'Muslim' chirp behind Wild Bill's move
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:29
The drama surrounding the decision by Sonny Bill Williams to walk out on Rugby League to take up a big money deal with French Rugby Union club Toulon took another intriguing twist on Thursday.
Williams said former Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes was the catalyst for his decision to abandon the club to take up a contract with Toulon.
Williams told Channel Nine's Footy Show that Folkes questioned his friendship with boxer Anthony Mundine, something that angered him.
"I rock up to training and Folkesy, Steve Folkes, someone, that to be honest, has never paid any interest in my personal life, he comes up to me and starts saying: 'You're not turning Muslim are you?'," Williams told the TV station.
"I just laughed. I said, 'Seriously you are joking' and then he has a go at Anthony: 'You're kidding yourself if you take advice off him.'
"I start to think: 'Who is he to question my friends?'
"Who does he think he is? Does he think he is God? Is he God or something?"
Williams went on to say he simply wasn't happy at the club.
"Obviously to do something like that [leave], I wasn't happy," he said.
"I haven't been happy at the Bulldogs for a while."
Folkes responded by telling News Ltd Williams's comments counted for little.
"He will do anything now to try and justify this decision, regardless," Folkes said.
"It is indefensible. I was in the room last year when he agreed, shook hands and signed a deal to stay with us for five years.
"So regardless of what he says now, it's all pissing in the wind really."
Meanwhile Williams, who took part in his first training session with the club on Wednesday, said his decision to join Toulon came down to "common sense".
"If a lawyer, if a teacher, if a bus driver, if they're on $40,000 and they get offered a lot more to go somewhere else, what do you think they're going to do?
"Are they going to change bus companies? Or are they going to sit there and say `all these people want me to stay here because I'm the best bus driver in the jurisdiction, blah, blah, blah'.
"It's just common sense."
Mundine has also arrived in the south of France to help the former Bulldogs star settle into his new Rugby Union career.
Mundine watched his mate go through his paces during an afternoon training session with his new teammates at Toulon.
After about two hours sweating it out on the field in blistering conditions, the 23-year-old New Zealand international left the training ground with Mundine in a club car.
Mundine was tight-lipped about his reasons for visiting his friend on the Cote d'Azur.
The boxer, who like Williams used to play Rugby League before switching sports and has publicly supported his decision to flee the Bulldogs, said he planned to spend at least a few days in France.
When asked if he would attend the Top 14 club's first pre-season friendly match Friday, Mundine said "probably".
The Muslim boxer is believed to be one of the few people who knew about Williams's decision to walk out on the Bulldogs last month despite being just one year into his five-year contract with the Sydney club.
