Has boarded a plane to France to negotiate an RU contract apparently....

[url=http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/07/26/Sonny_Bill_turns_back_on_Dogs_boards_flight_to_EuropeStory here[/url

yes sonny bill . has gone missing . will play STATE OF ORIGIN.NSW BLUES. then KANGAROOS in THE WORLD CUP

The 'Steve Folkes effect' strikes again? Or is SBW being a tit?

its a bit of everything . but mostly money$

How can a French second division side offer Aus$3 million over two years? rugbyleaguelive.com.au/Articles/ ... rance.aspx

How can a French second division side offer Aus$3 million over two years? rugbyleaguelive.com.au/Articles/ ... rance.aspx

gasnier's french team has a salary cap of $19million

And thats what is becoming attractive to the NRL's top players. Do the big bosses at NRL HQ stick to their guns, or change the salary cap and sponsorship rules with the intention of keeping their big name players?

Let the players go - If they leave to RU ban them from playing in the comp again

Most will only be going to earn enough money on 2 or 3 years so they can retire

Blame his agent - Khoder Nasser.

The same agent who encouraged Mundine to walk out on his Dragons contract. The same one who all of a sudden has Sonny Bill whining about his contract. Out of the blue SBW starts going on about his "black and Polynesian brothers" - a well worn Mundinism.
This Money Bill Williams only emerged a few months ago when Nasser became his agent.

you could blame his agent. And you could cite Gasnie's french girlfriend and SBW's 'special' circumstances (whatever they may be).

FACT - in the last week 2 NRL sides have lost their only genuine star players.

The only question is whether the NRL actually have a look at doing something about the money for the few stars the game has.

Maybe something like the England rugby union had a few years ago?
POssibly a system where one or two players per club can be paid highly, subsidised by the league?
Either way, you can't let many more stars like this walk out..
As a British occasional fan of the NRL, games are certainly less appealing to me first thing on a weekend morning when these guys aren't playing.

When the NRL chiefs first started to talk about the loss of so many players to SL and union I laughed it off saying they were a bit OTT and the aussies will always produce more...I don't see the next Gasnier or SBW on the horizon, maybe they were right.

Oh well, you're getting ol' Trent back next year ;
You can take King too if you like

What? Gasnier's "French" girlfriend who was born on Sydney's north shore and has only ever been to France on holiday? (her parents emigrated before she was born).

How about we blame St George who failed to make sure Gaz got paid what his contract stated and left the loophole open? Makes more sense.
The fact is that Gaz's contract included 100K in third party payments and they couldn't find anyone to fill it. If it had been a Million it wouldn't have mattered. No company seemed to want Mark "Fire up bitch" Gasnier as the face of their product.