Israel Folau has courted more controversy by refusing to join teammates and opponents in taking a knee to acknowledge the Black Lives Matter movement in Super League’s return on Sunday.
The former Wallabies fullback’s Catalans side were hammered 34-6 by champions St Helens in the first match since the competition was halted due to the coronavirus in March.
However, the biggest talking point of the game came before kick-off when Folau remained standing while the 25 other players on the field and the referee knelt briefly at Headingley.
The Black Lives Matters movement has grown around the world since the death of American George Floyd while being arrested in May.
And all recent Premier League football matches have seen players take a knee before kick-off – a move Super League said they wanted to replicate.
Folau has courted controversy ever since his homophobic comments on social media that saw him sacked by Rugby Australia.
(Raymond Roig/AFP via Getty Images)
Catalans coach Steve McNamara defended his decision not to kneel, and said he was entitled to make a personal choice.
“As a group of players and coaching staff, we spoke about it in depth and as a club we are completely against racism and all for equal opportunity,” McNamara said.
“But there were some players and staff who made the decision not to take the knee. That was based on personal choice, they have their own reasons for doing that, and we decided we would respect anyone’s personal choice on the matter.”
Bereft of both spectators and scrums, the game marked the arrival of a new set of regulations highlighted by the six again rule copied from the NRL, and St Helens proved themselves more adept to change.
Saints had James Graham back in their side, 17 years since he made his debut, and it was as if he had never been away.
The Dragons were the first Super League club to resume training yet they looked disjointed for most of the game and trailed 28-0 before James Maloney scored their only points of the game.
It was the Lachlan Coote show for the Saints as the former Penrith and North Queensland fullback scored 18 points in a dominant display.
Leeds staged a dramatic late fightback to earn a golden-point victory over Huddersfield and go top of the table.
The Rhinos looked destined for defeat in the second match of a double-header at Headingley when they trailed 26-6 after an hour and had winger Ash Handley dispatched to the sin bin.
But they struck back with three tries in five minutes despite being a man short and levelled the match through Konrad Hurrell two minutes from the end of normal time to set up the position for skipper Luke Gale to snatch an unlikely 27-26 victory with a 40-metre drop goal in the first period of extra time.
Nick
Roar Guru
"I don’t condone slavery" Sure could have fooled everyone then. The moderators clearly took the view you do. They removed precisely because you sought to defend it. Denialism...the textbook response of the zealous. The rest of your spirited defence is rot. Saying that I was merely highlighting a negative point but overlooking the positive teachings is like saying Hitler was nice to kids so he's not all that bad a bloke and focusing just on the holocaust is unfair. A 2000 year old text endorses slavery. You may say you don't condone it, but you are too much of a zealot to not condemn it either aren't you? I cannot believe we support the same club.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
It wasn't a defence of slavery and you should know that if you took the trouble to read. I don't condone slavery. It was a defence of a section of the bible which you put down just because there was mention of slavery in it. I pointed out that there were many positive verses and teaching and standards that underpin current laws around the area you were criticising. I pointed out that you were taking a negative portion - slavery - of the passages to use as an excuse that all biblical teaching was poor and ignoring other positive areas. You made the link to supporting slavery, not me. You are also quite ignorant of the subject as was pointed out by others.
EastsFootyFan
Roar Guru
Well, given his church is run by his father and that it's a bit of a money making machine a cynical man might say it supports the fiscal value of his brand in that part of his life. Just look at the mighty amount of cash promoting that part of his brand got him when he was sacked by RA. Ordinary folk who get sacked for less on social media don't get that sort of lavish attention and financial support, but by constantly putting on a show and virtue signalling to the like minded among his base he got millions. I'm sure Scott McIntyre was sardonically chuckling at the irony as it all unfolded and wondering where all those "free speech" warriors were when he got sacked for saying things that didn't like up with the conservative media narrative.
