BULLDOGS chief executive Todd Greenberg and NRL boss David Gallop say the settlement with Sonny Bill Williams proves the central issue in the whole drama - that the sanctity of a contract remains.

The league world has been divided by reports of Williams and the Bulldogs reaching a $750,000 agreement - Greenberg says the figure is higher, without elaborating - that will free Williams to play rugby.

Williams is perceived in some quarters to have "won", proving players can leave whenever they like before negotiating a settlement; but Gallop and Greenberg vehemently disagree.

"It highlights that you can't just pack up and leave without talking to your employer or whoever holds your contract," Greenberg says.

"It's a real win. If you talk about $750,000 or a million bucks, it's a significant amount of money that someone has had to broker.

"The sight of Sonny on the sideline for Toulon's last game highlighted to most people that he knew the ramifications of what had happened.

"I think he had come to realise the court injunction was very significant. He was effectively pushed into a corner and had to figure his way out.

"They were forced to contact us to broker a deal. That's important. The game stepped up and did what it needed to do."

Gallop denied he should be embarrassed at the outcome. "It was always going to be resolved like this, in my view," he said.

"The most important thing was that we got the court injunction and he couldn't play after being served with the papers. After that he was forced to try to negotiate something.

"The Bulldogs were always going to do it that way. I'm definitely not embarrassed by it. The key point for us was that the court granted the injunction and, wisely, he decided not to defy the injunction."

Asked if the agreement would contain a clause on any possible return to the NRL, Gallop replied: "It's hard to say what the final details will be. But his long-term prospects of returning to the NRL are not good."