Israel Folau leaves the Giants

[Land of the Giants]

Looks like Izzy isn't going back to league after all:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-too-late-to-retain-folau-20121130-2alzz.html

I reckon there's more to it than just the money. I think there's something about the culture of the NRL that Folau doesn't like...

 

[OrangeDuck]

Izzy just continues to lose his credibility. I'm sure he was reported to have told Parramatta he was 100% signing with them. Now he backflips and joins overseas rugby? He left NRL for a sport he's never played and ended up leaving. He's now going to another sport he never played. Will he last as long in union as he did in AFL?

You can't tell me money has no influence on his decisions. Just the way I see it.

 

[Go Giants]

Thanks to Izzy for coming to the Giants & good luck in his rugby career.

 

[Mountain Giant]

Haha. Brilliant. What a PR coup for NRL this has been!

I am not quite sure exactly who ended up looking worse here, GWS, AFL, NRL or Folau.

But I don't blame Folau, leaving GWS was the right thing to do as he was already becoming an albatross and as a professional sportsman I see no issue in chasing money.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

You certainly have to LOL at the NRL. They were licking their lips, and rubbing their hands with glee and using Izzy leaving us to bash us over the head. Now he's off to Europe to play another sport entirely so it is completely Suck to Them.

I don't think GWS or the AFL have come out of it looking that bad. We tried something, it didn't work out, we move on. It's the NRL that look like gooses because they worked so hard to get him back and then he was available right on a silver platter and they still didn't get him.

It doesn't do Izzy's credibility all that well though. If he had have gone back to league that's OK, he tried something, it didn't work out, he wanted to go to where it was comfortable and familiar. but now he's off to try a new sport again on a completely new continent. Hardly familiar and comfortable. it's not about chasing the dollar either, he was getting the dollar here. So what's going on?

I wonder who his manager is - the same guy looking after Quade Cooper?

 

[AndrewD]

Looks like Izzy isn't going back to league after all:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-too-late-to-retain-folau-20121130-2alzz.html

I reckon there's more to it than just the money. I think there's something about the culture of the NRL that Folau doesn't like...

I was thinking pretty much the same thing. Rejecting League in favour of Union makes me think that his willingness to join us wasn't purely down to the money. Possibly he was already disenchanted with the ARL before he made the move to Aussie Rules and was looking for a way out or a fresh start.

In regards to criticism of Izzy, I think it's pretty ordinary when people blame him for his move to AFL. I have no doubts he would have been told repeatedly, by all manner of 'experts' that he could easily make the transition to AFL and he would have made the switch in the belief that it was going to be successful. Obviously the money was a huge motivation but I very much doubt he would have made the move if he hadn't been led to believe that it was going to work. Blame the guys who gave him unrealistic expectations but don't blame Izzy for giving it a crack.

 

[OrangeDuck]

Possibly my favourite part of this saga is coming across this old gem

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...n-to-nrl-in-2013/story-fn2mcuj6-1226421039580

So much for Matty Johns saying Folau will be in NRL in 2013. Looks like that's not happening. So happy to see Johns get a bit back after he was so vocal against a lot this season. He always thinks he's right. Like his TV show, he has no idea why it failed (it was horrible for those lucky enough not to endure it when it was on).

 

[dlanod]

You certainly have to LOL at the NRL. They were licking their lips, and rubbing their hands with glee and using Izzy leaving us to bash us over the head. Now he's off to Europe to play another sport entirely so it is completely Suck to Them.

I don't think GWS or the AFL have come out of it looking that bad. We tried something, it didn't work out, we move on. It's the NRL that look like gooses because they worked so hard to get him back and then he was available right on a silver platter and they still didn't get him.

It doesn't do Izzy's credibility all that well though. If he had have gone back to league that's OK, he tried something, it didn't work out, he wanted to go to where it was comfortable and familiar. but now he's off to try a new sport again on a completely new continent. Hardly familiar and comfortable. it's not about chasing the dollar either, he was getting the dollar here. So what's going on?

I wonder who his manager is - the same guy looking after Quade Cooper?

This is the NRL, the same comp that just welcomed back SBW - who's walked out on more contracts that anyone. If Folau wants to come back to them, they'll open their arms... again and again and again...

 

[Land of the Giants]

I was thinking pretty much the same thing. Rejecting League in favour of Union makes me think that his willingness to join us wasn't purely down to the money. Possibly he was already disenchanted with the ARL before he made the move to Aussie Rules and was looking for a way out or a fresh start.

Looks like we were both right:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/tahs-may-net-folau-on-the-cheap-20121202-2aozr.html

I still think there's something about the NRL culture he doesn't like.

 

[AndrewD]

Looks like we were both right:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/tahs-may-net-folau-on-the-cheap-20121202-2aozr.html

I still think there's something about the NRL culture he doesn't like.

I still think you're right (sorry if it sounded like I was disagreeing - quite the opposite).

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

HorrorTahs have called a press conference for 9am tomorrow to announce their new signing. So much for Izzy's credibility.

