The national sport has never known a summer like it. The biggest clubs poaching star names from their rivals, players threatening to rip up their contracts and allegations of serious rule breaches that could jeopardise the entire competition, all accompanied by claims of arrogance and hypocrisy. It’s fair to say that Sonny Bill Williams’s proposed move from Canterbury Bulldogs to Toulon has caused quite a stir.

For those unfamiliar with the case of SBW, as he is known Down Under, let me fill you in. (And before the vest-wearing mullet-men and ra-ra fans write in, yes, Australian Rules may be the national sport, but rugby league is all that matters in Sydney and Brisbane, with union a distinct third.) As the most talented player in the world, Williams, a New Zealand forward of Samoan descent, with the pace of a back, handling skills of a basketball player and good looks of a film star, is the Cristiano Ronaldo of the National Rugby League, although his views on loyalty make the Manchester United forward look like Matthew Le Tissier.

Instead of driving to training last weekend, Williams made his way to Sydney airport, where be boarded a plane to Heathrow amid rumours that he was on his way to join Toulon, the newly promoted French rugby union club. Williams did not have the courtesy to inform his employers, or his legions of admirers across the continent, but the 23-year-old’s intentions soon became on his arrival in London, where his representatives spent several days attempting to secure a French visa. Given that Williams was a few months into a five-year contract as the club’s highest-paid player, Canterbury were not best pleased and are seeking an injunction in the New South Wales Supreme Court to prevent him playing in France.

If it gets to court, the ramifications could be huge for sport in Australia and worldwide, even, as club chairmen await the outcome with interest. But for the moment those in this country appear to be sitting pretty. After a football transfer window that has generated plenty of heat without shedding much light, it seems that some of the player contracts lodged in Soho Square are worth more than even the FA’s expensive office furniture.

For all the froth and furore in what was supposed to be a summer of player power, all the really big names remain exactly where they were at the end of last season. The clubs still have some clout. Ronaldo has been unable to talk his way into a world-record move to Real Madrid, and unless something changes dramatically in the next 27 days he will stay at Old Trafford for at least one more season, while Frank Lampard has given up hope of being reunited with José Mourinho at Inter Milan. The Chelsea midfield player’s idle threats to use Fifa rules to buy his way out of his contract have proved to be just that.

Even those clubs who have been forced to give in to their players’ desire to leave have been more than adequately compensated. Tottenham Hotspur could receive a staggering £20.3 million from Liverpool in fees for Robbie Keane and will definitely get more should they sell Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United, which, given their interest in Roman Pavlyuchenko, the Spartak Moscow and Russia forward, seems likely to happen. Even Martin O’Neill may eventually reflect that getting £18 million in exchange for Gareth Barry is a very good deal, which illustrates that even medium-sized clubs can dig their heels in to good effect.

The one glitch in the transfer system appears with the departure of talented youngsters from smaller clubs such as Crystal Palace, who were rightly angered at being awarded an initial payment of only £700,000 by a Football League tribunal in the wake of John Bostock’s move to Tottenham, although others have fared better. Theo Walcott has yet to justify the £9 million that Arsenal paid to Southampton 2½ years ago and, given the teenager’s limited impact at the highest level, £5 million seems a fair sum with which to compensate Cardiff City for the loss of Aaron Ramsey.

The lesson for the clubs is to tie down their best players to long contracts and dig their heels in. That, and count themselves lucky they’re not based in Belmore.

Gauging interest levels

On the face of it, the 32,000 spare seats as Manchester United played Portsmouth in Abuja last weekend did not provide a particularly compelling argument in support of the Premier League’s proposed international round, but these things are all about perspective. Indeed, you do not have to be a drunk staring into a glass at last orders to mount a convincing case that rather than being half-empty, Nigeria’s national stadium was actually half-full.

It is likely that Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, will make a similar argument at the shareholders’ meeting next month, claiming that instead of demonstrating a lack of interest in the Premier League, the disappointing attendance shows that competitive matches must be taken on the road to maximise the clubs’ global reach.

Imagine how many people would turn up if the games really meant something, you can hear him cry. After more than two weeks trekking around China, Malaysia and Russia on Chelsea’s pre-season tour, watching five matches played before enthusiastic but ultimately unfulfilled crowds of differing sizes and footballing sophistication, Scudamore’s logic has much to recommend it. There is nothing worse in sport than a meaningless spectacle, and if the clubs expect Chinese, Nigerian and Indian fans to attend their matches, not to mention purchase overpriced merchandise, the least they can do is provide a product worth watching.

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