KEY POINTS:
The role of former All Black captain Tana Umaga in the defection of Sonny Bill Williams to rugby union has more significance than people realise.
His discussions with Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney started months ago and it was obvious his intentions were for Williams to desert his team-mates and club.
Whether it is at his instigation or not, Umaga and the Toulon club, as well as Williams himself or his agent(s), have long been negotiating a way out of his NRL contract.
To discuss how someone can get out of a contract is not a problem, but for someone to do it illegally is a whole different matter. Have there been conversations to walk away from a contract?
This is not a last resort action by a desperate man. This has been a calculated and well-planned exercise and not an off-the-cuff whim to move to union.
He has not suddenly exhausted all avenues to resolve issues with his club. How could any player, coach or administrator assist another to intentionally breach a contract and blame a change in the club environment?
Williams found himself at a club where the atmosphere had changed. Some situations were outside of his control, like Willie Mason suddenly leaving after negotiating a release, Mark O'Meley's departure, a new CEO at the Bulldogs and the decline in the team's fortunes.
The issues within his control that have changed include his new personal management team (Khoder Nasser) and people he takes advice from like Anthony Mundine, but Williams is quick to add that he is his own man and makes his own decisions.
Well, I'm sorry, but when he signed his contract no one put a gun to his head and forced him. Or has he only grown up enough to make his own decisions in the last 12 months?
Too bad if conditions have changed. Circumstances alter constantly and if that is a precursor for someone to walk out on a contract then there would be no requirement to have a contract.
I cannot get past the fact Williams breached his contract and did so one year into a five-year deal. To also turn around and blame the state of the game for his situation is grasping at anything to justify such a poor decision.
Listening to him speak, you can hear an arrogance that is not Sonny Bill Williams. It is the voice of others who have a vested interest in changing the status quo.
This is a saga that is now going to play out through the courts with Williams and Toulon ignoring orders. The Bulldogs and the NRL are chasing a ghost in another country.
We have all heard both sides of the argument and not much will change the opinion of people. What we have now is the sideshow and the chasing of Sonny Bill Williams.