GWS lost by 74 points to Hawthorn on Saturday, but such is the magnetic nature of Israel Folau, most talk out of the game centred on his outstanding second half.
So, like Robert Louis Stevenson’s notorious Jekyll and Hyde, two personalities emanating from the same man, it appears there are now dual versions of this ex-rugby league superstar at AFL level.
The first is a repressed, even timid, and uncertain, player, one who lacks confidence and conviction, struggling to make an impact. The other is the supreme athlete, a high-leaping contested marker of no small ability, and a ferocious tackler who wants to break bones and earn free kicks, but either one will do.
If we look at his three NAB Cup matches in chronological order, then we are compelled to talk about the negative first.
In both of his round one matches, and the majority of the first half against the Hawks, Folau was, for all intents and purposes, a non-entity. Despite a couple of handballs, the odd tackle, and a glimpse of the athleticism for which he is renowned, he looked as out of place as an Essendon supporter at a humility convention. Or, more pertinently, a Brisbane Bronco in an AFL jumper.
There were the poorly timed leads, the misjudged leaps, and the lack of awareness in regards to where the ball was going, and what to do when it arrived. Admittedly, the delivery to him on many occasions was less than precise.
For someone entering the game with limited experience, the forward line is the hardest place to do it. As a key position player, it’s even harder still. It is easier to destroy than create, easier to stop than start, easier to defend than attack.
The old cliché is that defenders are simply the footballers who didn’t make it as forwards, and it has long been accepted that centre half forward is the hardest spot on the ground to play at AFL level.
There is leading up the ground and back, double and triple leads in an attempt to lose your defender for a crucial half step that will enable you to take the ball uncontested if you get your timing right (timing which can elude even the greatest players from time to time).
One needs a combination of mobility and strength, the endurance to run an opponent ragged, but the power to take pack marks against four opponents. It is hard enough for a 22 year old who has been playing the game all his life to do it, let alone one who hasn’t.
An apt comparison in this regard might be Carlton’s Lachie Henderson, traded to the Blues as part of the deal that sent an ill-fated Brendan Fevola to the Brisbane Lions. The same age as Folau, he is 196cm and 95kg, which is comparable to Izzie’s 195cm and 100kg (and I figure that the latter will drop a few kilos as his aerobic capacity increases).
Henderson was targeted as a forward, but couldn’t quite make the grade, and this was in a side that had been playing finals football. Last year he blossomed as a key defender when circumstances dictated a move to the back half.
For Folau, who has played fewer games of Australian Rules than the average Victorian 12 year old, the enormity of the task he faces can’t be underestimated.
So in light of the preceding, let’s examine his second half against the Hawks, and more specifically, his impressive third quarter.
After noting Izzie’s struggles in the first half, coach Kevin Sheedy pulled out the time-honoured move of putting his key forward into the ruck. Not only did it give the impressive Jonathon Giles a chop-out, it got the six million dollar man into the game.
Despite giving away a free kick due to a lack of awareness, he competed and contested. Sometimes in football, it is enough to feel the crunch of battle-hardened bodies on your own.
Having had a run on the ball and being shifted back forward, with 11.42 left on the clock in the third term, the crowd was set alight. Leading hard to a Stephen Coniglio bullet, Folau was able to mark under pressure and a cheer went up of the warm, not the bronx, variety.
Three minutes later, Adam Tomlinson sent a driving ball into the forward pocket. After initially looking out of position, Izzie athletically leapt across the front of two players, and ahead of his opponent, to again take a strong contested mark. His short pass found its target, so a score assist was also registered to the big man.
Inspired by a couple of grabs, Folau found himself in the play again not two minutes later, applying a well-timed, bone-crunching tackle on Hawthorn’s Kyle Cheney, winning the free kick from a somewhat generous umpire. He kicked at goal tentatively, pulling it and missing from 35m out on a 60 degree angle, but if contested marking and defensive pressure inside fifty is what is asked of any key forward, then the GWS number four was delivering.
Next up was his best mark of the match, with five minutes left in the quarter. With the Giants winning the centre clearance, Folau again led hard, and Matthew Suckling was wearing him tight.
With two players running back with the flight into his space, Izzie jumped high, clunking another one, turning his body just so to keep Suckling at bay.
This time he pushed the kick, but in seven minutes of football, he had announced to the world that he was here to play, not just to take the money and run, as had been speculated in some quarters.
This short burst had netted four kicks for 0.2 and an assist, three contested marks, a tackle and a free kick. He had married an obvious will to compete and his inherent athleticism, with a natural talent for marking the ball under pressure at its apex that is harder to learn than it is to teach.
Folau finished off the match with another nice mark across half forward in the last quarter, and with the benefit of a 50m penalty, was able to kick truly for his first goal of season 2012.
His teammates came from everywhere to mob him, despite the 12-goal deficit on the scoreboard, in a display of unity and team spirit that will go a long way.
In summary, Israel Folau has not arrived as an AFL player, and in fact has hardly begun his journey. There will still be times when Dr Israel goes an entire half without touching the ball, we will often see his name at the bottom of the disposals list when we look up the stats, and I don’t want him on the bench in my Dreamteam, but there are going to be times when Mr Folau lets the instinctive, athletic animal inside him out.
When he does, he may take some stopping.
Unlike the characters who inhabit Stevenson’s world, we want to see more of the Mister and less of the Doctor.
