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Nick also goes on about the Wayne Bennett non-event.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226498864339
There can be no doubt that Nick Politis rules the roost at the Roosters
Andrew Webster
The Daily Telegraph
October 19, 201212:00AM
ROOSTERS chairman Nick Politis concedes he had no choice but to allow Sonny Bill Williams to play Japanese rugby or continue his boxing career because "it was the only way anyone could get him to play rugby league again".
Breaking his silence on the issue in a rare interview, Politis said the return of Williams to the game will make the arrival of Alessandro Del Piero look insignificant.
Williams is expected to finally announce next month that he has signed with the Roosters.
"It will be a massive boost for the NRL financially, for the game and of course for us," Politis said.
And if Roosters fans required any indication that Politis has complete faith in newly appointed chief operating officer Brian Canavan, they should look no further than what Canavan is about to do to their boom recruit Williams.
Next week, Canavan is expected to advise the ARL Commission to ban the shoulder charge after months of research as a consultant.
Next month, the Roosters are expected to finally sign the best exponent of the shoulder charge on the planet.
"What are you doing?" the chairman joked with Canavan ahead of his appointment. "That doesn't suit us."
There have been plenty who have told Nick Politis how to run his club over the past three decades.
When chief executive Steve Noyce was shown the door this week, a month after coach Brian Smith left, critics considered it another trigger-happy move from the Roosters' all-powerful board headed by an all-powerful chairman.The reality is both terminations had been speculated on for weeks, even months, before they happened.
SBW shoulder charge
.
Sonny Bill Williams flattens an opponent with a shoulder charge while playing rugby in Francey. Picture: Tim AndersonSource: The Daily Telegraph
.
Indeed, the last thing Politis and a high-profile board of multi-millionaires ever like is mediocrity in their club. Given that is where they were sliding, change was needed.
"You have to run it like any business," Politis says. "In the sporting world, we tend to accept the norm. People accept it all and life rolls on, because it's not their money. It's not my money either - but I run it like it is."
With that in mind, the Roosters have adopted the growing trend in football clubs of dividing their commercial and football departments.
Will it matter? Fans have seen their club make five grand finals in the past 12 years - a record only matched by the salary cap-assisted Storm - yet have understandably become frustrated at the car crash of the last two seasons.
"People forget that record," Politis says. "That is a great record. We have gone off track a little bit."
Many at the club believe it's still recovering from the moment in late 2006 when Wayne Bennett slipped through its fingers.
Sitting on Politis's sofa, with the legendary Ron Massey present, Bennett agreed to join the foundation club.
On Bennett's advice, Politis told Ricky Stuart as soon as possible to give him time to find another job.
When Bennett reneged at the 11th hour, it left the Roosters struggling in rugby league's endless game of coaching musical chairs.
Chris Anderson, a club legend in Brad Fitter and Smith have all been used.
Now, former assistant coach Trent Robinson, who has returned via a successful stint with Catalans in the Super League, occupies one of the game's toughest gigs.
Trent Robinson, Brian Smith
.
Trent Robinson (L) and Brian Smith.Source: The Daily Telegraph
.
"I would not have parted company with Ricky Stuart if I had any doubts about him (Bennett) not coming," Politis says. "It took us a long time to recover from that. If Bennett had come on board, we would've stayed strong for the next few years."
The return of Canavan and Robinson is significant.
Canavan recruited Robinson when he was a front-rower at St Gregory's of Campbelltown in the mid-1990s.
Craig Walker, who returns to the club after a stint at the Warriors, trained the coach as a 16-year-old. Politis describes Canavan as "the most experienced sporting administrator in the game". Sitting alongside Robinson in the coach's box will be club icon Craig Fitzgibbon.
"We're getting the Rooster people back," Politis says. "But creating a new culture."
A relevant addition to that culture, though, will be a polemic figure in Sonny Bill, who shoulder charges right through the centre of people's opinions."He'll be more relevant when we sign him," Politis grins. The game's worst kept secret remains just that.
What about Quade Cooper? "He's not in the frame."
It is no secret that Politis is close to Williams' manager Khoder Nasser - although there is no management agreement between player and agent - but securing the former All Black represents something more.
If Alessandro Del Piero can excite the A-League masses, Politis asks what Williams will do for league and beyond?
"If it happens it will be a massive boost for the NRL financially, for the game and of course for us," Politis says.
Tell him that the Roosters have acceded to Williams' long list of demands, including a lucrative stint in Japanese rugby and continuing his boxing career. Tell him that it does not present a strong look for the club's fans.
Politis responds like it is a business transaction.
"We've agreed to those conditions because that is the only way we could get him," he says. "Good luck to him. There's no law that says a guy can't earn money from more than one sport.
"I don't agree with it. But it's the only way anyone could get him to rugby league."
