Sonny Bill Williams: 'I felt I played like a rugby union player playing rugby league'

Sonny Bill Williams has urged Toronto fans to stick with the team despite the Wolfpack starting their maiden English Super League season with back-to-back defeats.

The promoted Canadian outfit were beaten 28-10 in their first match by Castleford eight days ago and conceded two late tries to go down 24-16 to Salford in round two on Saturday.

“I think as a team we’re definitely improving, which is the main thing,” Williams told Toronto’s Twitter feed.

“Last week there was a lot of what you could say were mistakes but we looked at it as learnings.

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WATCH: Sonny Bill Williams speaks at a press conference alongside Toronto Wolfpack head coach Brian McDermott and chief executive Bob Hunter following his move to the Super League newcomers.

“We went out there and fixed a lot of wrongs but still fell short, just in those big moments the lads will agree we didn’t quite nail it. It was a massive improvement but there’s always some more learnings to do.

“Stay with us because, although we haven’t got the results in the last two weeks, we are building.

“I’ve been part of a lot of franchises and a lot of clubs and the chemistry within this team is right up there so we’ll keep working hard and hopefully we start stringing some wins together.”

The former All Black ended a five-and-a-half-year spell away from the league in last week’s match at Headingley and, after starting Saturday’s game, believes he is getting to grips with the code once more.

Hear from @SonnyBWilliams on the team's improvement, his own performance, the Wolfpack fans, and why he's flying back to New Zealand pic.twitter.com/BI1TFSUKNO

— Toronto Wolfpack (@TOwolfpack) February 9, 2020

“Last week I was happy to get out there and get some minutes under my belt but I felt I played like a rugby union player playing rugby league. But this week I felt like a league player with rugby skills. I’m happy with how it went.”

The Wolfpack will look to get off the mark when coach Brian McDermott takes his team to Wigan on Thursday but Williams will be absent, having been given prearranged leave to fly back to New Zealand for the birth of his fourth child.

“I’m looking forward to doing that,” he said.

“I’m grateful to Mac and the club for allowing me to go back.”

AAP