 

[Land of the Giants]

Richard Hinds says it all in this morning's Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...oyalty-to-crack-the-codes-20121203-2ar7k.html

"Sonny Quade Folau" - priceless.

 

[Mountain Giant]

Richard Hinds says it all in this morning's Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...oyalty-to-crack-the-codes-20121203-2ar7k.html

"Sonny Quade Folau" - priceless.

I thought that article is a bit rubbish. Teams are rarely loyal to their players, so why should players be? However some players are a cancer to their club, like SBW, Mason (maybe even Tippett) and those guys you should always steer clear of.

 

[Scully2Folau]

Sheedy on Folau:

"From our point of view, (it was) one of the best marketing exercises since Tina Turner singing 'Simply the Best' with the NRL."

 

[AndrewD]

Sheedy on Folau:

"From our point of view, (it was) one of the best marketing exercises since Tina Turner singing 'Simply the Best' with the NRL."

And the more the NRL and the NRL-media goes on about it the more coverage GWS and the AFL are going to receive and the more young kids are going to think 'gee, there's some dollars to be made in Aussie Rules, I better learn how to play it'.

 

[justabaraker]

We looked a bit foolish when he walked away from AFL, but now he has made the NRL look foolish too.And himself I'm guessing.
But at least he only walked away from us ONCE, whereas he has walked away from the NRL TWICE !

 

[Scully2Folau]

Credit to Folau if this is indeed the case:

He's a loyal Folau, says Sheedy

ISRAEL Folau may have turned his back on a lucrative rugby league career in part because he was to be used as an anti-AFL propaganda tool.

The code-hopping Folau, who in a shock move this week signed a one-year contract with Super Rugby team the NSW Waratahs rather than, as had been expected, sign with NRL team Parramatta, was uncomfortable with the prospect of criticising AFL football after spending two years with expansion club Greater Western Sydney.

''I think there is an underlying comment out there that the NRL wanted him to bag the AFL, and he wouldn't do it,'' GWS coach Kevin Sheedy said on Wednesday.

''Maybe Israel Folau was being asked not only to sign with NRL, but also to bag the AFL. I don't think he felt comfortable with that at all.''

Another source claimed Folau had been told he would be expected to renounce his involvement with GWS, state publicly that he regretted having switched codes and become a figurehead for aggressive promotional campaigns in the west. But, having spent the past two years playing the reverse role for the AFL and GWS, Folau was reluctant to be used in the same manner again.

He's a loyal Folau, says Sheedy

 

[Land of the Giants]

He's a loyal Folau, says Sheedy

If it's true, no wonder the NRL & Parramatta are so pissed off.

 

[Covertackle]

it may have been a contractual part of the AFL's exit strategy, once it was established izzy was outa there. not a good look to get straight back to NRL. but to go to another code, sort of deflects any image damage suffered by the AFL.

just me thinking out loud. i know izzy WANTS to go back to the NRL. there must be a reason he has postponed his return. perhaps it is money? or perhaps it is contractual?

 

[dlanod]

it may have been a contractual part of the AFL's exit strategy, once it was established izzy was outa there. not a good look to get straight back to NRL. but to go to another code, sort of deflects any image damage suffered by the AFL.

just me thinking out loud. i know izzy WANTS to go back to the NRL. there must be a reason he has postponed his return. perhaps it is money? or perhaps it is contractual?

How do you know he wants to? He obviously had the chance and opted not to. If it was for money, then that doesn't speak highly for how badly he supposedly wanted to go back to the NRL for example.

 

[AndrewD]

it may have been a contractual part of the AFL's exit strategy, once it was established izzy was outa there. not a good look to get straight back to NRL. but to go to another code, sort of deflects any image damage suffered by the AFL.

just me thinking out loud. i know izzy WANTS to go back to the NRL. there must be a reason he has postponed his return. perhaps it is money? or perhaps it is contractual?

Completely impossible because it would have been illegal and totally unenforceable. If it had been part of his contract (which it wasn't) and Izzy had challenged it, he would have won without effort and THAT would have left the AFL with egg all over their face. Hell, any contract with that kind of clause in it could have been broken by a kid doing Yr 12 legal studies.

End of the day, the AFL didn't need any 'exit strategy' and, to be perfectly honest, things couldn't have worked out better for them. Izzy provided a huge amount of publicity leading up to and during the club's first year. However, by the end of the year it had become apparent that he would struggle to hold his place in the team in 2013 and beyond. In deciding to quit the game he's removed the chance the AFL could draw excess criticism for recruiting him in the first place.

Simply put, if he really wanted to go back to NRL he would have but he didn't so he hasn't.

 

[Covertackle]

either way, he's shown disloyalty all round.

 

[AndrewD]

either way, he's shown disloyalty all round.

Rubbish! He gave us the best he had; his coaches and his teammates loved him; he was great for the other players and when he realised that his heart could never fully be in a game that he wasn't able to master he resigned. No disloyalty to us in the slightest. Any issues that people have with him don't relate to his time in AFL and, I believe, involve details that they have no genuine knowledge of.

Disappointment does not equal disloyalty.