Controversial rugby league convert Sonny Bill Williams had an eventful evening in his first outing for French Top 14 side Toulon.

By taking to the field in Toulon's friendly match against Hyères Williams put himself in danger of being declared in contempt of the Australian Supreme Court, which has ruled that the centre is in breach of his contract with NRL club Canterbury Bulldogs.

The saga surrounding Williams looks set to run and run, and despite Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal's insistence that contracts in rugby league have no bearing on whether the New Zealander could sign with the French club Williams was smuggled into the ground ahead of his debut.

"He's free to join with whoever he wants, he doesn't need a letter to leave," Boudjellal told AFP, who also described Williams as being "very serene, very determined to make his entry into rugby union".

"I can't see him going back to league," he added.

In his first interview since leaving the Bulldogs, Williams told Channel Nine's The Footy Show that his move was "not just about him".

"What I've done, it's shown it's just not about me, it's about the boys getting a fair go, you know what I mean?" he said. "It's about them having the balls to stand up for themselves, and get what they should be getting.

"Because if we're going to be getting treated like that, why can't we treat the clubs like that?

"I just want to see the game and the players looked after the way they should be because the crowds don't turn up to watch David Gallop play ... they turn up to watch the players play.

"If a lawyer, if a teacher, if a bus driver, if they're on $40,000 and they get offered a lot more to go somewhere else, what do you think they're going to do?" he said. "Are they going to change bus companies? Or are they going to sit there and say 'all these people want me to stay here because I'm the best bus driver in the jurisdiction, blah, blah, blah'.

"It's just common sense.

"Hopefully some good can come out of what I've done and it wakes everybody up and they realise that something needs to be done."

On the field Williams will have to come to terms with the rules governing tackling as a trademark shoulder charge saw him receive a yellow card.