The Official Sonny Bill Williams Thread

[lynam1104]

Pffffft I can throw these in fact I did them before he switched to Union.

but no seriously i can it's relay easy, but then again I don't get him by guys who weigh 110 kg.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah he was a real handful at Twickers last year

Never said he's a good player, just saying that offloading like that isn't that special in league, as shown by someone as poor as Hape being able to do it

 

[woodward]

Hape was good in League as far as I can remember he was an important part of the only Warriors team to ever make the NRL grand final, he doesn't offload like SBW though. The offload isn't that special in Rugby either, it was one of the things that struck me about the All Blacks last year and a big part of their game which mercilessly destroyed the Boks. Thorn and Mealamu seemed to be offloading heaps and they were setting up a lot of tries.

 

[ranger]

Never said he's a good player, just saying that offloading like that isn't that special in league, as shown by someone as poor as Hape being able to do it

But the way youre looking at it is such a base veiw. Being able to execute the raw skill isnt whats so special; its the types of situations he is able to do it in, the timing and awareness of knowing when an offload is on, and the sheer number of offloads he can produce in a single game.

Sure Hape is capable of it. Every player is capable. I can throw down a pretty mean step every now and then but that doesn't make Shane Williams' exploits any less impressive.

Even in league SBWs offloading ability was crazy, the only other guy i can think of that would come close would be Ali Lauititi in 2002 (Although he was a bit slower and threw a few too many shockers)

 

[Sam Owen]

Hape was good in League as far as I can remember he was an important part of the only Warriors team to ever make the NRL grand final.

I didnt think he was really that good for the Warriors. He actually progressed when he went to Super League and matured IMO.

The offload isn't that special in Rugby either, it was one of the things that struck me about the All Blacks last year and a big part of their game which mercilessly destroyed the Boks. Thorn and Mealamu seemed to be offloading heaps and they were setting up a lot of tries.

Yep true that, keeping the ball alive through off-loads is nothing new to the All Blacks. Its just that its seen as high risk (50/50 ball) to some teams and thats when vision and timing becomes important.

I do remember the All Blacks off-loading a lot last year in the tri-nations.

 

[woodward]

Yeah the reff called it back, he was playin an advantage to the Saders. Lucky though Aplon looked like he was gone.

Found which bit you were talking about, was a normal pass that Maitland missed, bounced up for Aplon who was easily cut down by Williams and Berquist. Sometimes helps to watch the game and ignore the commentators as they are invariably full of ****, after that they started going on about how it was a good example of how his offloads can go wrong and are easy to intercept etc... Never mind it wasn't an offload and it wasn't an intercept, good example of how people make things up to confirm their preconceptions.
Amazing how many people believed Williams defence was suspect, they'd heard it from someone else and/or it fit some sort of profile about a big, brown, attacking league convert. It even made it onto his wiki page, never mind his defence is equal or better to anyone else in the game. A similar perception is that World Cup rugby is somehow more defensive and tightly fought than ordinary rugby, it helps fight the shame of New Zealand dominance so it a staunchly protected view by nearly everyone, especially self hating NZ'ers (99% of us).

 

[Sam Owen]

Found which bit you were talking about, was a normal pass that Maitland missed, bounced up for Aplon who was easily cut down by Williams and Berquist. Sometimes helps to watch the game and ignore the commentators as they are invariably full of ****, after that they started going on about how it was a good example of how his offloads can go wrong and are easy to intercept etc...

Ahhhh is that what happened??.... I think they replayed it once and all I saw was Aplon darting away, yeah I heard the commentators say that he intercepted one of Sonnys offloads but I never actually saw it. I just took the commentators word for it, gullible me I guess.

 

[woodward]

It shouldn't be too much to expect a certain level of accuracy from a commentator, but there you go.

 

[Sparty]

Dont have much time but I wanted to say congrats to the Saders , gutted my team lost but it was a awesome game and SBW must rank as one of the best if not the best player in world rugby. Met him at Mosque the day before the game for Friday prayers and he was swamped by locals and he handled himself very well , he had time for everyone and I must admit he is a very humble guy. If the Cape Malay supported the ABS before they do now evens more after SBW attended a local mosque for prayers , they can identify alot more with NZ than the local teams I guess. Right or wrong I can see why they feel so. Myself I remain a die hard Stormers/WP/Bok supporter but I wont feel bad if NZ win the WC this year , they deserve it and I hope SBW scores the winning try !! LOL

 

[lucky number 7]

As regards converting to islam did he ever give a reason for his decision? I am pretty interested in SBW and he is quickly developing a larger than life personality even over here people are desperate for the nickname sonny bill..