TW
Guest
Here is some GWS Membership stuff and a very interesting changing stat from 2011. With the 2012 membership figure at 6027 - (Current figure 6209 - Target for 2012 17,000) 38% from Western Sydney - 14 Council Districts 33% from the rest of Sydney and Australia 29% from Canberra The 2011 figures were -- 40% from Canberra 25% from Western Sydney 35% from the rest of Sydney and Australia. Lots of theories could be applied but the club is very happy with the local component of the 2012 figures to date. The rest of Sydney figures are intriguing and it would be interesting to get those Post Codes
gleeso
Guest
The cattery, that is a terrible post. You could only be a victorian.
Strummer Jones
Guest
Can we have a list of all the journos that bagged Israel as totally useless in his first game? Same guys that belong to the Canberra Press Gallery I guess.
Redb
Roar Guru
Good news coming re Michael Hurley. Bad luck GWS :)
D.Large
Guest
Make no mistake Ian, I hope he does make it and with the admittedly low expectations I had for him I was genuinely impressed with what he was able to do in the 2nd half. But I stand by my opinion.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Not really ... a club's supporters will always know who their passengers are, these things do not go unnoticed.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Not really ... a club's supporters will always know who their passengers are, these things do not go unnoticed.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Remember not to lead the peasants too far, they're generally anaemic and don't run as fast as you'd expect.
Redb
Roar Guru
Kindly stick to the topic.
Swampy
Guest
I'm more than happy for Folau to take the focus off emerging superstars like Michael Hurley and Dyson Heppell. Now excuse me while I have a post dinner Pimms and prepare for tomorrow's peasant shoot, sorry I mean pheasant shoot... -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
shirtfront
Guest
What I took out of izzy's second half: 1. He applied a very nice shepard. 2. He applied a couple of strong tackles. 3. He took a few eye opening contested marks inside 50. To be fair, a very impressive effort for someone in the nab cup with zero H&W games to his name. Let alone games at all. Intriguing stuff.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Republican, Six four key position forwards who can jump, catch, can sprint in a fifteen meter burst and can take physical punishment are just falling out of trees. Every club has about six. Have you ever actually *watched* anything of what Folau has done as a forward ? Or is raw prejudice with a side orde of making stuff up enough for you ?
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Cattery, I believe baseball collects more stats. Gleeso, Really, really thorough win Port had last year against Gold Coast. And Brisbane really showed the new club whats what, too. And Richmond utterly smashed them.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
RedB, Kindly dont troll league. You arent very good at it.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
D Large, Watch the film again of the third quarter. See his forward pressure, and watch when he made the leads, and how he caught the footy. See where his arms are - thats a man who trained against Sos.. Will he make it ? Dunno. Can he make it ? Yeah.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Intuition tells you that of all the football codes, you should miss one player of 18 less than you can miss one of 11, but in fact the reverse applies, which is precisely why the VFL/AFL has never had a send off rule - it's the equivalent of handing the win to the team with 18 players. Those who have an understanding of both the XVIII-a-side game and the XI-a-side game will understand why this contradiction exists. In fact, it's impossible to hide on the footy field - the stats never lie - your own and that of your direct opponent - they never lie - and no team sport on Earth collects more stats than Australian Football. On match day there are multiple statistians (for each team) amassing over 1,000 statistics over the course of 2 hours. Check Neil Cordy's visit into the GWS coaching box, in today's Tele, where he found no fewer than 27 in the box and on the bench on match day assisting even the lowly GWS on the field: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/neil-cordy-goes-deep-into-the-greater-western-sydney-coaches-box/story-e6frexwr-1226288744934
gleeso
Guest
Izzy and GWS will reinforce what Hunt and Gold Coast esatablished last year. 1. You can hide an inferior player on an AFL field; but 2. You cannot hide an aussie rules club in the AFL.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Republican You will find plenty from all walks ready to be cynical about the whole exercise, and many will be envious at the pay packets as well, deeming them to be unearned - but they won't be the first sports people to cop that complaint, and they won't be the last. I know it's hard to put the pay issue to one side because we all accept that they aren't earning that on footballing ability alone, but if we can put it aside for one second, are Hunt and Izzy doing enough to make a list of 44 (the average size of an AFL list)? Well, you'd probably have to conclude that they are. On that list of 44, you are going to find school boy champions who utlimately will be too slow, not strong enough, not athletic enough, not mentally strong enough, not professional enough, insufficient work ethic, etc, etc At a minimum, at the barest minimum, we can say that: 1. Hunt is quite strong, can keep his feet in a pack situation, can put his head over the ball, can train hard, has a professional attitude, has good hands below the knees and is mentally tough. That easily puts him in the 44 of a young, developing list like that of the Suns. 2. Izzy is 196cm, 100kg, has a great leap, has bucket hands, can take some punishment in a marking contest - that immediately puts him alongside other young talls who will have the football nous and knowledge, but are not sufficiently developed to take the punishment. Don't fall into the trap of our League friends who collectively view the game as soft - the centre-half forwards are taking some real physical punishment, for two hours, from all directions, and they have to keep presenting, keep presenting, and most young talls entering AFL ranks will NOT make it. Not because of their footy skills and footy smarts, but because they physically cannot take the punishment over and over. We have to keep that in mind. Our first look at Izzy is that he CAN take the punishment, add the bucket hands, and he's definitely worth persevering with for a few seasons - it might take that long to bear fruit.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Good observation.
JVGO
Guest
David Jones is a Department store Cattery, why even respond to this fool. He is manipulating you as much as everyone else. If you look at his profile, besides givng his address as Castlereagh St Sydney his favourite sports are Football and Rugby Union. why he is trolling for RL is a little insidious.