FOLAU: ‘I STILL HAVE LOT TO GIVE’
Former NRL star opens up ahead of Coast footy debut for Southport
OUTSPOKEN dual international Israel Folau insists he still has plenty to offer but concedes NRL clubs may be scared to go near him again.
The controversial 32-year-old will on Saturday night make his debut for Southport Tigers against defending premier Runaway Bay in the Rugby League Gold Coast competition.
The Owen Park encounter will be a world away from the NRL or international rugby union stages Folau once dominated, but he has long harboured ambitions of a return to the elite level.
“I still have a lot to give,” said Folau, who was famously sacked by the Wallabies in 2019 for saying “Hell awaits” gay people.
“I’m in good physical shape ... every athlete wants that opportunity. (But) given my history a lot of the (NRL) clubs didn’t want to touch me.”
MATT Geyer is no stranger to Israel Folau’s freakish feats of athleticism.
He had front-row seats to Folau’s stunning debut NRL season, in which a 17-year-old with all the raw talent in the world broke a swath of club and competition records on his way to Dally M Rookie of the Year honours.
Folau’s 21 tries in 2007 broke Billy Slater’s rookie club record of 19 and Geyer, in the penultimate season of his 10-year Melbourne Storm career, had never seen a debut campaign like it.
“I know first-hand, as much as anyone, how much of a freak athlete he is. His strength, size and mobility … he’s played three codes at the highest level. We’ve seen plenty try to do that and none be successful,” the Currumbin Eagles coach said.
His contract feud with Catalans finally over, and the court battle with the QRL quashed, Folau is free to play alongside his brothers, John and Eni, before departing at the end of the year for Japanese rugby side NTT Communications Shining Arcs.
Saturday will be the first time in more than a decade Folau plays rugby league at any level in Australia, having left the Brisbane Broncos at the end of 2010 to sign with AFL expansion club Greater Western Sydney.
His return bid to rugby league has divided opinion across the country, but Geyer said Folau the player was a welcome addition to the Rugby League Gold Coast.
“A lot of people have said they want to come and watch Israel play,” Geyer said.
“It’s great for our game. Everyone is talking about Gold Coast rugby league because of Izzy.
“I won’t sit here and say one bad word about Izzy. I loved him as a kid – a really nice boy, always respectful, and he’s matured into a young man. He wants a bit of redemption. He wants to come back to rugby league and however that unfolds, so be it.”
Folau’s former Maroons State of Origin teammate, Ben Hannant said he was happy for Folau to take all the spotlight.
“How good (is it) to have him back,” Hannant said.
“Obviously, I think he was hard done by with the way he’s been treated in the past.
“The great thing is, it’s great advertising for the Gold Coast to have someone of his calibre helping the people at Southport.”