Israel Folau agrees terms with NSW Waratahs - now for ARU

Maybe, I insist maybe, He did switch for money only once in his career, when he played AFL for 2 years? Then, now that he is financially secure, he has realised after 6 months of union that the game and what it had to offer ( international spectrum, worlwide travel with club/country, a 'real' world cup etc ) was what he was looking for in life? Dunno if he is the best actor on the planet but he does really seem to be enjoying himself at the moment and maybe he simply likes the game of rugby as much (more?) than league and wants to stay for all reasons mentioned above? I would like to believe that tbh.

. I guess the he thought the positives of Union outweighed the negatives . ie The positives of more Moneyand true international prestige outweighed the negatives of Playing in a code where he might get two or three chances to actually run with the ball per game and missing another two years of origin.

Is it worth commenting on the churlish assumptions that Izzy switched codes for the money? Nup! Too stupid But it is worth commenting that this is fantastic news for rugby! This bloke is an exceptional talent and could be a game changer if used intelligently Cheika gets a big acknowledgement for having the guts to put him into fullback and keep him there!

Is this true? I remember when Lote went back to RL there was an article saying that he ran 3x more metres in his first year back in RL than he did in his last year with RU. I know a lot of RL winger also get into the dummy half position when the team is close to their own line. Not sure but I would like to see how the stats stack up

Oikee is sarcastically referring to playing for the Tahs for 2 years as wasted.

Nice to know the AFL is that incompetent. No, I wouldn't call any of that evidence, just hope and spin.

C'mon FOS, given the ARU topped up Cooper who wasn't in Deans plans, the Izzy top up at least went to a bloke who played against the Lions. The rumours were they were tit for tat favours for supporting the new ARU governing structure. So the Reds appear to have been done a similar favour to the Tahs. Hardly a situation where the Reds are owed one.

Mike - that is evidence. The AFL decision was marketing based not football based. Anyone with a hint of knowledge on the game will tell you that. Whats also true is that sportsmen have ego's and pride and he couldnt continue the charade of being paid a fortune and being a laughing stock at the same time. Hence his move away from AFL.

i def agree, not that he will play that often

he was playing centres in league last time. i think fullback really suits him in union and that counted towards his decision

no, not really. I simply said if he wants to see lots of ball, 6 is probably the spot (and that the eds coud use him in that role - the ARU owes us a break or two). And it is unlikely Folau will end up at the Reds, although the NSW contract is doubtless subject to a top-up (dont forget Higgy signed with the Reds and ended up in Melbourne).

Guys = Steve has obviously played the sarcasm card - well done, sir!

No Phil, I asked for evidence. Not a sweeping assumption that an NRL player can't convert to AFL. And by the way, contracts have at least two parties. The AFL obviously thought he could do it or they wouldn't have signed him up, so their opinion was clearly different to yours at the time. But what would they know about their own code?

Great news, and the right move for the player. Looking forward to seeing Izzy pull on the blue jumper of his real State of origin for two more seasons.

Haha

amusing that the argument up north has shifted from "he shouldnt get a wallaby spot, he will fail" to "he should sign with the reds"

"3. If he wants to see more ball, 6 is probably the spot." You do know that what Izzy wants, is ball in space not in tight? Plus I don't think Izzy likes putting his head in dark places. But the comparison to Higgers is a funny one, knowing that when Higgers was at the reds he was a 6 playing on the wing mostly.

Oikee how exactly is Folau wasting 2 years of his sporting career? In the next 2-3 years he will get to play Super Rugby across NZ and South Africa, the Rugby Championship (NZ, South Africa and Argentina), End of year Tours to Europe, the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and potentially at the Olympics in Rio de Janiero in 2016. He will get to travel and experience parts of the world that is not available regularly with RL (and in some cases not at all) and has the chance to become a truly international superstar. Further to this if he does decide to stay long term in RU then he will always have the option of playing in Japan or Europe at a later stage for very big coin, much bigger than what he can get playing RL. If the only selling point that the NRL are trying to make is that he can play State of Origin each year then I would not think it would be a very hard decision for the big man.

The evidence for point 1 is clear. We are talking about a man who had almost never seen a Sherrin, and had to have the four goal post thing explained to him taking $3million from the AFL. He was always going to suck at it, and he knew very early on it wasn't for him, but he stayed long enough to pocket a lions share of the cash. If you are prepared to sign on for a game you know NOTHING about for a big wad of Cash, your actions speak louder than your words.

I Agree whole heartedly. The Tah's Should have put him out at the Emu's. I really think the ARU and the NSWRU need to get smart, and tell players what club they should play for. They should then help clubs like the Pirates, Two Blues and the Emus pay these guys. Something Really needs to be done about the Emus.