Rugby league converts - The good, the bad and the ugly

As reported earlier this week, the rumour mill surrounding Sonny Bill Williams’ switch between union and league was in full swing once again following a seemingly misguided report out of Australia.

Former Sydney Rooster Jimmy Smith stated that Williams will return to league in 2018 “as soon as his commitments with Super Rugby side Auckland were over”.

While Smith’s report sent both the union and league fraternities into a frenzy across Australasia, Williams – who is contracted to New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2019 – appears unlikely to make a shift away from the Blues for the time being.

Nevertheless, the ongoing transfer rumours give us a chance to look at some of the rugby league players who have dabbled in union, and judge whether their careers in the 15-man sport were good, bad, or ugly.

Good:

Israel Folau (Australia)

Arguably the best fullback on the planet, Israel Folau hit the ground running when he came to rugby union in 2013 and hasn’t looked back.

The 62-cap Wallabies star played a starring role when he made his international debut in the first test of the British and Irish Lions series in Brisbane five years ago, scoring Australia’s only two tries as his side went down 23-21.

If Folau hadn’t played that night, who knows how Australia would have fared?

The above question is one that must have been asked on multiple occasions by Australian fans since Folau’s introduction to the international game, such is the talent that he possesses.

The amount of times the 28-year-old has broken down defences, defused towering high balls, and scored tries for both the Wallabies and Waratahs that a vast number of players could simply not score is countless.

It is this sort of ability that exists in Folau’s game that has won him a Super Rugby title with the Waratahs, as well as an NRL crown with the Melbourne Storm, three successive State of Origin campaigns with Queensland, and a one-year stint in the AFL with Greater Western Sydney, making him one of the greatest triple-sport athletes within the footballing codes.

Jason Robinson (England)

Many would say that Jason Robinson is the greatest rugby league convert to play the game of rugby union.

Renowned for his blistering speed and sharp agility, the former Wigan star left behind a league career which saw him win five English league titles, three Challenge Cups, and a World Club Challenge, as well as 12 caps for Great Britain and seven tests for England.

Already accomplishing in eight years what many never have in the 13-man format of the game, Robinson embarked on a career in union where he would surpass his league exploits when he signed for Sale in 2000.

The then-26-year-old quickly found his feet in union, making his England debut just four months after switching allegiances.

From there, 56 test appearances and 30 tries for England and the British and Irish Lions ensued, with Robinson going on to claim a first-ever Premiership title with Sale, three Six Nations crowns, and a Rugby World Cup in 2003.

These accolades leave Robinson miles ahead of every other English dual-code athlete, and ranks him as one of the best to have cracked both sports.

Brad Thorn (New Zealand)

Two NRL titles, a Super League crown, and a World Club Championship with the Broncos, plus back-to-back State of Origin victories with Queensland, and eight tests for Australia between 1994 and 2000 made Brad Thorn a powerhouse name in the sport of rugby league.

So, when he decided to quit league and have a go at union in New Zealand in 2001, there was much pressure on Thorn to replicate his success from league.

Signing with the Crusaders and Canterbury, the big lock brought with him his infamously brutal mentality, which was enough to eventually earn him a spot in the All Blacks in 2003.

However, a failed World Cup campaign and a Super 12 final loss in 2004 marked the end of Thorn’s first stint in union, as the second rower sought a return to the Broncos in 2005.

Another NRL title and three more State of Origin appearances later, Thorn returned to Christchurch in 2008, and went on to fulfil his potential in union.

A decade onwards, the man who was a force to be reckoned with due to the bullish approach he brought to the game can look back on his esteemed record in union with great pride.

With a Rugby World Cup medal, a Heineken Cup victory, multiple Grand Slams, Bledisloe Cups, Tri-Nations, and Super Rugby titles, 59 test matches and 116 Super Rugby appearances to his name, Thorn has established himself as the greatest dual-code athlete ever.

Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand)

When Sonny Bill Williams eventually retires from professional sport, he will be able to stake a valid claim to succeed Brad Thorn as the best cross-code athlete in rugby.

The prodigiously talented Williams entered the rugby league fray in 2004, making both his NRL debut with the Bulldogs in their title-winning season, and his international debut for the Kiwis in that year’s Anzac test.

