Israel Folau has declared himself a fish back in water after starring in his debut for the NSW Waratahs in a Super Rugby trial.
The former rugby league international and short-term AFL player bagged two tries, had a hand in another and was even yellow-carded in an eventful 24-16 win over the Melbourne Rebels in Hobart.
After two years trying to find his feet with AFL’s Greater Western Sydney, Folau said he felt right in his third professional football code.
“I felt really comfortable to be quite honest,” he told reporters at North Hobart Oval.
“It’s like I never left a game like rugby.
“I felt really relaxed throughout the day and that’s the way I felt coming into the game.”
Asked if he’d missed that feeling of dominating a game, he said: “I’ve missed it for two years.”
Starting at fullback, Folau reaped the rewards of Waratahs coach Michael Cheika’s new attacking brand of rugby.
He was rarely called to kick and announced himself to the rugby world when he swerved to beat three defenders in just the 12th minute.
The celebration said plenty with the former Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos star punching the air with delight before being embraced by his new teammates.
Folau repeated the dose with the last play of the match, beating two to cross in the left corner while playing outside centre.
He might have had a third try in the 34th minute but unselfishly offloaded for winger Cam Crawford when he could easily have crossed himself.
“That last try I just found myself in the right spot at the right time,” he said.
“I think today I can learn a lot from the game and there’s certainly a long way to go in terms of learning a few things in both attack and defence.”
Cheika was delighted with the performance of his new star, who also spent time on both wings.
“Positionally (at fullback) he was probably in much better sync than I thought he might be,” Cheika said.
“Obviously his natural talent showed on a couple of occasions very well and I think he looked pretty comfortable really.
“All he has to do is enjoy himself and make our team and his talent will do the rest from there.”
Folau was yellow-carded in the 54th minute and admitted he’d understood little about his breakdown offence.
“I was a bit confused but once I got off and the boys explained it,” he said.
Compounding the four tries to two loss for the Rebels was a suspected fracture to Cooper Vuna’s right shoulder blade.
“With our top side I thought we were competitive but those young blokes, they’ll learn from that and the experience will be good for them,” assistant coach John Muggleton said.
KiwiDave
Roar Guru
Given NSW's form of last season it is not really too diificult to be a star in such a woeful side :)
KiwiDave
Roar Guru
AFL is a game for skinny runts with good aerobic endurance. Folau was always going to be a flop there due to his poor aerobic capacity
soapit
Guest
additionally there are many more which, although slightly technically different, will not be discernably different 99.9999% of the time for someone actually playing.
Redb
Roar Guru
I think the title is spot on. Folau's DNA in 'rugby' hard for him to shake. It does make Karmichael Hunt's performance truly amazing and proof he is a far better all round athlete than Folau.
soapit
Guest
a try is scored when the ball is placed down over the tryline. a penalty is scored when the shot goes through the posts, drop goals must bounce first then go over. if you look a bit harder you'll find a few more that are exactly the same. 90% different probably sounds about right (probably a bit low if anything). for a game that has so many rules that leaves quite a few that are the same. very few isnt the words id use then. maybe ur right about like netball and basketball. thats a pointless subjective argument which i'll avoid.
Justin2
Guest
Qld is an afl backwater,please dont comment if you dont understand the game. He wouldn't make a third team from Vic, there is your answer!
Roarer
Guest
You can already sense England licking their lips. Probably sorting out a visa for him as we speak. What ya reckon, Hightackle? You are England's ambassador for the roar.
PeterK
Roar Guru
A deliberate forward pass in rugby is a penalty also. I believe accidental offside in league is a scrum. Obviously some obstruction laws retaining to set pices are different. I meant in regards to runners etc. The actual laws / rules are the same however the interpretation of when a defender is impacted is different. All a mute point in that most laws / rules are at least slightly different and since you are a bit of a pendant then you are correct.
Hightackle
Guest
A deliberate forward pass in league is a penalty and is accidental offside a scrum in league? Also Im not entirely sure obstruction rules are the same either. They are similar but not identical.
PeterK
Roar Guru
Cummins and Taps were better than AAC in the short time they had. Besides I agreed that AAC was one of the better backs over all the tests, the point is so many of the best players were out injured so its like being the brightest of the intellectually handicapped. In other words with the better players back then O/C does become the weakest backline position which was my original point. 9 Genia 10 Cooper 11 Ioane 12 Taps 13 AAC 14 JoC / Tomane / Cummins / Speight 15 JoC / Beale (longer term Folua maybe) AAC stands out as the weakest back.
PeterK
Roar Guru
you cannot pass forward , or have blockers (obstruction) , or knock and some offside, these all would be the same but yes most are actually different.
Hightackle
Guest
Pffft yeah being named as one of the best AFL players in QLD means he is below ave. I just go on whats written and reported Justin. The consensus is that he is pretty good and getting better.
Sprigs
Guest
Oh no, not the hair issue again.
Justin2
Guest
Hunt is a below average afl player. He can get better but if you are relying on a qld afl team selection as recognition for proof of quality you don't know much about the game....
Jiggles
Roar Guru
Haha there is a QLD team for AFL??? Good grief!!!
Hightackle
Guest
Well I would say being named by the courier mail as a member of the Queensland team of 2012 is doing OK. He is a good AFL player. How many league players transition to be union props, hookers or openside flankers? The games being so similar it must happen all the time.
Darth Vadar
Guest
the kid will get better! SBW started off the same way - even Motlock hammered SBW when he played for the Barbarians vs the Wallabies at Twickenham - nec minute!
Hightackle
Guest
Are you saying its a variant? Name the rules that are exactly the same. The scrum is different, the amount of players on the field is different as is the lineout, the substitutions, the points, the ruck, the ball, the positions, the 22 drop out, the tackle count, the kicking to touch, the number of referees, etc. Very little is the same appart from running with the ball, try scoring and tackling. I would guess that 90% of the rules are different, if not higher. Imo its almost as different as netball and basketball.
Jiggles
Roar Guru
I don't think so. Since 2001 only the ABs have had a warm up test before the lions, and I doubt what good a cricket score game against a minnow would really do. It's unfortunate CL was injured last year but it doesn't excuse Deans for not blooding options at LHL, the front row, and the outside backs with a view to develop options. We could be very prepared for this tour but we are not. On a side not is the 3 week camp Deans confirmed?
Malo
Guest
Who was better Peter K , KB. AAc was beyond doubt one of the wallabies best backs.