t be that outrageous.

The additional wages paid to vendors could potentially be covered by additional sales as more hungry/thirsty punters turn up earlier. And any additional amounts paid to ground staff etc should be covered by additional tickets sold.

Hey – it’d all be something of a gamble, no doubt. But doing nothing is far worse. Support for rugby (below international level) in this country is only going one way; and it’s not up.  

Impartial or Incompetent

The recent netball series between NZ and Australia was a shambles. Not because Australia won 4-1 and nothing to do with the standard of play. It was the umpiring.

Netball suffers from a nasty case of Rugby-League-itis. Realistically only three countries (NZ, Oz and England) actually take it seriously and it’s also played to varying degrees in the Pacific Islands (where it’s widely played but suffers from a lack of funding), the Caribbean, South Africa and, bizarrely, Malawi. So not exactly a global sport.

And it never will be as long as match-ups between the only two good international teams are destroyed by incompetent officiating. It got to the point during this series where I started to wonder if the umpires even knew the rules of the game. The nonsensical calls were only matched by the ludicrous lack of calls for offences as basic as obstruction or contact. I’m not suggesting they were biased, as bad calls went both ways. But the Aussies got away with a hell of a lot more than the Kiwis did and bad decisions directly influenced the outcome of at least two of the five games.

The answer? Simply appoint competent Aussie and Kiwi umpires to officiate in these tests, as is the case in trans-Tasman ANZ Championship. Train up the overseas umps and when they’re ready, give them a run. Otherwise international netball is going nowhere.

Till next time,

SG