Folau can find passion in NRL, or rugby

Name one player that has gone to Parra and improved in the last 20 years? Hindmarsh went backwards (not by much) but enough to not even be considered for Origin when we really needed a player of that hard working way. Eels will be wooden spooners again next year. Hope your having fun with Sandow, he's a great player to build a wooden spoon around.

I think Bludger was trying to create controversy...Very few AFL fans think AFL is tougher than NRL, more running perhaps and maybe they think more skilful but I havent met an AFL fan yet who doesnt think NRL is tougher...

there is nothing wrong with chasing the $$$ but like Christo mentioned, atleast honour your contracts and stick to them.

He is an islander so the darkness would probably be able to find a way to.make jim elegible lol.

Rossi No doubt Folau would be more than happy with the money he earned in the 2 years ,of being a virtual PR statue.Money for nothing and the kicks are free,no offence to Mark Knoffler. He will now be taking with him at least 3 3rd party sponsors. The AFL would no doubt have enjoyed the initial PR coup at the NRL's expense.ánd boy wasn't it shoved down our noses in Sydney all the time by the media and fans alike.And understandably so. Trouble is now Izzie has done a backflip and even Sheedy was shocked,any PR gleaned initially has been hugely dented by the egg on face of various officials who took the punt,for no other reason than to gain the code publicity. If that is now a case of money well spent,for a player who earned more than many within the code,and was ridiculed by many former players,then the code has serious issues with spin.If he had stayed the course and reached the necessary standard then yes . The NRL would never entertain the thought of spending a fortune(more than the majority of players in the game) on an untried player in 1st grade,with zero experience in order to secure publicity in a new market,for a 4 year period.Even the old NRL admin would have more brains than that.

Maybe it is due to the fact when a rugby league player attempts to take a high ball,he knows full well once his feet hit the ground he will be on the receiving end of a full blooded no nonsense,no holding back tackle.Control and retaining possession is the first requirement.Just grasping it above the head, is fraught with danger in rl. Ask Billy Slater and the Storm players who have AFL training experience.Whilst the timing of the jump is indeed important,so is the positioning of your supporting players and the defence boring down. Most of the high kicks are aimed at the defences in goal area,where the defence is manifest in numbers. His endurance may well have improved at GWS ,but hell the number of interchanges could fill a New York subway. The aerial skills in AFL are a different scale to that of rugby league,and are used more often. If he can be a lighter player and put on the muscular part then good luck,particularly on his frame.His explosive power would have been lost somewhat. Whether he ends up in rugby league or union,he needs the quality of power/strength and explosiveness,and that is why weights in both codes are part and parcel of the training regime.To handle the constant buffetting in the rugby codes,players need that muscle factor to absorb and reduce the impact.He has not been subjected to such for nigh on two years. If that is a caseof jumping to conclusions,then I have not been watching or playing both rugby codes in my lifertime. Last line is rubbish,Ferguson and a couple of the Canberra backs,Stewart,Uate at times,Hayne,Minicello, all have aerial ability,its just the game is not dominated by kicking ,and thank goodness.You need to watch a few NRL games to get the picture.

I think everyone wins here. Issy is playing his natural sport, the AFL got exposure. Maybe some kids were exposed to AFL, maybe some will keep playing, maybe some will not. AFL will be happy with money well spent, gws have exposure & can now play people who are passionate & the NRL have good player back in their ranks.

We were taught to catch it on our chests way back then. It is not like Aussie Rules where they pay a mark, you have to hang onto it. Then you have to have something in mind and foresee what might happen in the next split second. Mind you, it has changed and is changing still.

We'll see...whoever picks him up will have a view...I think you're jumping to conclusions about them necessarily aiming to bulk Folau... when he arrived at the Giants his endurance was poor, and part of that was his weight....perhaps at a lighter weight he'll be an even better RL player than before.. and on aerial ability, Folau is now infinitely better than when Giants first listed him...if you've heard him talk on this even Folau himself admits he came across with very basic aerial skills and had to work hard to improve, and that he did improve a lot....AFL followers watching RL constantly marvel at why RL don't just time a leap and take the ball at its highest point - there are so many opportunities yo do it and it never happens...we do know that now Folau has spent 2 years learning to do this so he'll be out there with a new trick no other RL player seems capable of doing, other than perhaps Slater..

