SONNY BILL WILLIAMS is set to play for French rugby club Toulon this week, news that could prompt the Bulldogs to step up their bid for an injunction aimed at preventing him playing elsewhere.

Williams, who walked out on the Bulldogs last Saturday week to take up a two-year deal with Toulon, is understood to have undergone a medical assessment yesterday and may make his first appearance at training today.

After a week of denials, the club's millionaire owner and president, Mourad Boudjellal, yesterday confirmed the unveiling of the Kiwi superstar was imminent and revealed Williams could play as soon as Friday in a pre-season trial against neighbouring second-division outfit Carqueirannes-Hyeres.

Williams has never played rugby union but Boudjellal has no doubt he will be a success, describing him as "having the physicality of [Jonah] Lomu and the speed of Bryan Habana".

It is understood Toulon coach Tana Umaga - the former All Blacks captain who recruited the 23-year-old New Zealander while on a recent trip to Australia - is keen for Williams to begin playing as soon as possible, and wants him to make his debut on Friday.

"Williams will be in Toulon on Monday or Tuesday," Boudjellal told AFP. "We have discussed things with his agents and we are going to try and complete the move. If everything goes well, he will have his medical on Tuesday and could make his debut in a friendly match on Friday."

There was speculation last night that the Bulldogs may seek compensation from Toulon rather than persist with legal action against Williams, but the club will be back in the NSW Supreme Court today for a second hearing.

After failing to serve Williams with a subpoena to appear by the court deadline of 6pm Sunday, today's hearing will instead focus on the Bulldogs seeking an order for "substituted service", naming another person or Toulon as an acceptable alternative for serving the papers.

This same application was rejected last Thursday. Justice Robert Austin said he had not heard Williams's side of the story and rejected the application.

It hasn't dimmed the NRL's passion. "If he puts his head up today he will be served," said Tony O'Reilly, lawyer for the NRL. "He shouldn't think that because we didn't serve him by close of business Sunday that we won't be continuing to try and serve him. We will. I'll be getting on the phone to the French process servers in Toulon. If he appears publicly today he will be served."

The hearing of the application for the injunction the Bulldogs and the NRL are seeking - to prevent Williams playing or training other than with them - may be held later this week. However, even if an injunction is granted, it is unlikely to stop Williams from playing for Toulon this weekend. Williams's situation featured prominently in an article in The Times of London at the weekend, about sports stars being lured to break contracts by big offers from rival clubs.

Meanwhile, Khoder Nasser, the manager handling Williams's affairs before he quit the Bulldogs, arrived in Toulon yesterday but said he was there to see French boxing promoter Michel Acaries. Nasser manages Anthony Mundine, whose father, Tony, fought several times in France in bouts promoted by the Acaries family.

Nasser, who also managed to evade process servers seeking to serve him a subpoena requiring him to provide information relating to Williams's whereabouts, told the Herald last night he had not yet seen the Kiwi international in Toulon.