KEY POINTS:
There is no doubt that Sonny Bill Williams is the premier Kiwi rugby league player of his generation.
There is equally no doubt that "Money Bill" - as the Melbourne Sun-Herald recently tagged him - is losing the respect his enormous ability should be earning him.
The conventional
wisdom is he is poorly advised by his management team as he enters yet another round of contract negotiations.
Apparently, the A$400,000 per year he is contracted to earn until 2012 is not enough.
And so the kites have started flying. Sonny Bill for the All Blacks; Sonny Bill for rugby in France, possibly playing for Tana Umaga in Toulon; Sonny Bill for UK league; Sonny Bill centre-forward for Manchester United - oh, all right, I made that last one up. But it's in good company.
Remember what happened the last time Sonny Bill re-negotiated his contract?
Why, that'd be those stories about Sonny Bill coming to rugby union; Sonny Bill being an All Black... blah, blah, blah, snore, snore.
I'm sorry but if Sonny Bill becomes an All Black, my backside's a pineapple; George Bush is a humanitarian genius who will save the world; Fonterra are perfectly justified in their role in enormous increases in the price of milk and cheese when people are suffering; and Hillary Clinton is a sex goddess.
Sonny Bill is still a Bulldog, said breathless reports from Australia after the big man's representatives met Bulldogs people in a Sydney restaurant.
Sonny Bill didn't turn up - but he sent his manager, Khoder Nasser, two of his brothers and boxers Anthony Mundine and Solomon Haumono (both managed by Nasser).
This must have looked like a reject scene from The Sopranos - all we needed was Pauly Walnuts to shoot the waiter for poor service - and it just suggests that, while Sonny Bill is still a Bulldog, he is also adept in another word that begins in bull but does not end in dog.
Many think his greedy management team are leading him astray with outlandish pay claims at a time when the NRL is reeling from player defections and lack of money, as explored in the Herald on Sunday last week.
But it wasn't Nasser who 'masterminded' Williams' last contract negotiation which saw all the 'Sonny Bill wants to be an All Black' stories start up again.
This pays no compliments to a compliant media who sometimes, it seems, would flop on their bellies and raise their backsides if someone important asked for somewhere to park their bicycle.
But it also shines a poor light on Williams. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are, you must know that you will be perceived poorly if you're copping 400 large a year and you want more because:
He thinks his previous deal didn't reflect his 'standing' in the game.
He wanted to be consulted on the appointment of the assistant coach and new players
His contract didn't alter for form, inflation or his status as a superstar
He didn't have annual leave, superannuation or fringe benefit tax provisions
He wasn't left with much more than A$200,000 after tax.
He didn't like being asked by the Bulldogs to front the media last year and say he had "an alcohol problem". He says his only problem is being "naive".
Here is a list of Sonny Bill's major achievements in rugby league:
2004 premiership with the Bulldogs
He once played in a Kiwis team that drew 16-16 with Australia.
He has played 70 games in the NRL since his 2004 debut - but has missed 45 through injury or suspension. He says opinions that he is injury-prone are "bullshit".
He was photographed in a toilet seemingly about to have what Private Eye used to call Ugandan discussions with a fetching woman not his girlfriend of the time.
He was done for drunk driving.
He was caught doing a Nelson Riddle against a wall near a nightclub and was fined.
He criticised Willie Mason for disloyalty when he left the Dogs but apparently sees no irony in holding the same club to ransom.
You get the picture.
Tons of talent. Just watch his performance for the Dogs against Cronulla last week for what he can be.
But Mr 22 years old hasn't quite grown up. He doesn't yet understand that his achievements don't quite add up to his demands.
He might gain more money out of this latest caper but he stands to lose something far more valuable - respect; reputation.
He may not see that he stands to be called Money Bill or Sonny Dill. Take your pick.
One of the greats? Not yet. Not ever if he doesn't earn the perception -and it is a hard-won thing - that he loves to play more than his pay.