Fans to turn on Sonny Bill?
Jonah Lomu’s former manager Phil Kingsley Jones believes that recent Chiefs signing Sonny Bill Williams is alienating fans by taking his rugby commitments too lightly.
The former rugby league star who excelled in his debut Super Rugby season with the Crusaders this year has just signed a one-year contract extension with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and a new deal with the Chiefs, but Kingsley Jones is adamant that the manner in which he went about making his decision showed disrespect towards the game… and the All Blacks jersey.
Williams starred at inside centre for the Crusaders in their remarkable march to the Super Rugby Final this year and showed his versatility by playing both in the midfield and on the wing for the All Blacks in their victorious World Cup campaign.
He has, however, come in for criticism over his budding boxing career which some claim proves his lack of commitment to rugby.
Kingsley Jones was particularly unhappy with the manner in which Williams came to his decision to leave Christchurch and move to Hamilton, explaining that he had upset some fans by making his decision far too public when it should have been carefully considered behind closed doors.
He told the New Zealand Herald: “You don’t disrespect [rugby].
“Sometimes Sonny’s attitude, or his manager’s attitude of ‘We’ll let you know, or we’ll get back to you’, people who love rugby can’t fathom it.”
He added that in a rugby-mad country such as New Zealand some people would interpret his short-term contract as a sign of indifference.
He said: “And he’s signed for one year and he’s not giving everyone a chance to embrace him. And he’s got to be upstanding every game.
“By signing for one year and saying I’ll let you know again next year what I want to do, people are saying just don’t let him in. He’s not really one of us,” added Kingsley Jones.
Kingsley Jones contrasted Williams’s approach to the way he and former client Lomu handled all the different options they had once he had hung up his boots – including acting, playing league and playing American football
Kingsley Jones said Lomu had multiple options after wearing the All Blacks’ jersey – including acting, playing rugby league and playing American Football.
“But we didn’t bandy it around in front of everyone, and shake it as an excuse to get more money.”
He said Sonny Bill was an outstanding player and was very marketable, but he just needed to think of his fans more, adding: “If Sonny Bill’s future is in New Zealand… he needs to be loved.”