It leaves me to wonder... Was he asked to QUIT. to make way for somone who plays the game well!..The more I read , the more I believe that the AFL Promotion team recognised that Izzy was offering nothing else, so he ha to GO..

Just me or is Izzy getting back to League cos suddenly there's shedloads o' cash for the NRL now? Just saying...

Johnny Boy. Jnr.Wouldn't that be a tad toxic....oops.

Nothing wrong with my athletic appetite theres a smorgasbords of sports which needless to say satisfies my hunger, I think its that chip on your shoulder thats eating away at you.....enjoy the steak.

Oh yeah, look at this backline, 7. John Thurston 6. Cooper Cronk 5. Darius Boyd 4 Greg Inglis 3 Isreal Falou 2 Ben Barba 1 Billy Slater. Hold on, you can see that back line next year in Origin when we win our 8ball championship lucky legs , eight in a row. :)

Reporting from NZ. I think Benji has huge potentail after his playing days to become the man on the ground in NZ. Anyhow, all 3 are wonderful players. Be interesting to see who mkaes the All-stars team, i know Benji will be there, not sure about the other two. Be good to see both of them back. Rugby league needs to get some money back from these two fine specimens. I will stop calling them marketing tools.

He should come home to Queensland and play for The Reds. If we could get all of our sons back the team would be sensational! Look at this back line: 9. Will Genia 10. Quade Cooper 11. Digby Ioane 12. James O'Connor 13. Ben Tapuai 14. Dom Shipperley 15. Israel Folau

fair enough, oikee. However ... what do you mean Benji will be the face of NZ RL one day? He already is! Guaranteed that Benji won't be as well looked after as SBW will! SBW has found a different family, one much closer to home -- oh wait, he was playing at home!! Important difference that one.

Weight for height has a bit to do with it.He needs more beef to handle the constant collisions and effect tackling himself. I am bigger than a few players in the NRL,which means little.I see many NRL players who live in the Shire and there are biggies and littlies. That is not the opinion of some NRL people who believe he needs to get back to his original weight.Remember he was quite capable of taking the high ball,at his prior weight,the reason he was noticed by pundits in the AFL. Yes any aerobic gains he made is a plus,but he cannot play effectively at his current weight on that frame.The code is a power sport. Agree with your view re his lack of tackling,but please don't draw comparisons between tackling in the AFL and ditto in the NRL.You can still get caught in no man's land in rugby league, when the attack makes the bust.Happens all the time. He will need to make love to the tackling bags,to get up to speed. They are talking about using him as a fullback.Now that is as lonely as a scientist on Ice Station Zebra.

Sonny Bill's reasons for leaving was the amount that the Dogs were paying him, he still left through the back door. Fair do's rugby league did not have the cash to compete back then with other sports. Even now if you asked who they(fans) respected between Sonny and Benji, the family would take Benji any day, plus he is NZ captain not Sonny. Benji will get his dinner, dont you worry about that as Joh would have said. Benji will be well looked after with his league family, he is already making a name on the footy show, he will move to commentry and probably be the face of NZ rugby league in NZ one day. Sonny won't. As for Israel, well same again, he made some great cash moving to afl, do we begrudge him that,? No, and again, if he comes back to league and wanted to move on again, well nobody will blink a eyelid next time. Compare him to Thurston, Cronk, Smith, Slater, Lockyer, even Petro , Steve Price,Wiki, the list goes on and on, these guys are the ones who show you what loyalty can achieve, Israel will never be in the class as any of these players. Ever. This bouncing around like a yo-yo between codes is not really winning you any fans, if anything it builds a underbelly annoyance towards one's self. Like i mentioned yesterday, i have never watched either of those two play once they left league, like a wet rag they had been cast aside by me. There has been too much going on in my sport for me to care. If my code was crumbling i might have taken notice, but my code, rugby league has been powering ahead fullsteam. Plus i am very loyal to my code, unlike these 2 guys. Take them or leave them as far as i am concerned.

No mate, i dont remember Spring. I was a Valleys, Wests fan really. Hugh O'dorhety and Marty Scanlan at Valleys, Rhichie Twist at Wests were my favorites, i was only a kid back then. Me and big Mal are the same age. Probably why we both have the same morals and vertues, ethics.. I am just saying you play the sport your brought up with, if you are no good at one at least you can try another these days.