If Fifa’s local organising committee for next year’s World Cup in Brazil are struggling to sell out the Maracana Stadium at any point, they know who to call.
Sonny Bill Williams’s agent is ready and willing to sell his man’s wares to the highest bidder. So the ball is round? Who cares, this performing circus act will manage.
Perhaps he will be able to fit in a boxing bout against Wladimir Klitschko between the Super 15 final and the football kicking off. If Lennox Lewis thinks he can demand US$100 million (Dh367m) for a heavyweight title fight, then what is Williams worth?
A fair bit, by the sound of things.
Few players in any sport appear to have such a keen sense of their own self-worth as the Sydney Rooster-come-Waikato Chief-come-All Black-come-prizefighter.
Players who regard themselves as being bigger than the team are normally given short shrift in most oval-ball codes.
Bigger than the team? After what has gone on this week, this man appears to have been indulged in thinking he is bigger than the sport of rugby league.
Apparently, New Zealand would not have had a chance of retaining their World Cup without him. And the organisers of said World Cup would certainly not have been able to shift many tickets.
Now he is staying on to do everyone a favour. And the tournament will certainly be better for him being there. He is box office. It is another blow for Corinthian ideals, though.
pradley@thenational.ae
