Manu Tuilagi reportedly targeted by Toronto Wolfpack as Canadian league club close in on Sonny Bill Williams deal
As departing All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams prepares for life in Canada with ambitious rugby league side the Toronto Wolfpack, a new report has emerged that he could be joined by English midfielder Manu Tuilagi.
The newly-promoted Wolfpack will play in the Super League next year after winning promotion from the second-tier RFL Championship, and have been pursuing the signature of Williams as they look to strengthen their squad ahead of their debut in England’s premier rugby league competition.
Various news stories over the past 24 hours suggest that the Toronto side have landed their man, with Australian media outlet Nine News reporting that the 34-year-old has agreed to a two-year deal worth close to NZ$10 million, which would make him the highest-paid player in both rugby union and rugby league.
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“He’s made his mind up to play for the Toronto Wolfpack who play in the English Super League,” Nine News reporter Danny Weidler told the network. “The deal is stunning — $10 million for two years’ work.”
The Telegraph added to that by reporting on Saturday that Williams’ deal also includes a minority stake in the club, and now the English newspaper claims that the cross-code star may soon be followed by Tuilagi.
In a bid to become a global sporting brand, the Telegraph reports that Toronto want to sign the Samoan-born England international to their squad, less than a year after he turned down a lucrative offer to join Top 14 club Racing 92 to stay with Premiership outfit Leicester Tigers until June 2021.
When it comes to selecting a new @AllBlacks head coach, he won't be an individual the selection panel will be looking at.https://t.co/4Dvip0shdC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2019
It is also believed that fellow England midfielder Ben Te’o, who played in the NRL for eight seasons between 2007 and 2014 and represented both Queensland and Samoa in rugby league, is also on the Wolfpack’s radar, and representatives of both players have been in contact with the club.
Toronto would have to pay a significant fee to Leicester if they are to attain Tuilagi’s services, but the acquisition of Williams signifies the lofty aspirations the club has for the future.
That has helped make them become an attractive destination for rugby league stars around the world, with an unnamed source telling the Telegraph: “A lot of NRL players are now cold-calling Brian Noble, Toronto’s director of rugby, about joining the club.
“The signing of Sonny Bill shows how serious the Wolfpack are in trying to crack the North American market. They want to sign players who are considered ‘rock stars’ in order to change the face of Super League. Manu Tuilagi is definitely next on their list.”
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Toronto head coach Brian McDermott has previously spoken about the club’s desire to bring in a David Beckham-like player to do for the Wolfpack what the English football star did for the Los Angeles Galaxy during his time in the Major League Soccer competition in the United States – hence the recruitment of Williams.
“Sonny Bill Williams has shown interest in us and that’s what it is at the moment,” McDermott said last month.
“He’s currently busy with the World Cup so I wouldn’t ever dare to suggest that he is more than interested in coming but the answer wasn’t a ‘no’ once we made contact so that’s something we’d like to follow up.”
One of the prime candidates to join the @AllBlacks coaching staff next year has ruled himself out of working alongside the likes of Ian Foster and Scott Robertson.https://t.co/VW5JSFUtG3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2019
Significantly for the Wolfpack, new rules were introduced into the Super League two years ago to allow clubs with enough funds to sign players from outside of rugby league without it impacting the salary cap.
The Telegraph reported that the club were expected to raise salary cap and player eligibility issues with Super League officials at a meeting in Warrington on Wednesday.
Fixtures for the new Super League season were announced on Tuesday, and Williams could make his debut for Toronto as early as February when the club opens its 2020 campaign against the Castleford Tigers at Headingley Stadium in Leeds as part of a double-header.
The Wolfpack are unable to play at their home ground, Lamport Stadium, until next April due to the harsh Canadian winter and the unavailability for the local authority-owned stadium, so their first three home games of the season will be played on the other side of the Atlantic.
That means they will play the Tigers in the north of England on February 2 and will ‘host’ reigning champions St Helens at Allianz Park, the home of English and European rugby union champions Saracens, in London on February 29.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Havili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to comments