News Do you care if Israel Folau returns to the NRL?

[roostersrule2]

In 2010, he was the Broncos best back, albeit by default.

K. Hunt had left the previous season, Hodges had ruptured his achilles in the first week of pre-season and Yow Yeh made a slow start to the season after suffering an injury in the All-Stars game. It wouldn't be until 2011 until Jharal really became of age, and even then, it's debatable whether he was as talented as Folau.

For mine, it's a case of more the merrier. The more guys you have like Hayne, Burgess, Marshall, SBW & Folau, the better for the competition. Elite athletes like them don't grow on trees and despite being promised otherwise, the game never found another Tuqiri, Sailor or even Rogers. Since Folau, the only player of his calibre that has emerged is Tuivasa-Sheck. The rest have only had their moments and have yet to cement themselves as quickly as Inglis, Hayne and Folau did.

Milford and Johnson are in that calibre. Bird and Holmes might be as well.

There's a lot of young talent in the NRL.

 

[Big Pete]

Plenty of young talent in the NRL, but none of them have hit the scene like Folau.

The guy was playing for his country at 18 and looked like a superstar at 17.

Those players you mentioned may hit it big in the not too distant future, but right now they haven't reached his profile.

 

[madunit]

Israel Folau is a great player. If he played full back or centre he could carve up the NRL. He would be a force in Origin and attract lots of union viewers to his club and Origin games.

But a further bonus to having Israel Folau back in the NRL is that his departure would screw the Waratahs, the Wallabies, and interest in rugby union in Australia.

Rugby League has survived without the 500 remaining people who still watch Union.

Furthermore, if Folau came back to the NRL, there is no chance in hell that those RU fans will take any interest in his return here.

There's only one Rugby Union loving, Rugby League hating person who watches League games and that's a bandana wearing f**k knuckle who is uglier than a hat full of arseholes

 

[Mr Angry]

Could not care less, one person.

 

[ULYSSES]

I rated Folau but I don't want him to come back until he really makes a mark in Rugby. He had a pretty ordinary RWC. We just took back Burgess ( a very ordinary RWC) and he failed to set the Rah Rah's on fire. I want winners that they will miss not also rans coming back. We need to show we are a dominant code.

 

[Smalls]

Dont want him back if the NRL have to kick in extra, would make the comp either unfair or too complicated to make it work salary cap wise

 

[POPEYE]

Be nice to have him where in our opinion, maybe not his, he belongs . . . the problem is most of us think he's necessary when for the game's sake he shouldn't be

 

[Knownothing]

He was drastically overrated before he left, and several years bludging in rugby won't have done a thing to sharpen his abilities.

Like Brad Thorn? Or Will Chambers? Or SBW?




Didn't seem to hurt them too much.

 

[ed612313]

Israel would "carve up" the NRL????
From memory when he was younger and faster (than he is now) he was only ever good under the high ball? Cant remember him "carving up" many teams. He looks very good in Union as the players arnt the same standard as NRL

 

[ed612313]

would ARU miss him? he was medicore during the RWC yet the wallabies still made the final.

Yes... He's the Wannabies best player and also their most marketable.
Had an average WC as he was obviously injured..

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I care now. Apparently Toddy is stepping up his pursuit of Israel and the imaginary friends in the sky that come along as part of the package, even asking the 16 CEOs how they'd handle the latest case of homophobia under the guise of religion.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...gby-australia-sours-following-gay-hate-speech

The headline is right, it is gay hate speech. f**k the people who say it's freedom of speech - Israel went out of his way to reply to a comment on instagram, where he had absolute no requirement to. He wasn't asked in a presser, he wasn't doing a live chat...he cherry picked a comment out of an insta feed, the sort of comment that's been let through to the keeper by sportspeople millions of times every day. He wanted to make a point of being a homophobic prick, because 'God' told him to.

We don't need people in our game who stick their finger up to equality. The NRL now regularly has a float at the Mardi Gras and they'll be hypocritical if they decide to continue pursuing someone who has not only has no interest in equality but openly criticises it with promises of damnation to hell for those who are born gay (no it is not chosen). I don't mind if Israel voted no to gay marriage, that's his right. It's also his right to believe the imaginary sky fairies and what they brainwash him with. It's also probably his 'right' to express gay people are going to hell but it should also be the NRL's right, as it should be with the AFL, to tell him to take his religious views and f**k off because it's harmful. I really can't see the difference between that and someone racially abusing Greg Inglis.

 

[Rabbit toes]

I care now. Apparently Toddy is stepping up his pursuit of Israel and the imaginary friends in the sky that come along as part of the package, even asking the 16 CEOs how they'd handle the latest case of homophobia under the guise of religion.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby...gby-australia-sours-following-gay-hate-speech

The headline is right, it is gay hate speech. f**k the people who say it's freedom of speech - Israel went out of his way to reply to a comment on instagram, where he had absolute no requirement to. He wasn't asked in a presser, he wasn't doing a live chat...he cherry picked a comment out of an insta feed, the sort of comment that's been let through to the keeper by sportspeople millions of times every day. He wanted to make a point of being a homophobic prick, because 'God' told him to.

