Chinese Whispers Put Williams In Wrong Place At Wrong Time

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday January 21, 2006

JACQUELIN MAGNAY

IT'S 2.45 in the morning, in the off-season, in a public place.

Is Sonny Bill Williams a footballer and role model, or just a 21-year-old out having fun with his mates?

In the very early hours of last Saturday and within the boisterous, thumping-bass environs of Carmen's Nightclub in Miranda, Williams thought it was the latter. The music was loud and the place was crowded. Everyone appeared to be having a blast, but in truth the alcohol-fuelled tension of the night was just starting to bite.

Out on the lively dance floor, a 20-year-old Oyster Bay woman was suddenly affronted. She slapped the cheek of a 20-year-old Illawong man, who instantly retaliated with force. She fell to the floor - and the place was in uproar.

Bouncers swung into action, so much so that the man would later claim to the police who attended the fracas that he had been "roughed up", and wanted them to charge the bouncers for man-handling him.

And Williams? Well, he had been badgered for some of the night by people wanting to talk football. It seemed the later it got, the more courageous these complete strangers got, wanting photos with him on their mobile phones. And suddenly Williams, too, got sick of it all and he ended up having a blue with his mate, Cronulla Sharks prop James Stosic and Stosic's sister. The sister had wanted a souvenir photo with Williams before she left to go home but the person behind the camera was taking forever to get the shot, and Williams got a tad annoyed with the situation.

Stosic, a former Junior Kiwi, tried to make up by suggesting they kiss noses - a Maori tradition. Williams didn't like this idea, however, telling Stosic he was of Samoan heritage. But it was just a little spat and they quickly made up and peacefully left the club of their own accord.

Of course, when word swept around the Sutherland shire of the dance floor incident, it was also mentioned as an aside that Williams - readily identifiable through his high profile in the NRL and advertisements for a soft drink - was also in attendance. And from there it didn't take too many Chinese whispers for the story to get completely mixed up. Before long it was Williams who supposedly hit the woman, and the area was awash with indignation about yet another rugby league pre-season disaster story that yet again involved the mistreatment of women.

In truth, Williams did nothing wrong and had nothing to do with it. Police confirm Williams is not a person of interest to them.

Yet as sacked Penrith captain Craig Gower discovered this month, and Parramatta's Tim Smith is drawn into controversy over a late-night incident of his own, it has again become abundantly clear that it is impossible to switch off being a footballer.

It's a bit sad, really, but the world of professional footballers is getting smaller and smaller, possibly in inverse proportion to their expanding pay packets and increasing community expectations. Players not only have to control their own behaviour as role models, but must try to anticipate the behaviour of every other lout in the vicinity.

And as Williams found out, it doesn't always matter that players don't go seeking trouble. Trouble will nearly always find them. Especially at 2.45am.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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