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Angry exerts from Sonny Bill Williams unauthorized autobiography.

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Sonny Bill Williams was told to quit the All Blacks in the lead-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, an explosive new biography has revealed.

Sonny Ball - the Legend of Sonny Bill Williams, by leading Australian sports writer Paul Kent, charts the on- and off-field triumphs and dramas that have surrounded the 29-year-old code-swapper in his 11-year professional sporting career.

The book has revealed how the star's relationship with then-national coach Sir Graham Henry soured in the lead-up to the 2011 cup triumph.

Frustrated at being given minimal test time off the All Black bench, Williams was urged by one of his closest advisers, boxer Anthony Mundine, to quit the All Black camp a month before the 2011 World Cup.

Read also: Playing the field: SBW

Kent said Williams "felt used" and tensions spilled over within the Williams camp shortly after a brief cameo off the bench in the All Blacks' 30-14 win over the Wallabies at Eden Park in August 2011.

"Williams was in no mood to celebrate with this teammates," Kent wrote in the unauthorised biography. "He headed home to the hotel where Nasser [his manager Khoder Nasser] was staying with Anthony Mundine and Quade Cooper. Williams turned up, still in his [All Black] socks and shorts. That was as good an indication as any at how angry he was.

"'F*** him bro', Mundine said. He was talking about the coach, Henry. 'Let's go get on a plane. Let's go shopping in LA. You need some new clothes. He's got the world's best player in his team and he leaves him on the bench. Who the f*** does he think he is?'.

"Mundine pulled out his mobile phone. 'I'll book the tickets now, bro, we can be on a plane in the morning'. Nobody, it seemed, was doing anything to calm Williams."

Williams' problems with Sir Graham centred around the coach's preference for proven test star Ma'a Nonu.

His management's relationship with the New Zealand Rugby Union was also strained over the sporting body's decision to block a hoped-for lucrative endorsement deal as it clashed with one of the sporting body's official sponsors.

When Williams linked with the NZRU in late 2010, Kent said "his one stipulation" was that he would be picked for the All Blacks if his form warranted it.

"Williams would later admit he felt 'lied to'," Kent wrote. "Sonny always tried hard to stay true to the core values of the team. This was one of the few times the mask slipped."

Tensions between Williams, his close team of allies, and Sir Graham continued almost right up to kick-off of the World Cup.

"Just 13 days before the World Cup Mundine had tweeted to Williams: 'Bra the more I think of this bulls*** the more I think I gotta get yu out of that environment'," Kent wrote. "For a man driven by achievement like he was, his limited role in New Zealand's World Cup did not sit well. He did not feel part of it."

Even before Williams' limited game time with the All Blacks, Kent claims the midfielders' relationship with rugby bosses "nearly fell apart".

"By now Sonny was no longer feeling the love," Kent writes. "When the NZRU rejected a private sponsorship agreement the noise grew.

"Reports in New Zealand raised fears the fallout between Nasser and the NZRU over the deal would see Williams leave the code."

Williams was already raking in an estimated $2 million a season from his NZRU contract, plus endorsements with Rebel Sports and adidas.

Sonny Ball - the Legend of Sonny Bill Williams also looks at Williams' league and boxing careers.

The book's cover features a caricature of Williams, as publisher MacMillian Australia was not able to get permission to use a photo of Williams on the book's front.

Nasser last night told the Herald on Sunday that neither he nor Williams would comment on the unauthorised biography.

Williams has been fodder for media on both sides of the Tasman since his NRL debut in 2004. His personal life has also dominated headlines including his switch to Islam in 2008, his secret marraige to Alana Raffie in 2013 and the birth of their daughter, Imaan, last November.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11486974

Some of it might be hearsay, but Mundine was definitely in his ear and I remember those tweets. This is exactly why a more team based guy like Fekitoa is a better option. SBW thinks he's bigger than the team. Good on Henry for sticking to his guns and the better combination of Smith - Nonu.
 
