Paul Lewis: SBW needs to be Marvello

Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Getty Images

Short cuts are always questionable; brilliant sometimes, ineffective others. It remains to be seen how the Sonny Bill Williams short cut works out.

Williams seems certain for the All Black end of year tour but his absence from the ITM Cup while apparently fit enough to enjoy skiing at Mt Hutt moved the matter closer to farce.

It reminded me of the tale about the perils of short cuts; involving a reporter on a British newspaper. The best of his trade had passed him by and he was resentful. This particular chap was also fond of a pint, and that, coupled with his resentfulness, led to him wishing he could dodge the story his entertainment-minded news editor had assigned him.

His eye fell on the programme of the interminably boring variety show at the local theatre - but he brightened when he saw the act Marvello And His Flying Donkey. That was it. He'd short-cut things by sending in a review from the boozer and he'd stay in the pub with his mates.

He wrote imaginatively, colourfully - describing how Marvello's talented donkey took to the trapeze. Marvello also took to the air and the pair's ability drew delighted applause as they landed expertly - the donkey even appearing to bow its head in acknowledgement.

All went well, the review was greeted warmly and our scribe went about his business. Until the day a letter arrived from the theatre manager.

It read: "Sir, I would like to thank you for the illuminating, if somewhat puzzling, review of the entertainment, Showtime, featured at my theatre this week. The report gave a vivid and imaginative interpretation of the acts presented. However, I still remain a little confused over the review dealing with the exploits of "Marvello and his Flying Donkey."

"I feel I should draw your attention to the fact that there was an unfortunate misprint in the wording used in the programme for this act. It should have read: "Marvello and his Flying Monkey".

I mention this because (with thanks to the Fleet Street site Gentlemen Ranters for that story) there's no doubt the Sonny Bill short cut got up the noses of more than a few punters - and some are still wondering whether they will be watching Marvello, a flying donkey or a flying monkey. Or a pig in a poke.

If it comes to the RWC 2011 final and Sonny Bill pushes off tacklers, offloads and creates the Cup-winning try, then those sentiments will be remembered about as much as last week's toilet paper.

Many rugby folk, however, maintain the quaint notion an All Black jersey is something earned, never given. All Blackdom is an Everest that has to be conquered - not offered after a helicopter ride round the summit. Some are still quietly smouldering at the pictures of All Black coach Graham Henry acting as a taxi driver while courting SBW's agent, Khoder Nasser, before Williams decided to play in New Zealand.

Not everyone has bought into the line SBW has turned his back on riches in France to play penny-ante stuff here. His reputed $500,000 contract is hardly breadcrumbs. If he succeeds as an All Black and plays in the World Cup, he will be a truly international sporting star able to command a vast contract in either league or union - or boxing. He'll still be only 26.

Talking about boxing, many still resent Sonny Bill for the way he gave the Bulldogs a big uppercut when he left to play rugby in France, walking out on his contract. This gave rise to the perception SBW was financially motivated - and to the sobriquet "Money Bill".

He was scorned for his recent boxing appearance in Australia when he easily dispatched a patsy opponent with more waistline than formline; more porcine than pugnacious.

So heading off to the slopes while his team-mates sweated it out - and lost - against Tasman again gives the impression of a young man out for himself; marching to the beat of a different drum; with no apparent ability to discern the impact his decisions make on how he is viewed by others.

Appearances can be deceptive. Some reports from Canterbury suggest SBW was left out of the team - he didn't pull out. He is presenting as a natural, humble, engaging young man with no pretensions and an easy smile; not as a smart-arse multi-millionaire who thinks the world owes him a living. The fight in Australia was part of a card designed to raise $50,000 for drug rehabilitation - a fact little mentioned in SBW criticism.

Nasser is also routinely viewed as one of the most hated men in Australian sport. He is no stranger to controversy - managing his key client Anthony Mundine when he walked out on a Dragons contract to take up boxing. Familiar story?

Mundine has been pilloried as a brash, trash-talking troublemaker, whose strings are pulled by puppetmaster Nasser, supposedly the menacing influence behind Mundine's conversion to Islam and his most reviled utterance (the post 9/11 comment that the Americans "brought it on themselves".)

Yet Mundine has at other times shown himself to be a thoughtful, intelligent man when he is not being "in character' - which didn't stop the enormous swell of dislike when Nasser became Williams' manager and engineered the acrimonious and seemingly self-serving split from the Bulldogs; when not even SBW's team-mates knew he was off.

In the land where "mate" is might, this went down like a schooner of sewage.

Yet Mundine and Williams apparently dote on Nasser. Their trust is implicit.

Nasser has no other clients, devoting all his time to them - and he has proved he will do anything short of walk through a hail of bullets (and probably even that) for his "boys".

He doesn't care who he irks or how he does things - the Bulldogs are still seething at being lied to - it's all for "the boys". They repay him with the same loyalty. Nasser's proudest claim is that he has no contract with Mundine nor Williams; just a handshake. If they don't like what he does for them, they can just walk away, he says.

So it's likely the worst-case scenario here is a lack of PR savvy; someone who thinks that he or they can walk through all the storms that life can break over them; a belief that the shit-fight of today is next week's ancient history. Or he may be copping the blame for the decision of the Canterbury coaching staff not to select him.

Whatever the reasons, SBW will be playing for even more than proving he is an All Black. He is playing to restore a reputation - a thing not easily salvaged. He will want to show he is not the donkey, nor even the monkey.

He'll want to be - needs to be - Marvello.