Chris Rattue: Sonny Bill's show reveals he has much to learn

All eyes were on the opposing centres and the feeble contest between the Wallabies and Barbarians in Sydney provided a resounding answer to the question that hadn't been on everybody's lips.

Sonny Bill Williams dominated the pre-match headlines, relegating his opposite, Stirling Mortlock, to a support publicity act.

Yet the Wallaby captain won a knockout victory over SBW in a display which announced he is fired up for more test action.

Mortlock was in fine fettle, looking ready to lead the Wallabies into the new season and on towards the 2011 World Cup.

He is a class act, always has been, but the man who broke the All Blacks' hearts in the 2003 World Cup semifinal has showed signs of age of late.

Wallaby coach Robbie Deans should be heartened by what Mortlock produced in Sydney on Saturday night, while the All Blacks, with their two top centre options continuing to break down, will be nervous.

As for Sonny Bill Williams - it is time the renegade found a decent rugby side with which to learn union properly or else pack up his money bags and crawl back to league while he can still fulfil his destiny.

Maybe this simple young man feels uncomfortable as the biggest fish in the NRL pool, but there is always the European Super League option. He should seriously consider it.

Williams, of course, continues to bleat that he found his dreadful, awful life as an NRL star unbearable in Australia, that the big pool of Europe is so much more enjoyable.

If so, why did he return for the gig with the Barbarians in Sydney, pray tell. Please, spare us the justifications.

The Williams circus dominated the build-up to this match in which the stuttering Wallabies hammered a Barbarians team not up to the job.

The Wallabies are starting to take a familiar shape under Deans' mastery, but the Barbarians were nowhere near the fabulous sides that adorn their history of fact and mythology.

Williams, who sneaked out on his league teammates mid-season, is certainly a Barbarian in the true sense of the word, but not in the quality of his game. He was there for one reason, as a publicity magnet, and it worked magnificently.

Mortlock was a standout, though. Some of us had wondered about his future, especially when the Brumbies opted to park him on the wing.

It was an incongruous sight in this age of the baby-faced wonders, a battered, shaven-headed test veteran parked in a spot that is the domain of slick young Aussie speed merchants and their sharp haircuts.

It was like seeing a tractor in a Ferrari shop.

There is life in the old frame yet, though. Mortlock was partially deceived by Sonny Bill early on, but halfback Luke Burgess smacked into Sonny Bill's ribs, driving the centre back and the instant headlines away.

Mortlock soon got revenge with a crushing tackle on the big man, and from there Williams was mainly lost in a sea of Barbarian misadventures.

He even looked vaguely disinterested after dropping the ball, having run a nice angle and been put into a gap.

Bemused might be the best description of Sonny Bill. He showed his offloading ability but was unconvincing.

He's hoping that the penny drops, but it's all so confusing.

His reputation is keeping his promise afloat, and a desire among the rugby mob to welcome a new star who will give league a slap in the face.

The problem may be finding a true position for Williams.

Centre is one of the most difficult positions in this largely unstructured sport, requiring a combination of instincts and techniques that will not be learned overnight, or on many nights if you are spending them as part of a French catastrophe.

Williams also lacks the sheer acceleration and dexterity needed for the centres. This is a problem for some league converts - other talents such as Henry Paul have also looked ponderous.

Williams could be a Jonah Lomu-type wing, without a doubt, with even more skills than the famed All Black juggernaut. But a lack of outright pace would again be a problem.

He has the skills and the body shape of a No. 8 or blindside flanker, but his instinctively upright position would be a hurdle to succeeding there. At the moment, centre looks the best bet, but not a sure one.

This match was portrayed as Williams' big-time debut, a chance to learn his new trade, by a fawning media. Yet, presumably, he will now return to Toulon where this alleged learning will go into reverse.

This was always the great joke about Sonny Bill's rugby quest - it was a money grab that paid no attention to what would best develop his career.

The guy even thinks he can be a boxer, although his half-hearted attitude, a cut-and-run philosophy if anything gets too hard, means a decent pugilist will one day complete the job of scrambling his thinking.

There is the smell of money in all of this. It was Williams, under his former management, who had initiated a new long-term deal with the Bulldogs. Quite clearly, sitting on an existing five-year contract held no appeal for his new manager.

Considering that he has used rugby for a quick payday, and scuttled off to a poor-quality European club side, Williams was given more credit than he deserved by the Barbarians' selectors.

His chips will run out eventually, but while he still has bargaining power, Williams might find a well-coached rugby side in the Southern Hemisphere and try to become a test prospect. His best bet would be returning to league, though, initially in Britain.

When he can play in the NRL again, and with maturity on his side, he might return to the only competition that is wholly suited to showcasing and using his amazing talent.

For those of us who will always despise what Williams did to his league club and national team, Saturday night was a memorable one because SBW did nothing memorable.

Williams has the right to lead his own life, although he should have found a far more honourable way than dumping on the Bulldogs and Kiwis mid-season.

He could have been almost Michael Jordan-like in his original code. He was that good. Watching Williams fumble about in union and beat up a publicity-seeker in a ring is in the same ballpark as observing Jordan, the finest ever basketballer, strike out in baseball. And whereas the title-winning Jordan had more than earned a break from the basketball spotlight, Williams never got close to leading his team to the summit or climbing to the top as a player.

It was, and still is, a sorry saga, one of the most magnificent league prospects in history hiding out with rugby losers in France.

Sadly, the NRL was happy to vilify SBW without getting its own house in order - it continues to operate under a blanket, inflexible and low salary cap that helped send its greatest talent to a French fiasco.

Williams might make it in rugby to a degree, but I'd argue he will never get close to achieving the heights he would have in league.

What a shocking shame, if not for Williams, then certainly for some of us.