Sorry, but Nasser is a cancerous parasite. It's a shame Williams got tied up with him. Sure he's a grown guy and can make his own decisions, but I also think he's very naive and got/gets taken for a ride. I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot barge poll.
 
Sorry, but Nasser is a cancerous parasite. It's a shame Williams got tied up with him. Sure he's a grown guy and can make his own decisions, but I also think he's very naive and got/gets taken for a ride. I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot barge poll.

Yeah to be fair to Sonny, he's grown up a fair bit since then as well. But you're only as good as the company you keep aye..
 
Makes you wonder if he's learned his lessons now. You'd like think he has or he wouldn't be back there, but that's no guarantee.
 
Makes you wonder if he's learned his lessons now. You'd like think he has or he wouldn't be back there, but that's no guarantee.

There's definitely some sort of pressure on the NZRU to include him and he's a bit of a fan favourite among the "casual" fan base, especially the women. He has his uses, but only has Henry used him, a good bench/impact player or a different option if we want to play an offload game, he has strong defence, but Fekitoa simply offers much more.
 
Sorry, but Nasser is a cancerous parasite. It's a shame Williams got tied up with him. Sure he's a grown guy and can make his own decisions, but I also think he's very naive and got/gets taken for a ride. I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot barge poll.
Nasser is a massive turd, but Mundine is possibly even worse - reading his quotes just confirms what a massive d##khead that guy is.

SBW is a great player, but I remember 2011 pretty well and the fact was he just hadn't played himself into the starting line up. Mundine knows f##k-all about Union, so what the **** would he know about Henry's decision, and frankly Nonu has been awesome in Black for years now, so SBW needed to do something astonishing to make the starting side, and back then he just hadn't.
 
If sbw had stayed in Union he could possibly have been the number one midfielder and growen into the jersey but the game is bigger than him, he wasn't better than nonu not even now.
 
Sorry, but Nasser is a cancerous parasite. It's a shame Williams got tied up with him. Sure he's a grown guy and can make his own decisions, but I also think he's very naive and got/gets taken for a ride. I wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot barge poll.


Nasser is actually just one of a pair of cancerous parasites; the other half of the pairing is that racist prick Anthony Mundine.
 
This raises so many questions.

How can an autobiography be unauthorized?
 
The ***le says autobiography but the article just says biography, so I assume that was just a mistake by the OP.
 
This raises so many questions.

How can an autobiography be unauthorized?

Exactly it cant and it's not an autobiography. Just a bit of SBW bashing from _Kiwi who can't tell the difference. They're saying the bio's been written by some Aussie bogan trying to destabilise the ABs before the world cup.
 
Look no further than who wrote this rubbish, Paul Kent, a former RL player for the Eels and sometimes guest on "The Footy SHow.

For an adequate description of this guy, you need only change the second letter of his name!!
 
Everybody seems to be missing the real thing here? Sonny Bill, who sold himself as the toughest man in the world, who could kill John Rambo and Margaret Thatcher by looking at them gets comfort by shopping in LA like Paris Hilton.

"You know girl, we should go shopping like, now, *****"

We should watch Mean Girls, drink a smoothie and go see Zac Efron, get a ride in a limo and talk to some cute guys on the beach.

My image of Sonny Bill will never be the same now:

1236680042_zoolander_-_ben_stiller.gif
 
Exactly it cant and it's not an autobiography. Just a bit of SBW bashing from _Kiwi who can't tell the difference. They're saying the bio's been written by some Aussie bogan trying to destabilise the ABs before the world cup.

The Mundine quotes are real and Sonny does hang out with 2 idiots, Cooper being another. It was no secret Sonny was disappointed with his lack of game in the RWC.
 
I think the whole issue stems from SBW (and his crew of hangers-on) incorrectly labelling him "the best player in the world".
As soon as he gets it into his head that that is certainly NOT the case, the happier he will be.

Ma'a Nonu was, and is, a far better player than SBW. End of story.
 
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