Crossing picket line won't endear Folau to striking Tonga players
By Phil Lutton
September 24, 2019 — 9.13pm
Israel Folau’s intention to cross the picket line and return to rugby league via a strife-torn Tonga will only give his critics further assurances that he considers his own career more important than the sports that have made him a fortune.
In a bungled oh-so-rugby league reveal on Monday night, which turned out to be laden with inconsistencies, the Tonga National Rugby League said Folau would play in Tests against the Kangaroos and Great Britain in October and November.
The Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) had approved the whole deal, read the statement, which also included a resounding approval from new coach Frank Endacott.
Neither the RLIF nor Endacott knew anything about it before they were told by reporters seeking comment on the controversial move.
Folau was quoted as saying that he would not "bring any of my personal matters into this" – which he found impossible to stick to as a Wallaby, hence his dismissal by Rugby Australia – and that he was rejoicing at being given the opportunity.
"What I will do now is focus on playing great rugby league and do my talking on the field," Folau was quoted as saying in the statement. Most familiar with the inner workings of Tongan rugby league don't believe Folau will make it that far.
While Folau is more than happy to pull on the jersey for the land of his father's birth, almost every other Mate Ma'a Tonga player of any note is at loggerheads with TNRL chairman George Koloamatangi and secretary William Edwards.
Unhappy with the sacking of coach Kristian Woolf, a block of almost 30 players have made a pact to boycott the national side until Woolf is reinstated and Koloamatangi and Edwards step down.
Former Titans coach Garth Brennan was to coach the team for the World Nines in October, but he quit late on Tuesday afternoon, saying it was all too political for his liking. It seems like Folau is the only man running towards the explosions.
With Andrew Fifita and Jason Taumalolo at the vanguard, the playing group want a new board elected and Woolf, who had coached the team from 2014 and into the memorable 2017 World Cup, back in his former role.
They are refusing to budge and are determined to make good on their threats to sit out the Nines and the following Tests. It would literally gut the squad to the point where it would be near impossible for Tonga to field any sort of competitive unit.
Fifita and Taumalolo famously pledged their allegiance to Tonga for that World Cup, and the move sparked a resurgence in the international game. Tonga were the hottest team in tournament, stunning New Zealand before a heartbreaking loss to England in the semi-finals. It was a stirring rise for a potential superpower of the code.
Not that any of that means much to Folau. Presented with a chance to get back on a football field –any football field – he appears to be content to thumb his nose at their solidarity and sacrifices.
Rest assured, many of the striking players will be deeply unhappy with Folau volunteering his services. They do not consider him "one of them", no matter how many Mate Ma'a fans want to see him in a red and white jumper.
If the issue was resolved in time for the Nines and the Tests, and Folau still wanted to compete, team insiders questioned whether he would make the cut in any case, given the Tongan ranks are now full of fit and often in-form NRL players.
The other query that immediately arose when news of Folau's potential return became public was what impact, if any, it would have on his Federal Court proceedings against Rugby Australia. He was sacked for a contract breach following homophobic social media posts.
He will allege his dismissal constitutes a restraint of trade based on his religious views, the question then being: How can he say his trade has been restrained if he is back playing a professional rugby code so soon?
Of more interest, says commercial sports lawyer with Gadens, Tim Fuller, is what impact it would have on his case if the RLIF vetoed any potential selection with Mate Ma'a Tonga. With NRL chiefs Todd Greenberg and Peter Beattie on the board, there will be substantial roadblocks in place.
Fuller said if that was the case, it may only serve to strengthen his claims in the Federal Court that he has been curtailed from seeking fair employment in his chosen field.
"I think it would be a dangerous precedent that the RLIF would establish to exclude Folau based on social media publications from a previous code after the member nation [Tonga] selected him," Fuller said.
"It smacks of, at a minimum, poor governance to their own rules and, at worst, discrimination. Any attempt to ban him exemplifies the claim that he has in court that he is being unreasonably restrained in his attempt to play sport and earn a living."
There will be twists and turns in this story as it plays out over the coming weeks, beginning with a RLIF board meeting on Friday. Regardless of what happens, don't expect Fifita and his comrades to forget that Folau was ready to stroll in just as they were walking out.
