There’s something about Maria
Maria Folau will be remembered as one of New Zealand’s greatest netball players. But her refusal to distance herself from her husband’s controversial religious views can’t be ignored.
We may never know whether Maria Folau will miss the adrenaline rush, and pride, of representing the Silver Ferns.
This week it was confirmed Folau had retired from international netball, having played her 150th and final test during the Constellation Cup series in August to end a celebrated career that began in 2005 when she was 18 years old.
Will she miss the roar of the crowd? Was her 32-year-old body starting to creak, and was that a factor in her retirement? Is she relieved to finally get away from the game to do something else?
It remains a mystery. We don’t have the answers. Folau hasn’t been available for comment, and it seems unlikely that this stance will change in the near future.
She chose to avoid the media since husband and Wallabies star Israel Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia (RA) for taking to social media to post his religious views, which included vilifying homosexuals.
This, in turn, kicked off a prolonged and highly public saga that only ended when he reached a confidential settlement with his former employer earlier this month.
So it was left to Netball New Zealand to deliver the news of Maria Folau’s retirement by sending out a press release on Tuesday. There wasn’t a quote from her in the missive.
As you would expect, NNZ didn’t hold back in its praise of one of its greatest players: Folau, NNZ said, will be remembered as one of the sport’s best goal shooters.
Folau deserved the accolades. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest players to represent New Zealand.
Team-mates, coaches and commentators sang a familiar tune, letting the world know how much of an asset Folau had been to the teams she had represented, and why she will be missed.
Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua, who also named the squad to play in the Nation’s Cup against England next month, spoke to the media in the absence of Folau and hit all the right notes.
Taurua said she would have liked a bigger fuss to have been made of Folau, to celebrate what she had given the game, but was at least grateful NNZ was able to ‘‘at least pay a little bit of a tribute to her’’.
Social media was busy with former team-mates praising Folau as a teammate, and friend.
Former Silver Ferns coach Wai Taumaunu also chipped in, saying she has been most impressed by Folau’s ‘‘courage’’ on the court.
‘‘She is going to go down as one of our all-time greats,’’ Taumaunu told
Radio NZ. ‘‘Phenomenal shooter, and one of the joys of the game [was] watching her slot long balls. I think what gets forgotten, a little bit, is the courage it takes to do that and keep doing that over 150 tests. As a coach I will remember her most for that.’’
So now Taurua and the Silver Ferns have to get set for life post-Folau, while the rest of us ruminate on her remarkable career and the controversy that has dogged it since her husband angered RA with his social media posts.
There is no avoiding this elephant in the room. While Folau deserves a respectful send-off, and she has certainly been showered with praise in recent days, what has unfolded over the past 18 months can’t be ignored.
Even though Taurua told Stuff she didn’t think the saga involving her husband accelerated Folau’s decision to retire, it’s part of the narrative.
‘‘I don’t believe so, I believe it’s just the time is right,’’ Taurua said this week.
‘‘Even though there was a lot of things that were happening personally, she never let on about anything. For me that marked her professionalism and her commitment to upholding the mana of the black dress.’’
Folau may have imposed a media ban on herself but she didn’t hide in the shadows when her husband elected to challenge RA for sacking him.
When RA decided to settle the unfair termination case brought by Israel Folau (who had earlier linked the bushfires in Australia to same-sex marriage and abortion), Maria was photographed offering her support as they walked into the hearing.
As she was entitled to do. But it puts her in a story which had many twists and captivated audiences on both sides of the Tasman.
How much the Folaus received from RA after the long-running legal dispute is unknown.
The lowest figure was reported to have been about A$2.5 million. The highest was A$8 million, a figure RA chief executive Raelene Castle said was wildly inaccurate.
Israel Folau’s decision to fight RA
‘‘She is going to go down as one of our all-time greats.’’
Waimarama Taumaunu
wouldn’t have been cheap. In June, as the costs began to mount, he posted a message on social media to ask his supporters to donate money after starting a GoFundMe campaign and A$3 million was the target.
He stated he and Maria had used over A$100,000 of their savings and he was willing to ‘‘do what it takes for this cause’’.
Maria reposted the message, accompanied by the word ‘‘support’’.
The GoFundMe campaign was short lived. Following widespread condemnation, the account was shut down because GoFundMe had ruled Folau’s campaign violated its terms of service and contributors, who had donated A$750,000, were refunded.
During this time it also emerged that Folau owned eight properties in a portfolio valued at A$5.6 million.
Some commentators in New Zealand said Maria had every right to support her husband. It was a view reinforced by Taurua to NewstalkZB following her retirement. Others disagreed.
Former Australian netball great Liz Ellis said on Twitter that ‘‘anyone who is seen to support or endorse homophobia is not welcome’’.
‘‘As much as I love watching @MariaFolau play netball I do not want my sport endorsing the views of her husband.’’
It became increasingly difficult to separate Maria from the views of her husband, and what he stood for.
Netball fans were thankful, however, that she did her talking on the court when the Silver Ferns won the World Cup by beating Australia in the final in Liverpool in July.
NNZ will also be grateful management and the players remained focused, that the controversial star didn’t influence the team’s dynamics.
By all accounts Folau was a popular member of the squad. There were certainly no reports of dissent.
And now her days in the Silver Ferns are over. She has remained silent.
Folau ensured her actions on the court spoke louder than words, right to the very end.