SBW playing stupid games

Forget what your old NRL mates Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor might have told you. This isn't Australia. All Blacks aren't bought. They are selected.

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OPINION: DEAR Sonny Bill, I'm hoping it's not true. I'm hearing you are considering a return to the NRL. Or New Zealand. Or both. And, for some reason I'm deeply unconvinced.

I know there are others who are saying you would be an asset to whatever competition, in whatever code – in whichever country – you choose. Here's the heads up. They're wrong.

You probably imagine your reputation to be that of a fine athlete who has proved himself in one competition (the NRL) and is heading that way in another (French club rugby) when actually your reputation is that of a man who would never let a little personal development get in the way of a better contract.

It sounds shameless, but there it is.

On the subject of contracts, I hear your one with Toulon is coming to an end. What a terrific time you must have had. All those euros.

So forgive me if I put that piece of information alongside the rumours of your return(s), and come up with something which looks and sounds like just another cynical play for more money.

Those who have been following your progress say you have the makings of a fine rugby player. Not quite the finished article yet, but you do have that rare quality which defies definition. No one can honestly say what it is until they see it, and they see it in you. You are class.

Let me put that another way. You are class on a football field. Off it, I'm still unsure, because I don't imagine any person with genuine class would be making such an unconvincing attempt at sincerity.

Maybe you've read Sun Tzu's The Art of War. There's a line in it you might like – indeed may be deeply familiar with.

All war is deception.

How deceitful are you Sonny Bill?

When you say that playing for the All Blacks is a dream, how can we be sure?

There IS a way to convince us. Come home. Play some Air New Zealand Cup. Show us how good you really are, and if, as we suspect, you're not bad, you may get a Super 15 contract. Maybe.

The money won't be anywhere near as good as you're on now, but ... are you still with me? Sonny Bill?

They tell me you and Tana Umaga get on OK, so I'm sure he has told you that there are no shortcuts to an All Blacks jersey. Forget what your old NRL mates Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor might have told you. This isn't Australia. All Blacks aren't bought. They are selected.

So maybe it's not Tana you should be talking to. Perhaps it's Brad Thorn.

When he first arrived at the Crusaders, Brad had a couple of things weighing heavily against him. He was a player with no history in one of the most technically challenging positions. And every couple of weeks he found himself playing in front of spectators who are naturally suspicious of carpetbaggers.

I think we can all agree, can't we, that Brad has since gone on to be a truly great All Black. He didn't manage that by cutting any corners and as far as I'm aware he still successfully manages to travel without an entourage.

You once proved yourself to be a rare rugby league talent – for the Bulldogs, anyway. For some reason, you would always be injured when the Kiwis really needed you.

They used to compare you to Mark Graham. They were wrong.

Mark Graham played through pain for most of his career. Mark Graham never had an entourage. Mark Graham didn't need to pretend he was a boxer by getting into the ring with an Auckland street fighter. Mark Graham would have seen right through Anthony Mundine. You could take Mark Graham at his word.

But what about you?

A threat to leave a club or a code has sadly become a well-established bargaining tactic. But SBW, here is my only piece of advice. Save the games for the paddock.

What if someone called your bluff?

eric.young@star-times.co.nz

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