- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
If I wore a hat, I’d be taking it off right now for Israel Folau, who announced on Thursday afternoon he was leaving AFL and heading back to a sport he was more comfortable with: rugby league, or maybe even rugby union.
Big Izzy admitted he lacked the passion to continue with the GWS Giants in the AFL and despite coach Kevin Sheedy’s belief he could have become a ‘great player,’ he was amicably released with two years remaining on his contract.
I thought Folau’s announcement was full of courage – he had made a frank, self-assessment. To hell with the $2 million he was turning his back on, let alone the AFL critics who will be queuing up to label him as a failure, nothing more than a publicity stunt.
No, I have met him several times and believe me, Izzy Folau is a wonderful, admirable young Australian athlete. He worked incredibly hard to change his body shape and learn a myriad of new skills.
He gave AFL his best shot but ultimately decided, it was not for him.
Many might have swallowed the huge dollars that were guaranteed with his GWS contract and maybe looked towards league/union at the start of the 2015 season. Not this guy.
He yearns for a return to his ‘natural’ sporting roots, and he will be warmly welcomed back – probably to league – but for far fewer dollars.
Folau turned out 13 times for the Giants in their debut season, kicking a grand total of two goals. He played in the forward line and that turned out to be an impossible assignment for a code rookie in a greenhorn team that struggled to get the ball to the attacking forces up at the pointy end.
If you missed his media conference, here’s what he had to say:
“It was a pretty hard decision to make, one I have been thinking about for a while. The last two years, I really enjoyed my experience at the Giants, I made a lot of good friends.
“In the end I think the passion wasn’t quite there. If I stayed, I felt like I’d have been cheating myself. I had to be honest and move forward.
“At the end of the day, it was my decision . . . . my heart wasn’t in the game. But I have learnt a lot about the game, and a lot about myself, and there are new skills that I picked up.
“It definitely wasn’t a waste of time.”
It is obvious that Folau was originally targeted and signed to give the new AFL club a promotional base in Sydney. It worked a treat.
In his two seasons at GWS, Folau attracted hundreds of newspaper articles and radio grabs, as well as untold TV mentions and accompanying footage. He started out as a shy, even awkward interviewee but matured into a classy statesman, accomplished in front of just about any lens or microphone.
The stampede for his services will be astonishing.
Every NRL club will undoubtedly make enquiries. Athletes of his calibre and charisma do not come on the market every day.
Parramatta is the club being freely tipped to secure his signature as his brother, John, plays there and the Eels are heavily into a rebuilding phase.
But don’t rule out the Newcastle Knights where the combination of Wayne Bennett’s coaching expertise and Nathan Tinkler’s cheque book could be impossible to ignore.
Add to these the Brisbane Broncos, marquee-starved St George-Illawarra and even the premiers, Melbourne Storm – Folau’s management company is going to received a zillion calls in the coming weeks.
And then there is rugby union. Said Izzy at his media chat: “rugby union is an option but at this stage I don’t know what I am doing.”
If a league or union club swooped and secured his services, Folau would need to hit the weights pretty hard after dramatically changing his body shape to fit into the AFL.
This is only November, he has time on his side to bulk up, if that is what he wants.
I say congrats to I. Folau for taking a gamble and attempting to make it in a ‘foreign’ code. He played in the top league there and actually got on the scoreboard which is, in itself, a cracking achievement.
League will welcome him back in an instant. Prodigal sons deserve, and inevitably get, very special treatment.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.