Arguably among the finest cross-code gamers Sonny Bill Williams has endorsed Joey Manu’s bid for a short-term rugby union change and believes it may make him a fair higher NRL participant.
Speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald, Williams believes Manu’s standing in rugby league means he deserves to maximise his incomes potential and the Rooters and the NRL must discover methods to maintain him within the recreation.
“When you’re an elite player like Joey is, that’s what you can do,” Williams instructed The Sydney Morning Herald of his makes an attempt to spend the early a part of the 2025 season to chase an enormous cash supply in Japan earlier than returning to the Roosters.
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“As long as it’s done respectfully, he deserves a chance to see what’s there for himself.
“I’m proud of him for stepping out there and doing his thing.
“When you have that talent, that talent deserves to be seen.”
Williams is essentially the most embellished cross-code star having received two premierships with the Bulldogs (2004) and Roosters (2013) to go together with two World Cups with the All Blacks in 2011 and 2015.
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Williams famously left the Bulldogs to signal with Toulon in European rugby in 2008, however he additionally had a seven recreation stint with the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan in 2012.
He believes the Japanese competitors’s strict coaching regimes and a focus to element will make Manu and much more harmful rugby league participant when he returns.
“The beauty of Japanese rugby, and it shocked me, is how fast the game is,” Williams stated.
“It’s a fast tempo and great skills. It’s like the Samurai movies where they train from dusk until dawn.
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“These lads are at training two hours early working on their skills and finer details of the game to make up for the smaller size and different physicality.
“I think it’ll be good for Joey, and he’ll come back with a really enhanced skill level – that’s what I found from my time [in Japan].
It’ll be such a good experience for him, and stepping out of his comfort zone, that should be applauded.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au