“You always face challenges. But where I am right now I wouldn’t change anything that has happened”
<!-- 336x280 (bottom-article) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}
Sonny Bill Williams is for many, much more than a household name – he is a sporting legend. More importantly, he is a Samoan sporting legend.
Excelling professionally at almost any sport he turns his hand to (league, union boxing), the Kiwi born sportsman is fairly decorated for someone who hasn’t even reached 30 yet.
From scoring his first National Rugby League Premiership cap at the age of 18 in his debut season with the Bulldogs, to taking the
Chiefs home in 2012 Super Rugby Final (making him the only the third person to achieve such a feat), to taking home the 2011 Rugby
World Cup and notching up six consecutive wins in the boxing ring – he pretty much has nothing left to prove, except maybe to the thousands of Manu and Toa fans out there.
Earlier this week Sonny Bill answered the multi-million-tala question for Samoa - would he ever pull on Samoa’s blue jersey?
Responding to a very passionately worded question from the crowd at a press conference about whether or not he would play for the Toa or Manu Samoa – Sonny Bill just smiled and “you sound a bit…like my old man”.
“My old man is always asking me when am I going to play for the Toa Samoa,” he said.
“But you know, I think everyone in this room can understand that I am a proud New Zealander as well, I am proud of being from New Zealand.
“I am also proud of being from Samoa so you know you never know.
“I would love to put on the blue jersey one day but at this stage of my career I am vying obviously to play for the Kiwis or the All Blacks.
“I don’t want to say that and disrespect anyone in this room today disrespect any of my Samoan brothers or sisters, because I am the first to jump up and say that I am a proud Samoan.”
And a proud Samoan he is – something Sonny Bill admits to openly – that he is no more, no less.
“I am who I am,” he said.
“I am proud of the man I have become and very confident as a man, but in a humble way, a good way if that makes sense.
“I wouldn’t say that anything that I have…anything that is in Sydney or in Auckland media or anything like that drives me to be who I am.”
“I am pretty confident (and) pretty happy within myself, that when I finish playing footy I won’t need anything like that.”
“I will just need my family and my loved ones to be happy.”
Last year the Australian wrote that as a child, Sonny Bill was “painfully shy,” as well as “a freakish sporting talent, a competitive sprinter, a champion high jumper and cross country runner and the kid who played footy in teams a couple of age divisions above, to make things fairer.”
Later that same year the Guardian reported that the “driving factor” in his pursuit of playing professional rugby league was to “get my mum a house.”
“I have always had that drive, (from) when I was young,” says Sonny Bill.
“(While) I guess it has changed over the years as I have gotten older, but when I was young it was try and get a house for my mum.
“That was a real massive major driving factor. “Then after that happened then I guess it was just a pride thing to try and keep that standard that I set.”
Well if this is the standard he has set for himself, it is no wonder pretty much any football team – of any code – is falling over themselves to sign him.
With his proven skill – there are probably a few boxing promoters just biding their time out in the wings waiting for his return to their sport of choice.
“Obviously there are a lot of factors for myself religion, family and I guess pride would probably be the main things,” said Sonny Bill when asked his accomplishments.
“You know just always wanting to perform to what I know I can achieve or perform to a standard that I have set myself.
“And you know to achieve that there are a lot of things that you know you have to do you have to tick all those little boxes, that people don’t usually see on TV.
“Just trying to keep that standard, I guess it is a pride thing as well.”
Despite his year-on-year success, Sonny Bill admitted that his life was not without its challenges.
“You always face challenges,” he said. “But where I am right now I wouldn’t change anything that has happened.”
“(I am) very happy as a person and as a man, where I am right now at this time of my life.” And as for the next chapter in the sporting saga that has become the life of Sonny Bill Williams?
“(To) keep being successful but also being happy in my private life as well,” he said.
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}