- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Israel Folau’s recent decision to sign with the NSW Waratahs has hogged the headlines, despite the fact that all three of ‘Izzy’s’ codes are in their off-seasons.
His defection from Australian Rules to rugby union, just one year after leaving rugby league, adds an extra dimension to the code-jumping debate.
Of course, there have been several high-profile cross-code flirtations by league and union players over the past few years. Debate raged about the implications of Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri, Sonny Bill Williams and Karmichael Hunt switching codes.
Did it cheapen both league and union? Were these players simply mercenaries after more money? Or were they tremendous athletes who should be admired for their adaptability?
Reading Roar Expert David Lord’s piece on the Folau saga, a single line jumped out from the page. Tongue-in-cheek, Lord joked, ‘have the Socceroos made an offer so that Folau can make it four codes in four seasons?’
I understand that the writer is exaggerating for effect. Clearly, nobody actually thinks that Folau is on the radar for any of the A-League sides, let alone the Socceroos. I get the joke.
However, Lord – perhaps unwittingly – raises an important point. No football contracts will ever be offered to a rugby league or union player, nor will any Australian Rules players, not even the Swans’ Adam Goodes, become professional footballers.
The simple reason is that football – and by football I mean the game played with the feet – is simply a far more technically difficult game than the other football codes. More to the point, to play at the highest level, or even at the level of the A-League, footballers must be highly proficient and constantly perfect a very unique set of skills.
This is not to take anything away from athletes from other codes. The gladiators that endure such relentless brutality in league and union deserve due respect. Put a hip and shoulder into Lionel Messi and see what happens. And the athleticism of Australian Rules players is nothing short of Herculean. European tourists bred on football may be thoroughly confused by the rules of the game, but are usually impressed by the physicality of AFL players.
However, as Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau have shown, it is not totally insurmountable for a rugby league or rugby union player to perform competently in the AFL. They may not possess the classy skills and vision of Gary Ablett, but they can compete at the top.
All three codes are essentially based on athleticism, toughness and decent levels of hand-eye coordination. They also share a similar shaped ball.
By contrast, football requires a completely unique set of skills which are incredibly difficult to master.
French football manager Arsene Wenger illustrates this point by insisting that all footballers must develop a sound technique by the age of fourteen.
Wenger’s standards are, to be sure, very high. Yet the point remains that in a globalised market, the best players are in competition with millions of hopeful footballers from around the world. There is no time to waste.
While the Waugh brothers and Adam Goodes were apparently excellent amateur footballers, once they had chosen their respective careers in cricket and Australian Rules, there was no turning back. You cannot simply take a sabbatical from football.
Interestingly, Melbourne based cultural historian Ian Syson has uncovered what he calls ‘the game that never happened.’ Apparently, in 1964, the captain of the South Melbourne VFL side, Jack Dyer, challenged Slavia Port-Melbourne to a football match. With the view that the ‘big girls’ would be no match for the Bloods, Dyer was confident that the Rules players could beat Slavia at their own game.
Dyer was in for a shock. Playing an unfamiliar and technically difficult sport, the VFL stars were not only beaten soundly, but the legendary Ron Barrasi had to leave the field with an injury. The true-blue boys from South Melbourne were bruised and beaten by a bunch of ‘dagoes’ and ‘big girls’!
The game, needless to say, was quickly forgotten by Rules officials and historians.
As league and union players continue to experiment with other codes of football, the elephant in the room becomes harder to ignore.
Football is, and will likely remain, the only game untroubled by code-jumpers. It is simply too difficult to just learn the game on the run.
Good luck to Israel Folau at the Waratahs. Playing rugby, Australian Rules and league at the highest level is a remarkable achievement. Let’s hope he finds a home in rugby union.
If he doesn’t, there will be no flirtation with the round ball. Football will extend him no welcome. It will always remain a game far too skillful for him.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.