The travelling circus is on the move

It's now official.

The Sonny Bill Travelling Circus is moving on, yet again.

The hype, the hoopla, the boxing charades, the endless guessing games along with his rare and proven skills have been passed on to Japanese and, in all likelihood, Sydney contractors.

And apparently, if any team is to ever be graced with his presence here again, it seems that we must all be eternally grateful for his stint in Godzone and hope and pray that the lure of the 2015 World Cup will provide the motivation to see him return.

When I last wrote about SBDubya, I referred to the fact that all the talk about loyalty or the lack of it is largely irrelevant.

Loyalty and professionalism are like oil and water.

They simply don't mix.

Professional sport is no different than any other employment scenario in the world.

People change jobs for more money and / or get head-hunted and leave for more cash every minute of the day, somewhere out there.

That's why it's a waste of time casting aspersion on Sonny Bill or any other professional athlete for their decisions to stay or go.

But what is highly debateable and worthy of scrutiny is from purely a common sense perspective are the nonsensical one-year contracts that Sonny Bill's management insist on and get away with it.

I can totally understand why there is such a clamour for the man's signature.

He is an undoubted revenue generator and both crowd and television audience magnet.

But why buy into these year-long scenarios?

These deals are way too loaded to let any greed and indulgence of his management take precedence.

For instance, from the All Blacks' or Chiefs' viewpoints, just when Sonny Bill has grasped all the nuances and subtleties of playing rugby at an elite level, he's off.

It's like a temporary filling for your teeth.

Short-term gain but of no use whatsoever in the long-term.

And even though Sonny Bill Inc. may think that these fast turnaround contracts appear as the most effective cash-grabs, I reckon they will prove just as destructive for SBW and his misguided minders sooner than they think.

Because, surely, every serious bidder with half a brain in the near future is going to make the call that these one-year contracts are not worth the fuss.

And then to a large extent, the Sonny Bill Road Show will have to come to future bargaining tables with a more reasonable and realistic approach.

So let's hope that Steve Tew and the NZRU are far less likely to let the tail wag the dog next time around, if and when this gifted footy player indicates that he wants to return.