 

[Sam Owen]

I wont feel bad if NZ win the WC this year , they deserve it and I hope SBW scores the winning try !! LOL

Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say something like that Sparty.

As regards converting to islam did he ever give a reason for his decision? I am pretty interested in SBW and he is quickly developing a larger than life personality even over here people are desperate for the nickname sonny bill..

He's big here (AKLD) too brother. Nearly everyone I know looks forward to the Crusaders games mainly due to Sonny.

I really dont understand his islam conversion, nearly all Samoans are christians of some sort. Come to think of it, hes the only Samoan islam/muslim I know.

 

[Amobokoboko]

It does happen occasionally that players convert to the Islam to purify themselves.

 

[dangandan]

looks like De Villiers doesn't agree with SBW doing stupid stuffs in rugby union he has a point though but i feel SBW still has a lot of class that the Springboks will find hard to handle. that's if he starts instead of Nonu.

 

[ranger]

As regards converting to islam did he ever give a reason for his decision? I am pretty interested in SBW and he is quickly developing a larger than life personality even over here people are desperate for the nickname sonny bill..

Its almost certainly down to his agent Nasser and Anthony Mundine. I think it helped him though. He has given up alcohol completely in line with his faith, which is not only great for his performance as an athlete but it also helps to put his previous off field dramas behind him. No more being caught putting models away in bathroom stalls (I really wish that was one of my problems)

looks like De Villiers doesn't agree with SBW doing stupid stuffs in rugby union he has a point though but i feel SBW still has a lot of class that the Springboks will find hard to handle. that's if he starts instead of Nonu.

I think he has a point in some respects in that kids shouldn't grow up trying to emulate him. Going back to the Lomu analogy, its the same there, you couldn't grow up emulating him either because he had similar freakish skills.

Where i think he goes wrong is saying that he has to change his game to be more in line with what a "Real" rugby player should be. Thats just stupid. If what he is doing is effective, then he should keep doing it. He is basing all his performance assessments on "what ifs". He has already come up against JDV and proven that his game can work against that caliber of player.

 

[woodward]

looks like De Villiers doesn't agree with SBW doing stupid stuffs in rugby union he has a point though but i feel SBW still has a lot of class that the Springboks will find hard to handle. that's if he starts instead of Nonu.

If you don't mind me asking, what point?

 

[dangandan]

If you don't mind me asking, what point?

pretty much what ranger just said about kids trying to offload like SBW. the ability that SBW has is freakish like ranger said and if kids don't have it then they can only develop it so far whilst other skills may get neglected. however i disagree with the rest of what De Villiers has to say and hope SBW backs it up in a NZ-SA test match to put his doubters to rest.

 

[Sparty]

Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say something like that Sparty.

LOL , I can be neutral too you know !! For rugby's sake I actually wish the ABS win the dam thing. If one look at the history of the ABS and then the history of the WC then NZ in my humble opinion under achieved due to reasons not relative to this debate. They last won the WC in the first WC in 87 and in a WC where SA was absent. Now it was obviously not their fault we were absent but I am sure they would rather win the WC with their greatest rivalry or at least one of their greatest rivals in it than not in it. Same for us in the last WC , I would rather we played NZ in the finals than England , for me it took off some of the gloss of winning the WC. So yes , I am a Bok supporter but I also love rugby and this years NZ team like in 95 is a very special team and would deserve to lift the Web Ellis trophy....as long as England dont win the dam thing lol !!

I really dont understand his islam conversion, nearly all Samoans are christians of some sort. Come to think of it, hes the only Samoan islam/muslim I know.

