Sonny Bill Williams

[NRLMad]

It’s not really Sonnys fault alone that they are losing the rest of their players are not the best either - Liam Kay is playing bad but they keep playing him. Few others like that also, they need a few years to transform the squad.

 

[TheFrog]

for sure frog , just as sure as Kermit the frog , there might be a get out clause, but who knows froggy

I doubt there's a get out clause, but he's not helping them much is he?

 

[TheFrog]

It’s not really Sonnys fault alone that they are losing the rest of their players are not the best either - Liam Kay is playing bad but they keep playing him. Few others like that also, they need a few years to transform the squad.

This is why they would have been better off spending his money on a bunch of solid players.

 

[MKCS]

From a marketing perspective it's awesome. SBW is a dual international and one of the biggest rugby (Either code) stars in the world. If you want a brand to grow you need big names and Toronto is a name that will be linked with SBW for the rest of his life. As someone else pointed out the Wolfpack would've got more than 10 million dollars worth of advertising for their brand from SBW signing alone. It was national news when he signed with them in multiple countries Not to mention the boost in attendance (Maybe not because of corona).

Also, next pre season the Wolfpack will start to make more money from it. Meninga was blabbering on about Australia playing the Wolfpack based on SBW alone, many sporting promoters would at least be considering Wolfpack games in Australia and New Zealand. I could see it being profitable for the Wolfpack to come to Australia for a SBW type tour next year even if it was just playing NRL teams. Granted the Wolfpack would get killed by most sides it'd still interest promoters, punters and television networks which is all that really matters with these exhibition games.

As for Frog, I believe the Super League has a marquee player system similar to the Hyundai A-League so they can sign a big star player like SBW AND build a really solid team around him without SBW hurting the cap. They seem to have invested quite heavily in players but seem to be lacking true star players such as current internationals, future internationals etc. That's probably why they let eleven tries in at their last game.

 

[Perth Red]

From a marketing perspective it's awesome. SBW is a dual international and one of the biggest rugby (Either code) stars in the world. If you want a brand to grow you need big names and Toronto is a name that will be linked with SBW for the rest of his life. As someone else pointed out the Wolfpack would've got more than 10 million dollars worth of advertising for their brand from SBW signing alone. It was national news when he signed with them in multiple countries Not to mention the boost in attendance (Maybe not because of corona).

Also, next pre season the Wolfpack will start to make more money from it. Meninga was blabbering on about Australia playing the Wolfpack based on SBW alone, many sporting promoters would at least be considering Wolfpack games in Australia and New Zealand. I could see it being profitable for the Wolfpack to come to Australia for a SBW type tour next year even if it was just playing NRL teams. Granted the Wolfpack would get killed by most sides it'd still interest promoters, punters and television networks which is all that really matters with these exhibition games.

As for Frog, I believe the Super League has a marquee player system similar to the Hyundai A-League so they can sign a big star player like SBW and build a really solid team around him without SBW hurting the cap. They seem to have invested quite heavily in players but seem to be lacking true star players such as current internationals, future internationals etc. That's probably why they let eleven tries in at their last game.

Whilst there is no doubt there was a major flurry of media at his signing it is now silent. That's a lot of money for 5 minutes of fame. Did it translate into anything? They couldn't get a major sponsor and they didn't get any decent signings off the back of it so you would have to question what it has actually translated into?

SL has two marquee signings per club. Problem is SBW was never going to be the player to help then survive a relegation dog fight. Personally I'd have spent a fraction of the money on Sezer and Maloney and had a cracking spine to survive. SBW will be worth nothing next year to them if they are back in the Championship.

 

[TheFrog]

I could see it being profitable for the Wolfpack to come to Australia for a SBW type tour next year even if it was just playing NRL teams.

They were beaten 66-10 by a side that didn't get near the finals last year. While some might come out to see SBW, they need better credentials than this to get on the same field as even the bottom NRL sides. Which is why I keep banging on that they should have spent their $10m assembling a real football team. I wonder if the way they creamed all comers in the championship last year lulled their owner into a false sense of security.

