Super League signing on how a nightclub phone call saw George Williams make NRL switch

Incoming Super League signing Elliott Whitehead has revealed how a nightclub phone call led to George Williams signing in the NRL.

Whitehead will leave the Green Machine and return to Super League for the 2025 season but during his eight years at Canberra, a very strong English contingent was assembled.

Among the Englishmen who have represented the Raiders in recent years are Josh Hodgson, John Bateman, George Williams, Morgan Smithies, and incoming signing Matty Nicholson.

Appearing on James Graham’s The Bye Round podcast, Whitehead has admitted that he ‘probably had a little part’ in the Raiders’ recruitment of so many Englishmen, with the outgoing Canberra captain detailing how he managed to convince the club to sign current England captain George Williams.

Williams made the switch to the NRL for the 2020 season, playing 32 games before an acrimonious exit halfway through the 2021 season but how he came to sign for the Raiders has now been revealed by Elliott Whitehead.

How a nightclub phone call saw George Williams make NRL switch

“I think I probably had a little part in getting John and George and stuff over,” the incoming Super League man explained, even admitting: “I remember ringing Sticky (Canberra head coach Ricky Stuart) in a nightclub with George Williams to get him over.

“I was in a nightclub in Hull with George and I got on the phone to Sticky and I said, ‘Will you sign George Williams, and he was like, ‘Well if he’s keen’. Then it went from there really.”

Despite a strong relationship between the pair initially, Williams was vocal about Stuart during his exit as he claimed that the club and the head coach turned their back on him, leading to his early release.

Whitehead would comment on the early exits, attributing COVID as a major factor to why neither man stayed beyond 18 months.

“The thing with John and George, there was COVID around and their family couldn’t come out to see them which made it hard,” Whitehead explained.

“Obviously, John with his daughter and George’s missus was pregnant, so it made it a lot harder for them and you know I can understand why they did miss home because it does get hard when you don’t have a lot of friends around and family as well.

“I believe if Covid was not around, then the two of them would still be a big part of the Raiders.”

Elliott Whitehead reveals plans post-Super League

Whilst both Bateman and Williams left the Raiders after just 18 months, Whitehead would make over 200 appearances for the club and he has now made it clear that once his time in Super League is done, he will be straight back on a plane to the capital.

“I’ll come back to Canberra. I love Canberra. Everyone hates it, I love it. I’m coming back to Canberra though, I’m not going anywhere else in Australia, just to Canberra.”

After earlier explaining that he is likely to only play one year in Super League, he also confirmed his ambitions to coach, explaining: “Hopefully, I get a coaching gig there. That’s something I need to speak to Sticky about in the next few months but I’ll try and organise it for when I come back.

“I think that (first grade coach) would be my goal in the long run. Obviously I don’t want to jump straight in there. I just want to learn that trade a little bit. Obviously I’ve got a lot to learn and stuff.

“Going back to that club, I think learning from Sticky and the people out there at the moment then, it’ll be helpful for me leading up to that goal of becoming a coach.”