Let’s clear up some things. Israel Folau was prepared to bankrupt Australian rugby rather than delete a social media post. For everything he achieved for our sport on the rugby pitch, it’s difficult to understand the lack of respect he has for the fans who once celebrated him.
And no, he didn’t do it as a moral stand in defence of freedom of speech. When the offer of a settlement came, he took the money and abandoned his court case. He set no legal precedent, and no one who donated to him got their money back (despite him raising more than $2 million).
Then, as if to rub it in the faces of Australian rugby, he then signed a new contract with a Super League team in which he agreed not to share any other posts that could damage the brand of the league. He was prepared to self-censor for the Catalan Dragons… but not the Wallabies. Why?
As the crisis unfolded, he refused to even answer calls from Michael Cheika or Raelene Castle to somehow find a means to resolve the issue that could work for both parties. He was committed to starting a war.
Folau is entitled to his views, no one has ever denied him that right. But while he was Australia’s highest-paid player, the man on literally every advertisement for our sport, his utilisation of his platform to tell gay and lesbian Australians, including thousands of players and supporters, that “HELL AWAITS YOU”… left Rugby Australia with no other option.
Israel Folau. (Photo by Pita Simpson/Getty Images)
Now we know for a fact there are other players with comparably strong religious convictions as Folau, and no one is preventing their pursuit of the lifestyle they believe is necessary to appease their faith, but there is nothing within the tenets of the Christian faith that compels adherents to promote its most controversial doctrines on Instagram. This has nothing to do with “religious freedom”.
If any Australian player today made any statement of derision towards a large section of the Australian public, then Rugby Australia would have no choice but to compel that player to apologise and refrain from further comment. Folau chose to do neither.
Personally, I’m proud of the stance that Rugby Australia took. During a period where there wasn’t a great deal for Australian rugby fans to be proud of, the leaders of our sport along with the vast majority of the rugby community stood up for a traditionally marginalised group.
We were prepared to fire our best player rather than make anyone feel unwelcome in our sport because of their nature. Because rugby is more than winning games, it’s about the thousands of players, volunteers, and fans that make our sport a living ecosystem.
At a time when the All Blacks were capping players guilty of domestic violence, the Wallabies did what is right… not what was easy.
Israel has never apologised to any of us for what he did to our sport. For the millions of dollars he took away from grassroots programs. For the toxicity his judicial circus brought… and that social media post remains up.
But we have moved on, Australian rugby is finding its feet and dusting itself from a decade on the ropes… it would be a mindless venture in self-sabotage to put such a selfish and hateful person at the centre of our sport again.
If, and only if, Israel offers some semblance of regret for how he handled the situation, and for how he abandoned his teammates, and how he drained our struggling sport of money… then maybe I would have time for the resurrection of his image. But this was not an accident. It was not an error in judgment. This is who he is, and we do not need him anywhere near our sport again.
