New Zealand cross-code star Sonny Bill Williams has “shown interest” in a possible move to Toronto Wolfpack, says their head coach Brian McDermott.
McDermott, whose side earned promotion to Super League for the first time on Saturday, wants to sign a player to “help the profile of our game, very much like David Beckham did for Major League Soccer” in the United States.
He added that he intends to “follow up” on the interest shown by Williams, 34, after the ongoing rugby union World Cup in Japan.
Also capped 12 times internationally in rugby league, he is part of an All Blacks squad who have already qualified for the quarter-finals.
“Sonny Bill Williams has shown interest in us and that’s what it is at the moment,” said McDermott.
“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.
“Our club would want to have a name that’s absolutely international that everybody would recognise.
“But he would have to be a very good player as well, he’s got to be able to do the job that I want him to do. There would be no token player or just a headline-grabbing player.”
Williams, who was previously linked with a move to Toronto in February, has already had two stints in rugby league, appearing at the 2013 World Cup in England and Wales.
He is currently bidding to win his third World Cup in union, having lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 2011 and 2015.
