Sonny Bill Williams' new deal with Sydney Roosters a salary cap win: Dave Smith THE retention of Sonny Bill Williams has marked the start of a new attitude toward the salary cap, according to NRL boss Dave Smith. Smith spent months working alongside the Roosters to ensure Williams stayed in rugby league and had a final meeting with club chairman Nick Politis on Thursday. The spirit of co-operation was a far cry from relations between the Roosters and League Central almost a year ago, when the previous NRL regime conducted an investigation into how the 2013 Williams deal was structured and negotiated. Unsatisfied with the club's response, the NRL announced the Roosters would be fined because it had failed to comply with requests for documentation. It's believed salary cap auditor Ian Schubert was concerned that Williams" manager, Khoder Nasser, is not NRL-accredited. Sonny Bill Williams of the Roosters celebrates grand final victory. Schubert also wanted answers on whether earnings from a pre-season boxing bout amounted to an inducement to join the club. But this time around there was, as Politis likes to put it, "a lot more love in the valley." "It's particularly timely with the salary cap review on foot, because as a game we need to have systems that are flexible enough to attract and keep the best players without compromising the rules," Smith said. I want the best athletes to chose our game and I do recognise they have choices. This is huge that Sonny has chosen to stay with rugby league. It's a fantastic show of confidence in our code. After winning Sunday night's grand final, Williams revealed that Smith had texted him in the weeks leading up to the game. "I spoke to Sonny a number of times this year and I also left him a voicemail (on Friday morning)," Smith said.