Fast forward to 2008, where, with 73 appearances for the Bulldogs, eight tests for New Zealand, and the rugby league world seemingly at his feet after making a name for himself via his trademark shoulder charge and outrageous offloading ability, Williams shocked the NRL by walking out on the Bulldogs to sign with French union club Toulon.

After two years in Europe, Williams turned down Toulon’s $6 million contract extension to return to New Zealand, where he won the Ranfurly Shield and ITM Cup with Canterbury, the 2011 World Cup title, and led the Chiefs to their inaugural Super Rugby crown with a series of stunning performances, his offloads again central to his side’s successes.

A return to league beckoned in 2013, which entailed a second NRL title – this time with the Roosters, with whom he played a starring role – and an appearance at the World Cup with the Kiwis.

2014 marked the end of Williams’ league career, and a second switch to union saw him almost immediately thrust back into the All Blacks camp.

There’s been no looking back for Williams since his second stint in the 15-man code began four years ago, with the midfielder winning a second successive World Cup medal, making a brief appearance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and is in the midst of trying to propel the Blues back to the Super Rugby playoffs for the first time since 2011.

Whatever code he commits to post-2019, there is no question Williams will go down as one of the best, if not the greatest, league-union converts of all-time.

Bad:

Sam Burgess (England)

Perhaps if Sam Burgess had more time on his side, his dour one-year stint in rugby union would not have panned out the way it did.

Unfortunately for the Englishman, he only had one year to transition from a hard-hitting superstar forward with the premiership-winning Rabbitohs in the NRL to a test-level midfielder with England by the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Burgess and then-England coach Stuart Lancaster both had high hopes for this pipe dream to come to fruition, but, as it turned out, they were overly optimistic in their endeavours.

The intricate nuances of playing in the midfield at first-class level, let alone World Cup level, seemed to be too much for Burgess, whose task was made especially harder as a player whose game revolved around bruising brutality as a league forward rather than detailed technical elements required of a union back.

Nevertheless, he was selected in Lancaster’s World Cup squad after just 21 games for Bath in the Aviva Premiership and two warm-up tests for England.

Three underwhelming appearances against Fiji, Wales, and Australia, and a humiliating World Cup pool stage exit later, Burgess scrambled back to league, re-signing with South Sydney one month after England’s dismal World Cup effort.

Jarryd Hayne (Fiji)

Coming off a successful year-long experiment with in the NFL, rugby league sensation Jarryd Hayne announced in May 2016 that he would push for a spot in Fiji’s Sevens squad for the Rio Olympics later that year.

After having made a name for himself in the 13-man game, where he had won Dally M Player of the Year on two occasions, claimed a State of Origin series with New South Wales, and was victorious in both the Four Nations and the World Cup with Australia, there was plenty of reason to believe Hayne could crack Fiji’s Olympic squad.

Plenty of intrigue surrounded Hayne when he kitted up for his father’s nation of birth at the London Sevens a week after his announcement.

However, it soon became apparent that after a year in the endurance-starved playing conditions that exists in the NFL, there was a mountain for Hayne to climb if he was to be included in the world champion’s squad for the Olympics in a sport that requires insane levels of endurance fitness.

Hayne tried his best at Twickenham, making five appearances as Fiji reached the semi-final stage of the tournament and were crowned 2015-16 World Series champions.

He even made coach Ben Ryan’s 23-man pre-Olympics training squad, but it all proved to be a jump too far for Hayne, who was left out of Ryan’s final 12-man squad for the Games.

Fiji went on to win gold in Brazil, while Hayne returned to league after signing with Gold Coast in August that year without even making an appearance in the 15-man format of union.

There are ongoing murmurings of Hayne potentially returning to Fijian rugby in time for next year’s World Cup, but for now, this one will have to go down in the bad category.

Timana Tahu (Australia)

An NRL veteran of eight seasons, Timana Tahu announced at the end of 2007 that he would be abandoning Parramatta in search of new pastures in the form of the Waratahs in the Super 14.

Having played over 100 games in the NRL, as well as winning three State of Origin series for New South Wales and earning five test caps for Australia, there was a degree of expectation when Tahu made his Super 14 debut in February 2008.

Despite playing well enough to earn himself selection for the Australia A side, and then for the Wallabies in that year’s Tri-Nations, Tahu’s performances on the international stage were not of the standard that he had set for himself while playing in the NRL.

