Sonny Bill Williams Quotes
Quotations and aphorisms by Sonny Bill Williams:
Being a young Kiwi lad, a young Polynesian boy, I was pretty close to my family. But when I moved to Sydney, I went from training twice a week, playing touch footy with my mates, to working full-time as a labourer and training professionally.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I didn't feel that I really fit in anywhere. So when I was young I always had to prove myself through my sporting ability.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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My mindset at this stage, especially after having a daughter... it's just changed my whole outlook.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I don't need a pool room with medals and everything hanging up.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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If we're going to be getting treated like that, why can't we treat the clubs like that? I just want to see the game and the players looked after the way they should be because the crowds don't turn up to watch David Gallop play... they turn up to watch the players play.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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If I could go back and change how I left the NRL, I would. My name will forever be tarnished but I wasn't the man I am now.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I'm a lot more comfortable in the ring. I'm comfortable catching punches, and defensively, I feel like I've improved a lot. I am banking on my athleticism. I've worked hard on my footwork.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I had to work on the fundamentals of the game because in league, the position I played, it was just bash and crash.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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The pleasing thing is being able to be in an environment where, even though I'm a rookie, everyone wants to help you out.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I really wanted to come into the Olympics.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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There was no way I was going to end up in the scrum when I came to rugby - you know, waste my pretty looks.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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People have goodness in their hearts.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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It's been a long while, but, thank God, now I've been able to get my mum a house.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I don't have the runs on the board to trash talk anyone in the boxing sense. I've got to do it the hard way and earn that respect.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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You always have your knockers. There's always something wrong. But I'm happy. I think that I'm improving as a fighter; that's all I can ask for.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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You can't have eyes on the wall, or the angels won't come in. That's what we believe.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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To be part of something special, to be an Olympian and have the chance to win a medal - it's an amazing feeling.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Now, I know a lot of things in the big man's world are not what they seem: a lot of people are out for themselves, and you can't always trust what someone says.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I have just fallen back in love with rugby league again.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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A young fella snuck out on to the field somehow, but when he was coming up to give me a hug, he got smoked by the guard. He was lucky the guy didn't break his ribs.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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As a rugby player, you strive to be an All Black, win a World Cup, and win a Super Rugby title.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I've got confidence that I'll be able to pick it up eventually, but that's the reason I'm a full-time Sevens player this year: because I knew coming into it that it would be really tough, and I've got to give it my all.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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If a lawyer, if a teacher, if a bus driver, if they're on $40,000 and they get offered a lot more to go somewhere else, what do you think they're going to do?
~Sonny Bill Williams
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One thing I've learned over my career is that simplicity is the key: on the field, off as well.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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By the end of my first year at the Dogs, we'd won the competition, and I'd played some pretty good footy.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I grew up as a Polynesian kid in the Polynesian community, and I was this skinny white kid.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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It doesn't matter what you look like. Experience is the key.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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One of my major goals off the field is to conduct myself in a way that... parents are proud to say, 'Oh yeah, look, he wants to be like Sonny Bill Williams.'
~Sonny Bill Williams
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To win competitions you need a bit of luck and some talent. I think we have some talent on our bus.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I definitely want to play rugby at the top level, international rugby.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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My parents were always living from pay cheque to pay cheque. They were always struggling.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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It's pretty tough to play some good footy when your team is always losing.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I like the challenge, week in, week out, of trying to play good, consistent footy.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Although the rugby league fraternity probably don't like it, the rugby union fraternity probably doesn't like it, it's cool for sportsmen, for young kids coming up, to know that there's not just that one door.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Just like in rugby, the pinnacle was playing for the All Blacks. That was always a massive thing. But you never speak it outwardly because it can sound stupid. But if you don't have massive dreams, you might as well stay in bed.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I guess you could say I have grown up, matured. I have seen a lot, and I guess that probably sums it up.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Every rugby player in Australia and New Zealand or wherever they are from wants to play in the World Cup, and I am no different.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I thought that if I could play rugby on TV, I'd be able to get my mum a house. That was the driving factor.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Going back in time, the best sportsmen ever have been Olympians.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Every time you step out on that field, it's tough. There is no easy way to approach it and no short cuts out there.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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It's not an easy gig, being in the NRL sometimes: you always feel for the boys because you have that mutual respect knowing what they go through.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I guess I've always had a - not really thought of myself as this big star, big identity in the game.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I've got to do everything extra to put myself in the best shape to get in the World Cup squad.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I grew up in a commissioned house in the next suburb over, Mount Abbot. It was a two-bedroom house with me, my brother, and my two sisters. Mum and Dad slept in the lounge, and we didn't have wallpaper.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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The thing I enjoy is that I have come to league as a union player, and I have to adapt to different situations I am facing.