Sonny Ball: The Legend Of Sonny Bill Williams by Paul Kent

This book is for the longtime rugby league nerd. Although Sonny Bill Williams’ face & name are on the cover, this is really all about the scars of the Super League war of the mid-nineties, the sanctity of a signed contract, & the influence of Khoder Nasser & Anthony Mundine.

Paul Kent traces the journey of SBW walking out on the Bulldogs in ’08, using the media timeline, as well as a lot of behind the scenes talks, to map the entire process he frequently refers to as “Sonny Ball”. Within this you see the origins of “Sonny Ball” being played out many years before SBW was finessed into making some of the more interesting career decisions we’ve seen in the 2 rugby codes. There are references to Mundine’s own politicking in the Super League era, when he forced his way out of the Broncos & back to the Dragons (on $600,000 per season).

Kent manages to come across wholly with no real agenda but to tell a story of rugby league struggling to hold onto its young stars in an increasingly competitive sporting/media market. It is clear he is no great fan of Nasser & Mundine, though treats them fairly, particularly when discussing their boxing trajectory. There is a great boxing press conference exchange between Mundine & Kent that I’ll leave for the reader.

There are some informative insights into Williams as a person, such as the change from a young impressionable teenager, to a self aware international marketing giant, then again from unhappy All Black to NRL winning leader at the Roosters. Kent appears, as most of us are, in awe of SBW the league/union giant, & bemused by SBW the “boxer”.

This is really all for the league fan, & doesn’t cater much to the union fans.

Couldn’t put it down. Loved it. EndFragment