Sonny Bill Williams' sudden return to the NRL is drawing nearer with the former All Black reportedly booking flights for himself and his family to Australia to join the Roosters for the rest of the season.
NRL.com reports Williams is preparing to fly to Sydney after the Roosters freed up a roster spot for him by releasing uncapped outside back Asu Kepaoa to the West Tigers on a mid-season transfer.
However, Williams still faces multiple hurdles before he could don the tri-colours once again; the most significant being an NRL rule which precludes players from holding simultaneous contracts with an NRL club and a team in another sporting competition.
That means in order for Williams to join the Roosters, his current deal with the Toronto Wolfpack - reportedly worth $10 million over two years - would need to be terminated.
The Roosters can't argue that they're loaning Williams either, with the loan system restricted to NRL clubs only.
The Wolfpack have said they're willing to help the situation, though, with team owner David Argyle telling Nine News he'd be prepared to terminate the current deal with Williams to allow the move with the promise of a new contract drawn up for 2021.
"If Sonny wants to play NRL for the remainder of the season and come back to the Wolfpack, how it is done is semantics," Argyle said.
"Fundamentally, all we are doing is using loopholes that can be orchestrated or lawyerised to get around the intent."
The other hurdle is whether Williams can actually enter Australia.
It's understood the dual-code star is hoping to arrive in Sydney next week and be granted entry through his wife's Australian passport. That permission would also need to extend to two of their four young children who were born in New Zealand. The other two were born in Australia.
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