RUGBY LEAGUE
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Named on the bench for the Sydney Roosters tomorrow night, superstar recruit Sonny Bill Williams could also make a shock appearance for NSW Cup feeder club Newtown at WIN Stadium on Saturday.
Williams was yesterday confirmed for his much-anticipated rugby league comeback against South Sydney at Allianz Stadium, five years after walking out on the Bulldogs to play rugby union.
But Williams is in need of match fitness, so the Illawarra Cutters are preparing for the possibility he will be parachuted into the premiership-winning Jets team, if he manages only a cameo against the Bunnies.
Under NSW Cup rules, a player named on the bench for an NRL team is eligible to also play for its feeder club on the same weekend.
The Mercury understands that at a NSW Cup management committee meeting yesterday, a Newtown representative raised the issue for clarification of the rules.
NSW Cup chairman Bob Millward confirmed this after the meeting yesterday.
‘‘If Sonny Bill does not start for the Roosters on Thursday night, and it appears he won’t, then under the laws of the game, yes, he is eligible to play in the NSW Cup game that same weekend,’’ Millward said.
‘‘If the Roosters did decide he needed additional football, and that would obviously depend on how much football he plays on Thursday night, then they would be well within their rights to do so.’’
Cutters coach Paul McGregor said he wasn’t sweating on the chance of Williams playing.
Instead, McGregor’s focus is on ensuring the Cutters were ready for the season opener.
‘‘My mind is on other things, I’m not concerned with them,’’ he said.
‘‘But we know he is a great athlete and an outstanding league player.
‘‘He would bring a lot of excitement to the game if he plays at WIN Stadium, but we’ll just wait and see.’’
Williams played 73 games for the Bulldogs, before he left mid-season in 2008 for French rugby club Toulon and later represented New Zealand in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Aidan Guerra and Mitch Aubusson were named to start for the Roosters yesterday, with Williams named on a six-man bench in jersey 16.
If he starts on the interchange, Roosters coach Trent Robinson may yet opt to send his high-profile talent to Wollongong to find his feet in rugby league again, rather than keep him in cotton wool.
McGregor yesterday named his side for the season-opener, with exciting fullback Michael Lett confirmed as the replacement skipper for the departed halfback Jeremy Smith, retired from NSW Cup to Dapto for the Illawarra Coal League.
Prolific tryscorer Lett joined the Cutters from the Canterbury Bulldogs during last season.