KEY POINTS:
It was a call Brian McClennan said Sonny Bill Williams never had to make but nevertheless he was grateful to hear the stellar 21-year-old commit himself to rugby league and, more importantly, the Kiwis.
The backrower-turned-centre has long been predicted to become the greatest player in league history but had been linked to discussions with the Australian Rugby Union and possibly playing for the Wallabies.
However, Williams - entering the last year of his contract with the Bulldogs - told McClennan the reports were baseless and that his immediate goal was to get completely fit again and add to the single test he has played in McClennan's two-year reign.
"When I heard he was going to switch codes and play for Australia I didn't even bother to ring him," McClennan said. "I just knew it wouldn't happen. He's a Kiwi through and through... he's potentially one of the greatest league players New Zealand's ever produced."
It is not unknown, when players are up for contract negotiations, for rumours to start about the player moving elsewhere. The money on offer from Australian rugby union for league stars like Lote Tuqiri and Mat Rogers can be used to fuel such speculation. This has the occasionally successful impact of helping the player's negotiating position.
However, Williams seemed to be genuinely in the dark and was nonplussed when tackled by his mother and sister about why he was thinking of turning his back on league and New Zealand.
The rumours, which Williams' agent Gavin Orr described as "completely baseless" have hurt the utility.
"That was rubbish," Orr said. "He's a Kiwi. He doesn't want to play for the Wallabies. His main goal over the next 12 months is to play in a Grand Final for the Bulldogs and win the Tri-Nations back with the Kiwis. His long-term goal is to captain the Kiwis. He's made his intentions quite clear to everybody around him."
McClennan said Williams was a "realistic option" for captaincy, but whether it happens next year in the wake of Ruben Wiki's retirement is another matter. "We just need him playing football, but Sonny would make a good lead-by-example captain," the popular coach said.
The past couple of years when Williams has been largely unavailable for the Kiwis because of knee injuries have seen many questioning his commitment to his country.
"He's got a lot of friends and family who contact him and ask him why he's not playing," Orr said. "He's just done the right thing by himself this year, taking the time to spend it off his knee and giving it the recuperation it needed."
But that flak has paled in comparison to what he encountered from those close to him at the thought of him turning his back on the silver fern.
"He had a lot of family and friends ring him asking him what it was all about." Orr said.
The misunderstanding occurred, according to Orr, when Williams name was on a list presented to the head scout of the ARU as a player coming off contract in 2007 who was eligible for the Wallabies. "They rang up [Pacific Sports, Orr's company] and said 'what's the story?'."
Orr informed the ARU that Williams had briefly considered an offer to talk to the New Zealand Rugby Union when his last Bulldogs' contract expired, but chose not to go down that path.
"You would have thought it would have been a major priority, too, for a young Kiwi kid," Orr said. "But his priorities are rugby league and he doesn't want to go into the rugby union field. We told the Wallabies that he wouldn't be a client we'd be discussing in meetings and they were quite happy with that given they get used and abused, I suppose, in negotiations between one code and the next.
"We never even contemplated it."
Instead, Orr's focus is firmly on securing a new contract with the Bulldogs. The two parties are reportedly some distance apart because of a breakdown in Williams' third-party payments. As a designated marquee player, the Bulldogs can top up Williams' salary with payments from a third-party.
However the club are not beholden to ensure these payments are made and it is believed there was a significant shortfall on Williams' payments this year. That has led to rumours he will be headed to the Bulldogs' hated rivals Sydney City Roosters, who have a stable of cash-rich backers, next year.
The Bulldogs signed him for A$400,000 (NZ$450,000) two years ago but Williams has already turned down a A$900,000 (NZ$1m) offer from St Helens to stay in the NRL.
"His preferred option is to stay at Canterbury and we're going down the road with the Bulldogs at the moment.
"The Bulldogs and Pacific Sports are working to get something tied up. If we can't reach something then we'll look at the next step after that."
The next step won't, however, involve the ARU, who are looking for a marquee signing following the defection of Mat Rogers back to league, the termination of cocaine user Wendell Sailor's contract, and the likely defection of Lote Tuqiri after the World Cup.
"If he did go to rugby, which I could never see him doing, he would never play for Australia," McClennan said. "He'd rather play for New Zealand."
