The New South Wales Supreme Court has approved a last-ditch effort from legal teams representing the NRL and the Canterbury Bulldogs to prevent Sonny Bill Williams from playing his first match in France for the Toulon rugby club.
Justice Robert Austin granted leave for lawyers to serve documents to associates of Williams as substitutes, following failed attempts last week to serve the runaway rugby league star directly.
The documents will detail that on Friday of this week, the NSW Supreme Court will hear an application for an injunction against the New Zealand international's plan to play in France later that day.
Media reports today indicated Williams has signed with Toulon and will make his first appearance in a friendly match this week, which would be in direct breach of his current contract with the Bulldogs.
The court documents will be served to the Toulon club, at Williams' residence and his known business address in Sydney, the court was told.
Lawyers made it clear in court today they wanted the injunction hearing to happen before Williams plays in France on Friday afternoon, French time, which will be Saturday morning in Australia and New Zealand.
Outside court, the lawyer acting for the NRL, Tony O'Reilly, said the legal teams were happy with the result.
Williams had left them with no alternative, he said.
"People who don't have anything to hide are usually easy to serve," Mr O'Reilly told reporters.
"We've spent a lot of time and effort and a lot of long nights dealing with ... trying to find out where he is."
Legal representatives and process servers had been contracted in England and France with hopes of serving Williams, he said.
In a related process in court today, Williams' manager Khoder Nasser and the Toulon club were added to the legal action, accused of inducing Williams to breach his contract.