Even if the shoulder charge won't be here when he gets here.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226498864339
There can be no doubt that Nick Politis rules the roost at the Roosters
Andrew Webster
The Daily Telegraph
October 19, 201212:00AM
ROOSTERS chairman Nick Politis concedes he had no choice but to allow Sonny Bill Williams to play Japanese rugby or continue his boxing career because "it was the only way anyone could get him to play rugby league again".
Breaking his silence on the issue in a rare interview, Politis said the return of Williams to the game will make the arrival of Alessandro Del Piero look insignificant.
Williams is expected to finally announce next month that he has signed with the Roosters.
"It will be a massive boost for the NRL financially, for the game and of course for us," Politis said.
And if Roosters fans required any indication that Politis has complete faith in newly appointed chief operating officer Brian Canavan, they should look no further than what Canavan is about to do to their boom recruit Williams.
Next week, Canavan is expected to advise the ARL Commission to ban the shoulder charge after months of research as a consultant.
Next month, the Roosters are expected to finally sign the best exponent of the shoulder charge on the planet.
"What are you doing?" the chairman joked with Canavan ahead of his appointment. "That doesn't suit us."
There have been plenty who have told Nick Politis how to run his club over the past three decades.
When chief executive Steve Noyce was shown the door this week, a month after coach Brian Smith left, critics considered it another trigger-happy move from the Roosters' all-powerful board headed by an all-powerful chairman.The reality is both terminations had been speculated on for weeks, even months, before they happened.
SBW shoulder charge
.
Sonny Bill Williams flattens an opponent with a shoulder charge while playing rugby in Francey. Picture: Tim AndersonSource: The Daily Telegraph
.
Indeed, the last thing Politis and a high-profile board of multi-millionaires ever like is mediocrity in their club. Given that is where they were sliding, change was needed.
"You have to run it like any business," Politis says. "In the sporting world, we tend to accept the norm. People accept it all and life rolls on, because it's not their money. It's not my money either - but I run it like it is."
With that in mind, the Roosters have adopted the growing trend in football clubs of dividing their commercial and football departments.
Will it matter? Fans have seen their club make five grand finals in the past 12 years - a record only matched by the salary cap-assisted Storm - yet have understandably become frustrated at the car crash of the last two seasons.
"People forget that record," Politis says. "That is a great record. We have gone off track a little bit."
Many at the club believe it's still recovering from the moment in late 2006 when Wayne Bennett slipped through its fingers.
Sitting on Politis's sofa, with the legendary Ron Massey present, Bennett agreed to join the foundation club.
On Bennett's advice, Politis told Ricky Stuart as soon as possible to give him time to find another job.
When Bennett reneged at the 11th hour, it left the Roosters struggling in rugby league's endless game of coaching musical chairs.
Chris Anderson, a club legend in Brad Fitter and Smith have all been used.
Now, former assistant coach Trent Robinson, who has returned via a successful stint with Catalans in the Super League, occupies one of the game's toughest gigs.
Trent Robinson, Brian Smith
.
Trent Robinson (L) and Brian Smith.Source: The Daily Telegraph
.
"I would not have parted company with Ricky Stuart if I had any doubts about him (Bennett) not coming," Politis says. "It took us a long time to recover from that. If Bennett had come on board, we would've stayed strong for the next few years."
The return of Canavan and Robinson is significant.
Canavan recruited Robinson when he was a front-rower at St Gregory's of Campbelltown in the mid-1990s.
Craig Walker, who returns to the club after a stint at the Warriors, trained the coach as a 16-year-old. Politis describes Canavan as "the most experienced sporting administrator in the game". Sitting alongside Robinson in the coach's box will be club icon Craig Fitzgibbon.
"We're getting the Rooster people back," Politis says. "But creating a new culture."
A relevant addition to that culture, though, will be a polemic figure in Sonny Bill, who shoulder charges right through the centre of people's opinions."He'll be more relevant when we sign him," Politis grins. The game's worst kept secret remains just that.
What about Quade Cooper? "He's not in the frame."
It is no secret that Politis is close to Williams' manager Khoder Nasser - although there is no management agreement between player and agent - but securing the former All Black represents something more.
If Alessandro Del Piero can excite the A-League masses, Politis asks what Williams will do for league and beyond?
"If it happens it will be a massive boost for the NRL financially, for the game and of course for us," Politis says.
Tell him that the Roosters have acceded to Williams' long list of demands, including a lucrative stint in Japanese rugby and continuing his boxing career. Tell him that it does not present a strong look for the club's fans.
Politis responds like it is a business transaction.
"We've agreed to those conditions because that is the only way we could get him," he says. "Good luck to him. There's no law that says a guy can't earn money from more than one sport.
"I don't agree with it. But it's the only way anyone could get him to rugby league."
Even if the shoulder charge won't be here when he gets here.
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