Warriors want Sonny Bill Williams

POPULAR MAN: Sonny Bill Williams has engaged a European agent to help him sort through expressions of interest from two codes in five countries.

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EXCLUSIVE: THE Warriors are in the market to sign Sonny Bill Williams.

But it’s likely the Auckland-based franchise would have to pay a hefty fee to his former NRL club, the Bulldogs, if they were to lure him to Mt Smart Stadium.

Now playing rugby for Toulon in France after walking out on the Bulldogs in 2007, Williams comes off contract in June.

Sunday News revealed last week he is looking to come back to New Zealand and
link up with an NPC franchise in a bid to win selection for the All Blacks ahead of
next year’s World Cup.

But there have been growing whispers in the past week suggesting a return to the NRL could be on the cards.
That would require the Bulldogs to relax a clause in their termination deal with Williams which prohibits him from playing for an NRL rival before 2013.
The Warriors’ intentions have been signalled by club CEO Wayne Scurrah who met with his Bulldogs counterpart, Todd Greenberg, during the week to quiz him on the Bulldogs’ stance if they made a play for Williams.

“We had a brief discussion at the CEO’s conference earlier in the week,” Greenberg told Sunday News. “Wayne
asked me to clarify our position on Sonny which is quite simple.
“The terms of release between ourselves and Sonny stipulate that he can’t play for another NRL club until the
2013 season.

“I told Wayne that if the Warriors were entertaining any thoughts of wanting him to play for them prior to that, he should give me a call.’’

Australian media this week reported that the Bulldogs would be unlikely to relax the clause to allow Williams to play for a rival.

But Greenberg said he was willing to have a “commercial discussion’’ with any club about an early release.
“All I’ve said at this stage is that under the current terms another club wouldn’t
be able to sign him. But if someone wants to call me and have a commercial discussion, which effectively would involve some sort of payment for an early release, we would be happy to do that.”

Scurrah was reluctant to talk about his meeting with Greenberg but conceded his club’s interest in Williams.
“We had a brief discussion but I’m not able to go into any details at this stage,” he said.

Scurrah also described the chance of signing Williams as “remote’’ but Australian sources say the Warriors have “as good a chance as anyone’’ of securing him.

Sunday News understands the Warriors have made an approach through the superstar’s agent Khoder Nasser.

- © Fairfax NZ News