Can rugby league redeem Folau?
Catalans Dragons aren’t “overly familiar with being the centre of attention”, said Mark Palmer in The Sunday Times. This Perpignan rugby league side is the only French club in the Super League, a competition that features ten English teams and one Canadian side. But last month, the Dragons signed “perhaps the most controversial rugby player on the planet”: Israel Folau, who was sacked by Australia’s rugby union team last year over an Instagram post saying that “drunks, homosexuals [and] adulterers” will go to hell. And his debut last Saturday, in the Dragons’ 36-18 win over Castleford Tigers, showed what Folau has in store. Two away supporters brought rainbow flags to the Dragons’ stadium, in protest at his homophobic comments; they were allegedly told by staff to remove them.
Folau is hardly the first controversial figure in rugby league, said Aaron Bower in The Guardian. Indeed, the Dragons have had “no shortage of players with chequered pasts”. Todd Carney, for example, saw his career in Australia end when a photograph, taken on a drunken night out, appeared to show him urinating into his own mouth. But what distinguishes those players from Folau is that they have shown remorse – whereas he hasn’t. He will surely hope to follow in the footsteps of Ben Barba, the Australian player whose transfer to St Helens in 2017, following a lengthy drugs ban, caused a great stir – only for him to play so well that his past misdemeanours were quickly forgotten.
Folau got off to a promising start on Sunday, said Ian Herbert in The Mail on Sunday. Even though he hadn’t played a match in four months, he still looked the “most powerful and athletic player on the field”. But the real test will come in away games. Next month, the Dragons will travel to Wigan Warriors, for a match the home team have decided to rename “Pride Day” – and the reception will be rather more hostile than the one Folau received in Perpignan. “Considerably tougher territory lies ahead.”