 

[Campion]

They were beaten 66-10 by a side that didn't get near the finals last year. While some might come out to see SBW, they need better credentials than this to get on the same field as even the bottom NRL sides. Which is why I keep banging on that they should have spent their $10m assembling a real football team. I wonder if the way they creamed all comers in the championship last year lulled their owner into a false sense of security.

yeah it seems there is a massive chasm between the championship and the superleague premier division. (and this seems to have been the case for ages). teams carve up the championship but then get utterly dicked even by the worst teams in the top

 

[Perth Red]

yeah it seems there is a massive chasm between the championship and the superleague premier division. (and this seems to have been the case for ages). teams carve up the championship but then get utterly dicked even by the worst teams in the top

about $5million worth of a gap. It’s why P&R really doesn’t work very well.

 

[aqua_duck]

They were beaten 66-10 by a side that didn't get near the finals last year. While some might come out to see SBW, they need better credentials than this to get on the same field as even the bottom NRL sides. Which is why I keep banging on that they should have spent their $10m assembling a real football team. I wonder if the way they creamed all comers in the championship last year lulled their owner into a false sense of security.

How do you spend $10 mil assembling a squad with a salary cap of less than $5 mil?
People looking at this from a on field performance stand point are severely missing the point, his salary is not included in the cap as a 'marquee' player. Are there better players out there, ofcourse but there wouldn't be many with as big a name and especially with Canada being more of a rugby union market. I would dare say much of his salary would be covered by corporate sponsors who would not have done so otherwise

 

[BadnMean]

How do you spend $10 mil assembling a squad with a salary cap of less than $5 mil?
People looking at this from a on field performance stand point are severely missing the point, his salary is not included in the cap as a 'marquee' player. Are there better players out there, ofcourse but there wouldn't be many with as big a name and especially with Canada being more of a rugby union market. I would dare say much of his salary would be covered by corporate sponsors who would not have done so otherwise

Yep. I think the guy is serious about making the team viable medium to long term in Toronto, with real fans. To do that step 1 is to draw in the fair percentage of locals + expats who at least know union & might turn up for the novelty of watching SOnny Bill. Then hope they like the game/team. There are enough between locals/US expats exposed to rugby at college, Saffers, Oz, Kiwis etc to get a crowd.

Off that you hope the media splash factor gets the team known, draws in some curious or eventually winning creates a buzz to draw in locals too. Again a "big rugby star" from the All Blacks who at least have worldwide name recognition will help.

You'd hope he'd produce more on the field but it's fair enough to say everyone who have assumed he'd be doing better than he is in that regard. On paper he was the perfect recruit for their situation.

There isn't enough quality in their squad but they have zoomed up the charts from the lower leagues to SL so fast it's hard to build a squad complete enough to compete in SL without _being_ in the SL.

A one year demotion, should it happen won't deter them, nor should it. They've had a taste of SL, then they can remould the squad, with the lure of SL footy & a longer stay next time.

 

[aqua_duck]

Yep. I think the guy is serious about making the team viable medium to long term in Toronto, with real fans. To do that step 1 is to draw in the fair percentage of locals + expats who at least know union & might turn up for the novelty of watching SOnny Bill. Then hope they like the game/team. There are enough between locals/US expats exposed to rugby at college, Saffers, Oz, Kiwis etc to get a crowd.

Off that you hope the media splash factor gets the team known, draws in some curious or eventually winning creates a buzz to draw in locals too. Again a "big rugby star" from the All Blacks who at least have worldwide name recognition will help.

You'd hope he'd produce more on the field but it's fair enough to say everyone who have assumed he'd be doing better than he is in that regard. On paper he was the perfect recruit for their situation.

There isn't enough quality in their squad but they have zoomed up the charts from the lower leagues to SL so fast it's hard to build a squad complete enough to compete in SL without _being_ in the SL.

A one year demotion, should it happen won't deter them, nor should it. They've had a taste of SL, then they can remould the squad, with the lure of SL footy & a longer stay next time.

Agreed. The problem is most people are looking at this as rugby league fans and forgetting that Canada is a brand new market with very few rugby league fans. Most people in Canada probably think league and union are the same sport and as you said the all blacks as a brand have done better than anyone in terms of being recognised outside those traditional markets and a lot of people know who they are.
This probably sounds simplistic but imagine you take Jonathan Thurston and plastic him on a bilboard in Toronto, no Canadian will give a damn, take someone like SBW who looks like a super hero in terms of physique and image and add in the word "All blacks star" and you'll have a lot more people at least curious