Well, Sonny Bill Williams came back from injury this week and five minutes after running onto the field he was off again with an injury that could keep him out of the game for over a month.
I think its about time Bulldogs officials realize that for all of his talent, Sonny Bill is still only 19 years old. Yes he can put on some massive hits in defense and he is an awesome ball runner, but at this stage of his development he simply doesn’t have the body of a first grade forward.
Sonny Bill is a tall, lean player. Sure he is very well built, but compared to most NRL forward Sonny Bill just doesn’t have the frame for the heavy, grinding work load just yet.
I believe the Bulldogs should move Sonny Bill out wide and play him in the centers for the mean time. He has the size, speed and footwork to be a sensational center and the lower work rate would allow him to develop as a first grade player without having to stop for months at a time due to injury.
He wouldn’t be the first player to start his career out wide before moving closer to the action. Kiwi legends Jarrod McCracken and Rubin Wiki both come into first grade as centers and were two of the best centers in the game before converting into back rowers and being two of the best back rowers in the game.
Sonny Bill could do worse things then model his career on those two thats for sure.
So while we would all love to see him thrown into the forwards battle, putting on big hits and breaking the defensive line with his powerful running game, I think for Sonny’s sake we should have to wait a while.
I know one thing, I’d rather wait and see Sonny have a career that goes for 10+ years then talk about that kid who played a few seasons before he was worn out of the game because he was pushed to hard to make it in a position where only the toughest men survive.
He is only 19 years old and he deserves better then the that.
