Folau future in doubt at Dragons

STEVE Mcnamara has admitted he does not expect Israel Folau to return to Catalans Dragons.

The Dragons released their squad numbers on Wednesday, with Folau a notable omission from their list ahead of the upcoming Super League campaign.

Folau is currently in Australia with his family due to a private matter and Mcnamara says he is aware of talks over a potential return to the NRL.

Though the Catalans head coach wouldn’t close the door on the dualcode star returning the Perpignan, he conceded that it would take a ‘dramatic’ change in circumstances before Folau would be in a position to play for the club.

“We know his situation and he knows our situation,” he said.

“He’s got a serious situation as it stands. His management are having a look at other options in the NRL which we’ve spoken about. We’re all across that, we’re aware of it, I speak with him and his management and everything else.

“If something dramatic was to change I know he’d love to come back, but given his situation that can’t be done. At this stage, he won’t be back.

“It’s a very delicate situation for a lot of people but given his circumstance, the door is always open, he’s always welcome back, there’s no change to that. But given his current situation, we don’t expect that to be possible, particularly in the near future.

“I think he would have been even better this year, he came into our group with no rugby league training and jumped straight in and did really well. Given he’d have had a pre-season and the experience of playing last season I think he’d have really hit his straps.

“At this stage we aren’t looking to replace him, we do have another quota spot available as well so we do have options, but right now it looks like our squad at the start of the season is the squad we have now, the opportunity to add to that is there if that’s needed.”