I think it was his brother that introduced him and I also was surprised in the beginning , as a matter of fact I thought it was just window dressing at a stage but after witnessing the man's devotion first hand I am first to admit that I was wrong. A lot of people especially up North in SA dont understand the fascination of the Cape Commmunity re the ABS , its simple really. As youngsters our forefathers hated the Boks due to apartheid , I have uncles and friends of my dad who played for the "colored" Boks back in the day but was never given the opportunity to play for their country. Now the only team that could beat the boks back then was the ABS and off course the 1970 and 74 Lions who are also fondly remembered here in CT , hell I remember my rugby coach teaching us the 99 call as a youngster after the famous lions tour ! Now ths coupled with the fact that the ABS actually also assisted with rugby in our communities is why there is so many NZ Cape supporters , SA rugby never did what NZ did for them back in the day and to a certain extent today still. A friend of mine who now coaches at Western Province learned his trade at the Murrey Mexted school in NZ. He then came back and coached club rugby and is now coaching locally U19 and U21 teams. This is why so many support NZ teams. My dad too this day will never support the Boks , he is a die hard ABS suporter LOL.

It does happen occasionally that players convert to the Islam to purify themselves.

I guess so , I know he stopped his bad ways since well at least his off the field bad ways since. There is such a misconception re Islam its not evens funny , people think Osama when Islam is mentioned and the truth is very far from it.

 

[lucky number 7]

Putting models away in bathroom stalls is surely a good thing...the man should be revered for this act

 

[nickdnz]

LOL , I can be neutral too you know !! For rugby's sake I actually wish the ABS win the dam thing. If one look at the history of the ABS and then the history of the WC then NZ in my humble opinion under achieved due to reasons not relative to this debate. They last won the WC in the first WC in 87 and in a WC where SA was absent. Now it was obviously not their fault we were absent but I am sure they would rather win the WC with their greatest rivalry or at least one of their greatest rivals in it than not in it. Same for us in the last WC , I would rather we played NZ in the finals than England , for me it took off some of the gloss of winning the WC. So yes , I am a Bok supporter but I also love rugby and this years NZ team like in 95 is a very special team and would deserve to lift the Web Ellis trophy....as long as England dont win the dam thing lol !!



I think it was his brother that introduced him and I also was surprised in the beginning , as a matter of fact I thought it was just window dressing at a stage but after witnessing the man's devotion first hand I am first to admit that I was wrong. A lot of people especially up North in SA dont understand the fascination of the Cape Commmunity re the ABS , its simple really. As youngsters our forefathers hated the Boks due to apartheid , I have uncles and friends of my dad who played for the "colored" Boks back in the day but was never given the opportunity to play for their country. Now the only team that could beat the boks back then was the ABS and off course the 1970 and 74 Lions who are also fondly remembered here in CT , hell I remember my rugby coach teaching us the 99 call as a youngster after the famous lions tour ! Now ths coupled with the fact that the ABS actually also assisted with rugby in our communities is why there is so many NZ Cape supporters , SA rugby never did what NZ did for them back in the day and to a certain extent today still. A friend of mine who now coaches at Western Province learned his trade at the Murrey Mexted school in NZ. He then came back and coached club rugby and is now coaching locally U19 and U21 teams. This is why so many support NZ teams. My dad too this day will never support the Boks , he is a die hard ABS suporter LOL.



I guess so , I know he stopped his bad ways since well at least his off the field bad ways since. There is such a misconception re Islam its not evens funny , people think Osama when Islam is mentioned and the truth is very far from it.

Just did an essay on this very thing...like finished it yesturday.

I am under the impression SBW converted through Mundine and Nessar.

 

[Icemn]

pretty much what ranger just said about kids trying to offload like SBW. the ability that SBW has is freakish like ranger said and if kids don't have it then they can only develop it so far whilst other skills may get neglected. however i disagree with the rest of what De Villiers has to say and hope SBW backs it up in a NZ-SA test match to put his doubters to rest.

what is the point??? i'm from SA and here they play kicking rugby...chances of running are slim in any case...SBW's passing is the next dimention to running rugby...

SA players still need to learn how to run with ball in hand....that is why they struggle to get these passes 100%......

they still need to go to ground, recycle and go again....in 20years time when they learned how to do that then teh ycan start with the normal offload in tackles, not even teh SBW current pass....just the normal offload...cuz they cant even do that now...yet they try to copy SBW....when they get that Sorted NZ running rugby will be in its next dimension....