Put yourself in the shoes of Israel Folau. At the age of 21, having won it all in rugby league, you’re offered a deal worth around $6m to move back to where you grew up and switch codes for four years. And at the end of it, if it doesn’t work out, you can always switch back. It’s hard to say you wouldn’t respond with an emphatic ‘yes’. It’s a pretty tempting offer!
Folau, of course, would have considered plenty of factors in his decision, but on face-value the deal seems to make a lot of sense for him.
Yesterday, the much sought-after talent rejected the idea that money was the key factor in his decision.
“If I stayed in rugby league or even if I went to rugby union, I would be getting paid well,” he said. “Money was not the end factor in my decision, it was the opportunity that came up. I thought it was the right time for me and in my career.”
There’s no doubt, though, the money on the table from the AFL was significantly greater than that on offer from league and union. Judging by Folau’s above answer cash was a factor in some way and who can seriously blame him for that.
But as he said, “it was the opportunity that came up” and to him that was moreso decisive.
He added: “My family and my community in Western Sydney are extremely important to me.”
You can’t begrudge the guy for being tempted to return to where his family is situated and where he grew up, after spending years interstate with the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos.
But the “opportunity” he speaks of isn’t restricted to the idea of returning home, as I’m sure if he was really that homesick there’d have been an NRL club or two from western Sydney happy to take him on.
Folau also mentioned he thought it was the right time in his career to make the switch.
He continued: “I have watched Karmichael Hunt and his decision to move into the AFL with Gold Coast, and we spoke with the AFL about a trial because I believed that I can also make the change and be a good AFL player. I have much to learn around the tactics of the game, but I am determined.”
Basically Folau has been offered a rare opportunity to do something pretty special (having achieved almost everything there is in rugby league with State of Origin and NRL Grand Final honours) and there’s no doubt he seems excited – in his own reserved manner – about the challenge which lay ahead. It is a one-off and historic opportunity unlikely to be repeated given the circumstances.
But converting himself from an NRL player into an AFL player will not be easy, but as Michael DiFabrizio explained yesterday, this whole thing is about being ambitious.
If he succeeds it will be a great sporting achievement, ala Irishman Jim Stynes winning the Brownlow Medal which Channel Nine’s Garry Lyon said was the greatest footy story he’s ever known.
And then there’s the idea – which nobody will admit at the moment – that if Folau fails in the AFL he could simply return to NRL still a young player in his mid-twenties.
After all, we’ve seen Lote Tuqiri, Mat Rogers and Wendell Sailor return to league after swapping codes despite the initial outrage of the NRL community, reminiscent here.
Nevertheless, despite all these factors which rationalise Folau’s decision it seems to have taken the AFL several months and plenty of dollars to convince the gifted athlete to make the switch.
There’s no doubt – given the obvious publicity benefits associated with Folau’s signing – that the AFL have gone hard after their man and used every last resource.
Swapping rugby league for AFL is still a revolutionary idea (and we all recall our surprise the day fellow NRL star Karmichael Hunt was announced as a Gold Coast FC player) but once we overcome that, it begins to make a fair bit of sense for the player involved.
That’s not to say it will instigate a flood of NRL players into the AFL. In fact I highly doubt that’ll be the case given the unique circumstances here where it’s unlikely we’ll see such aggression again from the AFL for some time. NRL fans can take solace in that.
Next up, though, Folau has got to prove he can play and who knows if that part makes sense just yet?
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