We don't need people in our game who stick their finger up to equality. The NRL now regularly has a float at the Mardi Gras and they'll be hypocritical if they decide to continue pursuing someone who has not only has no interest in equality but openly criticises it with promises of damnation to hell for those who are born gay (no it is not chosen). I don't mind if Israel voted no to gay marriage, that's his right. It's also his right to believe the imaginary sky fairies and what they brainwash him with. It's also probably his 'right' to express gay people are going to hell but it should also be the NRL's right, as it should be with the AFL, to tell him to take his religious views and f**k off because it's harmful. I really can't see the difference between that and someone racially abusing Greg Inglis.

Homosexuality isn’t the problem here.
Religion is

 

[Mr Spock!]

Haven't we had a thread like this every year since he left......

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Homosexuality isn’t the problem here.
Religion is

So it's not homosexuality because it's hidden amongst the sacred tome that is the Bible?

Course it's homosexuality. Same as if the Bible said that black people shall be banished and beaten across eternity, that would be racism.

I'm not gay or black. But I am sick of f**king death of religion being used as a defence for bigoted behaviour and worse. Every member of this forum probably has an in-built or learned conditioning that would present as bigoted or even hate-speech related, whether it be a bias or disdain for a certain race of people, misogyny, whatever. Difference is, we generally are wise and respectful enough to not air it. As I said, Israel had no need to air his. It was homophobic. I can't see an argument why it wasn't. How can you argue saying gay people are going to hell is not homophobic, even if it is deep-rooted in a book from the fiction section at the library?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Haven't we had a thread like this every year since he left......

Yes, because he keeps repeating these sorts of statements that don't make life any easier for those from the gay community.

 

[Mr Spock!]

Yes, because he keeps repeating these sorts of statements that don't make life any easier for those from the gay community.

Yeah, but I mean threads about Folau coming back to the nrl.

 

[Rabbit toes]

So it's not homosexuality because it's hidden amongst the sacred tome that is the Bible?

Course it's homosexuality. Same as if the Bible said that black people shall be banished and beaten across eternity, that would be racism.

I'm not gay or black. But I am sick of f**king death of religion being used as a defence for bigoted behaviour and worse. Every member of this forum probably has an in-built or learned conditioning that would present as bigoted or even hate-speech related, whether it be a bias or disdain for a certain race of people, misogyny, whatever. Difference is, we generally are wise and respectful enough to not air it. As I said, Israel had no need to air his. It was homophobic. I can't see an argument why it wasn't. How can you argue saying gay people are going to hell is not homophobic, even if it is deep-rooted in a book from the fiction section at the library?

If he wasn’t religious he view may not be askew. Christians openly state and preach what Folau said. If he wasnt under the “belief” then his opinion may have changed and been different through this life.
What he said is wrong but it’s also influenced directly by religion. By his own admission. You see any agnostics or atheists getting up there and panning homosexuals?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Yeah, but I mean threads about Folau coming back to the nrl.

Yeah probably, I bumped it because Todd is openly courting him back to the game and Garth Brennan apparently has said he wants to build the Titans around him. And I believe they should tell him to f**k off. The game has by and large cleaned its PR act up, as Todd so proudly stated over the off-season. Why would we want to take on someone to threaten that? At least SBW only poo-pooed bank sponsors commitments, not gay people.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

I can't understand why people are being critical of Israel. He is a Mormon. Mormon's believe that all homosexuals go to hell. It has been that way since Joseph Smith made up the book of Mormon in the 1800's. This is what they are taught every week when they go to Church and every time they look at certain chapters of the book of Mormon.

If you ask the likes of Jarryd Hayne and Will Hopoate or countless other Mormons across Rugby League they would probably tell you that they believe the same thing and if they don't tell you that then they are either lying or have stopped practicing their faith.

As long as we recognise Mormonism as a religion, people who practice it will have these beliefs and really, if you dig deep enough, you'd find quite a few fundamentalists of other religions including Christianity that believe the same thing.

The way the media have reacted this last week or so, it's like half of them have never encountered religious nutters before.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

If he wasn’t religious he view may not be askew. Christians openly state and preach what Folau said. If he wasnt under the “belief” then his opinion may have changed and been different through this life.
What he said is wrong but it’s also influenced directly by religion. By his own admission. You see any agnostics or atheists getting up there and panning homosexuals?

His admission isn't that it's wrong. In fact he's sticking to his guns from what we read. Actually that's 100% fact, because he then tweeted some absolute crap about persecution before the meeting with the ARU. He's completely unrepentant.

Let me put this scenario to you: a Wallabies player, who is an atheist, comes out and delivers gay hate speech. He says gays are disgusting or they're a lesser part of society (which is what sending them to hell insinuates). How much do you reckon said player will be fined or suspended? My guess is shitloads. Jacques Potgieter was fined $20000 simply for calling someone a twig (the F word) on field. That's a throwaway, unconsidered line. Not calculated and targeted like Folau. So why does Israel Folau get defended in press releases by the Waratahs and ARU for 'freedom of speech?" How are those two things different?

Because we're dancing around religion, right?