By the time he made his return to the Eels in the NRL in July 2009, Tahu was restricted to just five tests for the Wallabies, with the lowest point of his time with the national side being his contribution to their worst-ever defeat, a 53-8 thrashing at the hands of the Springboks.

Now aged 37, Tahu’s last venture into rugby came in 2016, when he signed with the Denver Stampede in the now-defunct PRO Rugby competition in the USA.

After 11 appearances, Tahu’s side, along with the rest of the competition ceased in 2017, bringing an end to his 17-year cross-code career.

Ugly:

Karmichael Hunt (Australia)

Up until December, it appeared Karmichael Hunt was tracking along nicely in his pursuit of successfully transferring to union.

The former league star – who had won an NRL title with the Broncos, four consecutive State of Origin titles with Queensland, played 11 tests for Australia, and spent four seasons with the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL – seemed to have put his involvement with drugs behind him after being fined $2500 for possession of cocaine shortly after making his Reds debut in 2015.

Hunt looked as though he had overcome that low point in his career, so much so that the he had played well enough in Super Rugby to win a call-up to Michael Cheika’s Wallabies squad for their test series against Fiji, Scotland and Italy in June last year.

He started in each of those tests, and stayed with the Wallabies on their end-of-year tour to Japan and the UK, where he came off the bench against Wales, England and Scotland.

Hunt’s defensive security and solidity in the midfield made him an attractive back-up to Kurtley Beale at second-five in Cheika’s World Cup plans.

Unfortunately, Hunt’s World Cup hopes are now in jeopardy, as he was arrested and charged with cocaine possession three months ago.

Although charges have since been dropped, Hunt’s Wallabies ambitions have been put in limbo, as he has been barred from any “team-related activities, including training and playing commitments” by the Reds and Wallabies.

For all the progress he had made, Hunt now finds himself in a predicament where, with Japan 2019 on the horizon, he has no rugby to play with his reputation in tatters.

Benji Marshall (New Zealand)

Benji Marshall was a legend for both the Tigers and the Kiwis when he signed to play Super Rugby with the Blues in August 2013.

Marshall played a starring role when the Tigers won their inaugural NRL title in 2005, with his behind-the-back flick pass forever ingrained in NRL folklore, while internationally, he led New Zealand to their first-ever World Cup crown in 2008 when the Kiwis upset the Kangaroos in Brisbane.

These performances and influences that Marshall had over his teams set the standard for union fans when he pledged his allegiance to the Blues for the 2014 season.

Marshall endured a slow start to Super Rugby, but eventually began to show some touches of class in his first start at fullback when the Blues encountered the Lions.

A try, two try assists, 130 metres ran, two line breaks and three offloads made for an impressive stat line, and optimism surrounding Marshall’s development was at its peak.

However, things were developing too slowly at Super Rugby level for Marshall, and when given the option by Kirwan to play at club level and in the Mitre 10 Cup for the remainder of the year, the then-29-year-old quit the game for a return to league.

Who knows how Marshall would have progressed had he opted to play in the lower tiers of New Zealand rugby before reappearing for the Blues in 2015, but it is hard to feel a sense of unfulfilled potential when reflecting on his four-month career in union.

Lote Tuqiri (Australia)

Lote Tuqiri was wooed away from the NRL by the Australian Rugby Union in 2003, leaving behind him an NRL title with the Broncos, a State of Origin victory with Queensland, three test appearances for Fiji and five caps for Australia.

Tuqiri’s speed and strength on the wing for the Waratahs made him an instant success, and he made his Wallabies debut against Ireland in June 2003, before going on to feature heavily in the World Cup later that year, scoring a try in the final.

By 2008, he had made 67 tests for the Wallabies, scored 30 tries, attended two World Cups, and seemed to be Australia’s premier wing.

All seemed well and good for Tuqiri, until his contract was inexplicably terminated by the ARU without any explanation in July 2009.

After much speculation regarding the terms of his contract being terminated, Tuqiri signed a brief deal with Leicester in England, before eventually returning to the NRL in 2010, where he went on to claim another premiership with the Rabbitohs, as well as winning more caps with both Fiji and Australia.

For a player of his calibre, it is a shame Tuqiri’s departure ended as poorly as it did, but given how much talent was wasted and how much he still had to offer in the 15-man game, it was an ugly way to cap his time in union.