Rob9
Roar Guru
I’m sure he attains solace in the fact that he garners support from the evangelical base, but it’s clear as day that Folau places his beliefs well above the fiscal value of his brand.
EastsFootyFan
Roar Guru
"if there’s one thing we know about Israel Folau; whether it’s a good or bad thing (probably both)- it’s that he has very little regard for the value of his ‘brand’." Disagree. Folau is extremely conscious of it, but his brand management is akin to that of Alex Jones of infowars fame; it's all about his narrow base of likeminded believers.
Josh
Roar Rookie
oh an African saying that it wasn't their fault? ok, no offence but you are quite dumb.
westernred
Right wing, left wing, blah blah. Neo liberal economics from both sides sold out the west and the working class (whom the self proclaimed Marxists usually hate) have been copping it ever since. Maoists seem a bigger problem and we sold out to them too for $. The only colour the democrats and the Republicans care about is the colour of your money. Similar here with labour and liberal although Morrison seems to be treading carefully ATM. Character, merit and truth (truth in that he believes what he says ) are what matters and Izzy has those in buckets. Capitalism has faults. Democracy has faults. Christianity has faults. Yet people want to get to western nations. Why? There are many truths being closed down (more so) by the so called left. Discussion is not allowed if you ask people to look at the bigger picture of how other cultures have operated and wish to see the west operated and are making ground. Then we will all know what slavery is. And go The Knights
Morsie
Guest
Respect Izzy :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Nick
Roar Guru
P L E A S E E X P L A I N ?
Nick
Roar Guru
You have a shocking understanding of history. Really, quite shocking. I don't particularly care if you take offence to that. Read up on the sonderkommandos and you ask whether that was for profit. https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-the-slave-traders-were-african-11568991595 That will help explain why Africans were slave traders. Trade or be traded yourself. It was still a form of bondage.
Josh
Roar Rookie
what exactly are you after, equality of opportunity or equality of outcome, they are not the same thing.
Josh
Roar Rookie
why is it naïve, did jews have a choice? or was it to save themselves? was that the same situation as the Africans? was neither for profit? or both just for survival?.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
I seriously don’t believe that anything anyone has ever written could make his statements anything less than crazy. Purely on what he said not the supposed agenda in which he’s been elevated as some sort of free speech crusader. He isn’t about free speech he’s all about being one of the chosen people who uses his position to push bizarre notions of how people must live their life. I also said, if you bothered to read my previous comment, my frustration is with both sides of this argument which gave way too much oxygen to his agenda. You are trying to conflate his comments as a rallying cry for those objecting to left wing extremism. That is purely a straw man argument. I stand by my comments and the assertion that in my view anyone sanctioning those they selectively chose to eternal damnation because of the way they are born is nuts.
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
spruce goose H Y P O C R I T E ?
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
(realised my 1st draft reply to ? you posted above had a flaw, to complex to fix..)
Armchair Halfback
Roar Rookie
sad, but true....
elvis
Roar Rookie
But there is not a requirement except in their heads. Hey, if you think they are doing a good thing, go and live under their regime. Like the people who went to ISIS with good intentions they soon found out organisations like this are infested with bullies and losers.
Nick
Roar Guru
Hey, you believe what you want. I don't care. Ain't gonna change the scientific fact that when you die you are either going to decompose or be burned to ash. Nothing more.
in brief
Guest
Crazy beliefs? Have you read The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray? Douglas Murray, himself a gay man, reveals the fabricated diversity agenda to be the craziest, most destructive belief system out there.
in brief
Guest
The use of 'left wing' and 'ring wing' is polemical and doesn't allow for considered debate. That said, a lot of the mantra around equality and diversity is even more problematic in that it focuses people's minds on issues of little consequence. There are far more pressing debates to be had at this point in time - the environment, growth, democracy.. We are starting to see that enemy states trying to unsettle western society have effectively used these debates to cause divisions in society. Of course we all believe in equality and only a very small percentage of us are racist. But you have to know when you have reached your goal - is equality enough or do seek something more?