ROOSTERS MOVE FOR SBW! Sydney Roosters supremo Nick Politis is considering a shock move to bring superstar Sonny Bill Williams back to the NRL — this season.
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A FEW days before Mitchell Pearce’s Australia Day scandal, Roosters supremo Nick Politis was spotted chatting over coffee in a Double Bay cafe with Sonny Bill Williams’ agent Khoder Nasser.
And they weren’t talking about the weather.
Politis wants to bring the All Blacks superstar back to Bondi as soon as this year — and he’s prepared to offer him a multi-million-dollar lifetime contract to make it happen.
The Roosters want Sonny Bill Williams back at the club. It would be a playing *contract for a minimum two years for the champion 30-year-old forward with a job as a club ambassador, *mentor and corporate *magnate after football.
As much as it appears a longshot of happening this season, don’t totally discount it.
It would need the Roosters to approach the All Blacks management to secure his release before the Rugby Sevens at the Rio Olympics.
This crazy off-season has *suddenly left the Roosters with a spare $1.5 million in the salary cap after the departure of Michael *Jennings to Parramatta and the *likelihood of Mitchell Pearce being stood down indefinitely.
One thing about Sonny Bill is that he loves a challenge.
It’s one of the reasons why he is trying to add Olympic gold to his rugby World Cup medal and the premiership ring he won at the Roosters in 2013.
But the challenge at the Roosters is equally as tempting.
This is a club that is in disarray. They have now lost SBW, Anthony Minichiello, Michael Jennings, Roger Tuivasa-Schek, James Maloney and now Pearce in two years.
They have gone from being one of the glamour clubs of the competition to a side that might even struggle to make the top eight.
Apart from his footballing talent, SBW is the obvious role model this club desperately needs.
As much as Jake Friend has done a fine job as captain since SBW left and Anthony Minichiello retired, the culture has not been the same and the club clearly has issues with *alcohol and discipline.
SBW often visits the Roosters and trains in their Moore Park gym when he is in Sydney.
The younger players love it.
Sonny Bill Williams is set to play at the Olympics.Interestingly, SBW’s reputation was as trash as Mitchell Pearce in his younger days when he drank heavily and walked out unannounced on the Bulldogs.
There is now not a more admired or respected footy player in league or union.
It is this influence that could help the likes of Pearce, when he returns, and all the youngsters at the club.
There are a number of options for the Roosters if Pearce doesn’t play again this season.
They could try to sign one of South Sydney’s disgruntled halves, Adam Reynolds or Luke Keary.
Rabbitohs officials deny they are unhappy but other club insiders *insist it is true.
Or they could try to persuade *Jarryd Hayne to return to the NRL.
Hayne’s manager Wayne Beavis is soon to sit down with the San Francisco 49ers hopeful for a heart to heart chat about his future. It’s no secret Beavis is concerned that Hayne earns just $150,000-a-year in the 49ers practice squad while he could get almost $4 million over three years in the NRL.
He would be a wonderful acquisition for the Roosters and put bums on seats.
But when it comes to *fixing the club culture there is only one man who can do it. SBW.