Sonny Bill itching for another run

[Dogaholic]

By Jessica Halloran
April 18, 2006

SONNY Bill Williams was a little bit filthy. He begged for more time on the paddock but the word from the Bulldogs coaches' box was to sit tight on his plastic bench seat. After 10 months on the sidelines with a knee injury, and then stress fractures of his feet, Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes was careful with his fragile superstar.
So yesterday the 20-year-old Williams played his 21st NRL game, and for exactly 26 minutes he eagerly ran around the field.
Nothing went wrong but he did want more of a go. "It was good even though it wasn't that long," Williams said. "It was a bit of a short spell but it's good to come through the game unscathed.
"I was struggling a bit, but then we scored a try, then he [Folkes] pulled me off and I was a little bit filthy. But because I've been off it for so long, he's going to build me up over the next couple of weeks."
Before he ran on, Williams admitted to feeling a few nerves. "There were jitters," he said.
For most of the first half Williams kept the bench warm. With a coat over his bouncing legs, he sat anxiously and impatiently, waiting to have his turn. Whenever Williams went for a warm-up run to stretch his legs or ride the exercise bike, the Telstra Stadium crowd would roar. But the greatest roar came when Williams was finally allowed to go onto the field. He threw a few push-ups, stretched, and then waited, furiously waving the No.5 placard. He motioned wildly for Trent Cutler to come off the field.
For the six minutes before half-time, Williams was a feisty presence. Just two tackles after taking the field, Williams received his first touch of the ball and almost broke through the tackle of Yileen Gordon. After playing the ball he delivered a little punch to Gordon's head. It all got Willie Mason wondering.
"As soon as he did his first hit-up, I wondered if he was going to get up," Mason said. "I just clapped when he got up. We didn't expect the world from him. We didn't expect him to make breaks and be hitting blokes and that - that's probably what the outside world expected. It's just good to have him out there."
Williams said his chest was heaving as he found his feet again. "It was funny getting tackled again," he said. "I didn't do anything special but it was good to get it out of the way."
He played on for the majority of the second half and then, with 19 minutes to go, he became a spectator again. "I wanted to get back out there, I kept telling Bradley Clyde to ask Folkesy to put me back on," Williams said. "Hopefully, gradually I'll progress and get a bit more game time."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/sonny-bill-itching-for-another-run/2006/04/17/1145126056107.html