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Boxing's not in my blood... it just grew on me.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I'll be seeking professional help with regards to alcohol and, until myself and the club feel this is under control, I'll be off the drink.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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As a league player, for myself, you strive to win a comp. I'm lucky enough to have achieved that... but most sportspeople would love to go to the Olympics, and I haven't achieved that.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I think the reason I hadn't fought was just the aftermath of the Botha fight. You put so much into a fight, and people just talk about it like it was a bit of a farce or something.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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As soon as I signed for the French rugby union, it was just a huge relief, you know, because I was out of Sydney and out of sight doing what was best for myself.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I've had an amazing ride. I've been blessed beyond things that I could never have imagined.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Now I am just focusing on my daughter, my wife, religion, and training.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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We're so lucky where we live, but we're so out of touch. Everyone's mindset is made to feel that refugees are a problem, but it's more than that. They're human beings, too. They were forced from their homes.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I wouldn't say I am a businessman.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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All I want is respect.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I just used to bank on my athleticism.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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My old man never used to cook, so we lived on takeaway. The others were always jealous.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Beforehand you think, 'Oh, changing nappies - I'm going to be up; I need to get sleep for training.' But when it happens, when you're there, as soon as you hear a wiggle or a cough or something, you're up straight away. It doesn't bother you.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I rock up to training, and Folkesy, Steve Folkes - someone that, to be honest, has never paid any interest in my personal life - he comes up to me and starts saying, 'You're not turning Muslim are you?'
~Sonny Bill Williams
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To be an Olympian - not many people can say that. But first of all, I've got to make the team, and I know a lot of hard work is going to go into it, so hopefully it pays off.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I've definitely got to look after myself first and foremost.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Sometimes they are big hurdles, but good players can overcome them. I am trying to do my best.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I would say I have become a lot smarter in the way I understand things.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I've become a true Muslim. It's giving me happiness. It's made me become content as a man and helped me to grow. I've just got faith in it, and it has definitely helped me become the man I am today.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I don't know if I'm going to be any good at sevens.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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After that first month in Sydney, I went home for two weeks. I didn't want to ever go back because it was so hard.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I don't want to let my family down; I don't want to let myself down. That's probably the biggest thing I fear.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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In rugby union, I was out wide kicking stones with the pretty boys.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I have learned from my mistakes... the business we are in is cutthroat. I have seen too many older blokes give their all for clubs, then be told they are not wanted. Even blokes still on contract are told to look elsewhere.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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How can I tell my daughter when she grows up to aspire to be what she wants to be if I am too scared to hop back in the ring because of what some people have said about me?
~Sonny Bill Williams
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That's the beautiful thing about being a father for the first time; it has really made me get my concentration levels in check.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I do speak my mind a lot more than when I was younger. I guess that's just my Polynesian background. That's how we are: just sit back and try and fit in, try and make everyone else happy.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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It was a fairly normal happy upbringing. Not a lot of money, but a lot of love.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I want to push myself.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I was never going to be a rocket scientist. But I found the field that I was blessed to be able to do, and I just put my whole effort into that.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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Seeing my daughter for the first time after I came back from the tour was just a life-changing experience... it still blows my mind.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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If you go about trying to please everyone, there's going to be endless struggles.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I am my own man now; I can think for myself, whereas when I was 20, 21, I always wanted to please others.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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My biggest challenge for myself is to be the best father I can be and be the best husband I can be.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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When I first went to rugby, I wanted it all; I just wanted it all, and you know, I thought it was just going to happen just like that, but I've come to learn that good things take time.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I just don't want to fail, to be honest.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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For myself, it's trying to do my best in whatever I am doing. At this time, it is boxing; then when I get home, I want to be the best father, the best husband, the best man I can be.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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The NRL is not an easy gig, but they have some good talent, some good youngsters coming through.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I love winning, and I love the challenge.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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OK, I floss, I brush my teeth, and I use mouth wash. Does that mean that I love it? That means that I, you know, like to look after my teeth!
~Sonny Bill Williams
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What's the worst that can happen? I get knocked out. At least I tried.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I think I'm evolving, I'm always in search of bettering myself, how I can improve as a sportsman and as a person.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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You always feel for your fellow players when they are going through tough times, losing and things like that.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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I'm not going to sit here and be stupid. If someone comes and offers me double what I'm on, of course I'm going to sit down and seriously look at it.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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The biggest thing for me is earning the respect of my fellow players and coaches. I think that is why I was a little bit emotional. You don't get a haka done to you from the brothers for no reason if they don't respect you.
~Sonny Bill Williams
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