League: I'm fit and ready says Sonny Bill

League has toughened Sonny Bill Williams. Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Sonny Bill Williams is a big kid.

A huge kid, in fact. Of the Kiwis team, only Tame Tupou is taller. Williams' long arms give him an advantage in fending tacklers and shifting off-loads.

It's what is expected of him as he lines up for the test against Australia tonight after he exploded on to the NRL scene as its latest excitement machine.

Every time Williams gets the ball, everyone from fans to opponents to coaches of both teams look for something to happen. Because, mostly, it does.

In Kiwis training, Williams has been working wide of the ruck, hitting the ball at speed and looking for holes against opposing backs and second rowers, the long arms holding the ball out one-handed platter-like, waiting for support as he grapples with multiple tacklers.

He's bigger than most. He's unusually quick for a man of his size, he has a step and that off-load.

In his few short years, the big forward who left home at age 16 to shift to Sydney and move into a boarding house-type situation with other young Bulldogs prospects, has been in the headlines more than most players are in their whole careers.

And often the news has not been good, repeat injuries from shoulder to knee, to stress fractures of the foot; a drink-drive incident and a rash of speed camera infringements registered against his car while he was disqualified.

He is often fronted to a media scrum because he's the man everyone wants to hear from.

This week, the talk has been of how long he will last in the test after playing 26 minutes in his comeback from injury against the Rabbitohs then 52 minutes against the Sea Eagles before lasting 80 minutes against the Warriors, but that in the centres rather than the forwards.

He dropped off a few tackles against the Warriors, he said, something he was focusing on not doing tonight. League has toughened the 20-year-old. After graduating from the Bulldogs' development programme and securing his first big contract he bought a house and his mother Lee and siblings moved from Auckland.

She has since returned to New Zealand and now Williams lives with brother John at Cronulla.

Though the Bulldogs have raised concerns about his selection after just three NRL games back from injury, the player has none.

"I might lack some match fitness but I'm only going to get fitter by playing more. I don't think I'm vulnerable.

"I'm happy if Bluey [coach McClennan] wants me to play 10 minutes or 80 minutes."

McClennan says: "However long he plays, he's a threat, a handful."

Williams did not feel any extra weight to perform in the test. Expectation was always there.

"I'm not worrying about what people say, I'm just concentrating on my own form and I'll go out there and try not to make too many mistakes.

"There is a lot of talent in this team, there is expectation on everyone after what happened last year."

He means a 24-0 win to the Kiwis and the zero clearly hurts the Aussies almost more than the loss.

"We have to give it our all, we can't worry about what they think or what they're doing.

" If we get all our stuff right we should be sweet," he said. It was frustrating not being able to take part in the Kiwis campaign last year, Williams said. Coming from a family steeped in league, he grew up watching the likes of Ruben Wiki and Nigel Vagana play Australia.

"To represent my country is a big honour. The Tri-Nations win shows we're not here just to make up the numbers."

Williams will be given a roving role tonight.

The Kiwis will want him running wide off both sides of the ruck, adding an extra man in attack.

He gave one clue as to what to expect. "Bluey has worked on what we do best."


Sonny Bill Williams
Born: August 3, 1985, in Auckland.
Junior club: Marist
Educated: Owairaka Primary/Mt Albert Grammar to age 16.
Club: Signed by the Bulldogs age 16, NRL debut for the club R1 2004, 23 games, six tries.
International: Four tests for the Kiwis, 2004.