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Will he or won’t he? Every day there seems to be a newspaper article about Israel Folau and whether he will stay with rugby league or join the new super rugby franchise, the Melbourne Rebels.
Or perhaps he’ll do a Karmichael Hunt and be the face of a new AFL team?
The simple fact for rugby league is that they cannot offer the same amount of money the other codes can.
In reality, I think you would struggle to find people that would think Folau, a great rugby league player, is worth more than his current $400,000 a year Broncos deal.
There’s no doubt that this is a big decision for Folau. The more it goes on, the more it puts rugby league in a better position than it was three weeks ago when the GWS offer was first known to the public.
As a rugby league die hard, I am angry and disappointed at the possibility of Folau going to rugby union or AFL as this stage of his career.
He would probably do well in rugby union, but AFL, well, I seriously doubt he would make the transition. However, what’s better than starting an AFL team in western Sydney and taking a rugby league player to promote it?
When Sailor, Rogers and Tuquri left within three months of each other, it was supposed to be the death of rugby league and the beginning of the rugby union take over.
Surely when Sonny Bill and Mark Gasnier left in 2008 the writing was on the wall, wasn’t it? Wasn’t Hunt’s signing with AFL supposed to be the end of rugby league in Queensland?
This is not the case.
Yes, these are all great players, but at the end of the day, they are only players – none of them are bigger than the game. Some have come back, and been cheered by the same fans that booed them when they left.
Rugby league fans cant begrudge a player wanting to go to another code when double or triple the money is on offer. League only has so much.
Let them go, take the big bucks and see if they are happy playing a different sport; let the players see if the grass is truly greener on the other side.
It’s not to say the NRL shouldn’t bury its head in the sand, and by no means listen to player managers or a players like Craig Gower who says rugby league stands to lose even more players.
If they decide to come back, we should welcome them with open arms.
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