League: Safety top priority for Sonny Bill

Injury-prone Kiwis prodigy Sonny Bill Williams will modify his playing style in a bid to preserve his fragile body for what he hopes will be a trouble-free NRL season.

Renowned as an audacious offloader, the second rower will temper his desire to keep the ball alive after speaking to Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes about avoiding serious injuries that have limited his effectiveness over the last two seasons.

Williams started last year as the hottest name in the game but an ankle injury against the Sharks in round four and then crushed knee cartilage just minutes into his return match in round 13 saw him sidelined for the season which included the Kiwis' Tri-Nations victory.

He reached another milestone in his recovery from a knee injury this week by completing a full session with the team last week and should be back for the season opener in March.

His two serious injuries last year came from gang tackles as he tried to offload and Folkes has tried to convince him to go against his natural instinct and submit to the tackle.

"It's an experience thing," Folkes told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. "He's got a great set of skills and physically he's got everything but he's still 20 years of age. His natural instinct is to stay on his feet and offload the ball and that will take a while to change."

Williams admitted he wanted to be more strategic with his offloads and when to take the tackle and play-the-ball. "The last two times I got injured I was half through a gap and blokes were hanging on my leg and I rolled it over. I need to pick my times and not look for the offload all the time."

* New Australia coach Ricky Stuart has implored aspiring Kangaroos to take ownership of building a winning culture, admitting arch-rivals New Zealand no longer fear the deposed world champions.

The Kangaroos took the formative step towards reclaiming their No 1 status at the weekend when a 44-man squad assembled for a preliminary camp at Bondi Beach.

It was the first national gathering under Stuart, who replaced Wayne Bennett after the Kangaroos' shock 24-0 loss to the Kiwis in last November's Tri-Nations final in England.

"It's up to everybody to take some input and ownership of results," Stuart told the Sunday Telegraph. "This camp is a very small part of the process of building a culture and starting a preparation towards the Anzac test and the Tri-Nations at the end of the year. I have to give them the best direction. I just hope we're in a position where we're challenging for the Anzac test.

"That's something time will tell. One thing I do know is that New Zealand are walking the talk. We're moving into a new era now. New Zealand have shown they can beat us, they can match us and I'm hoping we can get back to the No 1 position in league."

- NZPA