http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...016365,00.html
Expert Opinion
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Canterbury serious about winning Sonny Bill test case
Warren Ryan | July 30, 2008 12:00am
THE Sonny Bill Williams walkout on his contract with the Bulldogs is an important test case and one Canterbury is very serious about winning.
Legal advice provided for this column by a prominent Sydney QC has been invaluable in unravelling what may lay ahead for Sonny Bill and his manager Khoder Nasser.
The subpoena served on Nasser is evidently a tactic to locate the whereabouts of Sonny Bill so that the Bulldogs can take out an interlocutory injunction on him in the NSW Supreme Court to prevent him playing rugby in France.
Apparently French law is part of European Union law and a European court will give effect to a ruling by a competent court in Australia.
Which means the Dogs are after a home-ground victory before they go to France for an away result.
David Gallop's initial hope that the International Rugby Board would intervene was wide of the mark. The IRB is concerned with matters affecting international teams and does not presume to have jurisdiction over club level football.
Sonny Bill is in breach of his contract by not turning up for the Dogs. His manager's puerile attempt to distance himself from his client is seen as a tactic to avoid having papers served on Sonny Bill via him.
The manoeuvre has failed.
My question to my legal source, "What could Sonny Bill be allowed to do if he elected to give up professional football altogether - lawn bowls, professional fishing or a stage career singing?" was answered briefly - "Rugby union is a rival league to the NRL, just as Super League was to the ARL."
Any injunction would not normally be granted if losses or damages could be made good, but Sonny Bill is regarded by the club as a key player and cannot readily be replaced. His star quality will be very easy to establish to a court.
NRL boss Gallop wasn't at the top of his game, firing from the hip when he said: "Sonny Bill will never play in the NRL again if he sets foot on a French rugby field." The point is, Williams may actually play a game or two before the legal process takes effect.
If then he's unable to return to the NRL because he's been banned, such a ruling by Gallop, presumably endorsed by the NRL Board, would "discharge" the contract because it would be impossible for Sonny Bill to fulfil it.
Put simply, Gallop banning Williams from playing NRL ever again would free him to do precisely what his Canterbury employers are trying to stop him doing.
It is impossible to interpret Sonny Bill's motives. They may go way deeper than dollar signs. He may also just be a pawn in an agenda being run by his manager. However, what kind of advice must he be getting to risk this year's $500,000 of Canterbury income on a very uncertain outcome in France?
His manager was quoted as saying "He's had enough." At which point we might ask: Enough of what? Fame? A grossly disproportionate amount of publicity for time spent on the field? Has he had enough of being required to accept some responsibility for his numerous off-field incidents? Has he had it with a life-in-a-fishbowl existence?
Craig Gower went to French rugby before the expiry of his contract. He had trouble with the life-in-a-fishbowl existence. He too had trouble off the field. He was also in denial about what he'd done.
Gower was let go without a fuss for good reason. He was near the end of his career and he took out a sizeable chunk of Penrith's salary cap.
Player misbehaviour isn't a modern invention. Lack of accountability, though, and the pathetic notion that it's always someone else's fault seems to be.
It's time Sonny Bill, and plenty of other players for that matter, took a good look at where they're getting their advice.
