World Footy News

GWS today officially announced that they have signed Brisbane Broncos (and former Melbourne Storm) rugby league star Israel Folau. Folau is well known for his high leaping catches and has often been touted as a natural choice for a code switch to Australian Rules football.

Folau is known to be a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his parents are of Tongan descent. He was born in Australia. He recently visited Tonga and when asked if he wanted to play for Tonga he said yes. A relaxation of the International Cup rules (and if Kevin Sheedy and Dale Holmes allowed it to happen) could allow him to do that in Australian Rules at the 2011 International Cup where Tonga are expected to field a national team, bearing in mind that GWS will be in the VFL and do not make their AFL debut until 2012.

See also our poll on whether Folau or former teammate Karmichael Hunt will be a greater success in the AFL.

If that were happen we are sure that the game would lure many more Tongan youths to the sport in their own country. In the NRL, Aboriginal players represented about 11 per cent of the players in the game, the number of Polynesian players is closer to 30 per cent. Folau's profile could mean an increase in the uptake of the game by Polynesians in Australia who generally consider Australian football a physically inferior game to rugby.

NRL boss David Gallop has been reported to be lobbying goverment to make Folau an ambassador for the Polynesian community in Australia (which would be assumed to come with goverment funding). Gallop may no longer be interested pushing the cause as now he would be doing it with an AFL deputy's badge.

This signing as well as that of Karmichael Hunt have come under plenty of criticism from people associated with both the NRL and AFL for the large amounts of money that the contracts are rumoured to guarantee these two. The success of these bold moves will have to be measured some years down the track, but there is no doubt that they have generated plenty of interest within AFL circles as well as in those NRL ones that may ordinarily pay the AFL no notice.

Audio of the press conference can be heard here.

The AFL released the following statement today following the announcement:

The AFL today welcomed the signing of Israel Folau to play with Team GWS and also to take on a game development role with the AFL and AFL NSW-ACT.

AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou said the signing of Israel Folau was a coup for the AFL’s newest club, which will join the competition in 2012, and showed that it was a club prepared to consider all options in in recruiting the best talent to the new club.

After discussions with Folau's management over whether he could make it as an AFL player, Folau was put through an AFL trial.

Mr Demetriou said Folau was an exciting athlete who combined pace, skill, height and power as a star for Australia and Queensland in the NRL competition, but was now prepared to build his reputation and cross over to AFL football, so as to return to his home community in Greater Western Sydney.

“The location of a team in Israel’s home community is a great attraction to him, and he’s prepared to learn the game to see if he can adapt to Australia’s only indigenous sport.

“He is a compelling athlete, as a physical specimen, and I commend the GWS administration and coaching staff for giving him the opportunity to play our code, and for backing themselves that they can harness Israel’s talents and his determination to become an AFL player.”

Mr Demetriou said he was delighted that AFL clubs across the competition continued to look in all areas when considering elite talent, and said he wished Folau the best of luck in following the footsteps of those who had come from other sports, including the likes of Dean Brogan, Jim Stynes, Tadhg Kennelly, Sam Gilbert and former Brisbane Broncos teammate Karmichael Hunt.

Israel Folau has been signed under Player Rule 21.3.4 (a) II which any AFL club can use to sign a player who has not been registered for at least three full years with any recognised Australian football competition at any level of the game.

Folau qualifies under this rule, which is the same rules that was used by Gold Coast to recruit Karmichael Hunt and by Carlton to recruit Setanta and Aisake O’hAilpin from an Irish Hurling background. Sydney has currently listed Jake Orreal on its rookie list who came from a volleyball background and Collingwood also has currently listed rookie Lachlan Keefe, who came from a soccer background.

As part of the arrangement, Folau will work for the AFL and AFL New South Wales in development and promotional roles for three years.

GWS also put out the following media statement:

Team GWS today announced that Israel Folau will be returning to his former home in Western Sydney to join its new Australian Football League team.

Team GWS, which will join the AFL in 2012 as the competition’s 18th club and the first to be based in Western Sydney, had successfully attracted Folau to join the side and also to work with the AFL to market and promote the sport across Greater Western Sydney.

Folau made his debut in the NRL with the Melbourne Storm in 2007 as a 17-year-old and was the youngest person selected for Australia as a Kangaroo in the game’s history, playing eight Test matches and six State of Origin matches over the last two seasons. He also played in Melbourne Storm’s premiership winning side in 2007.

GWS Chief Executive Officer Dale Holmes said he was thrilled that an elite athlete such as Folau would join the young team and was excited by the 195cm, 100kg player’s ability to transition into an AFL player.

He said Folau had taken part in an AFL trial some weeks ago and that Team GWS was satisfied that his elite natural skill, agility and athleticism, combined with his ability to learn and be coached, demonstrated that he could follow the likes of Daniel Merrett, Tadgh Kennelly and Kurt Tippett, in changing codes and succeeding as an AFL footballer.

Mr Holmes said the AFL and Team GWS were delighted that an elite athlete on the national stage wanted to be part of the building of a new team that would represent Greater Western Sydney.

“Israel and his family are originally from the west of Sydney, coming from Minto, and one of the attractions for Israel was the challenge of playing another code but also with a new team that was setting up in Western Sydney,” Holmes said.

“It was our administration’s view, and that of Kevin Sheedy as our senior coach, that an athlete of Israel’s height, skill, pace and power who wanted to come to our game was an exciting mix, and we want to give him the opportunity to succeed in our sport. And we believe we have the coaching staff who have a proven track record of turning good athletes into AFL footballers.

“Israel has strong links to this community and can also be a beacon for his community, who may not have considered our game as their first-choice sport as Team GWS builds over the next 18 months to become part of the AFL,” he said.

Mr Holmes said that Israel had signed for four years and that much of his the component of his football contract was performance-based. A significant part of this contract was for working with AFL NSW/ACT and the AFL to market and promote the club and the code to a wider audience.

“Israel will need to develop as a player as he comes in to the AFL and I have no doubt he will do that. He is very much the right man for our community in western Sydney, as a sportsman that is respected and admired by the people in this region.

Folau said he was delighted that GWS was prepared to commit to him, as it built its club towards entry into the AFL.

“My family and my community in Western Sydney are extremely important to me, and I am pleased to be playing for a new team in Western Sydney,” Folau said.

“I have watched Karmichael Hunt, and his decision to move into the AFL with Gold Coast, and we spoke with the AFL about a trial because I believed that I can also make the change and be a good AFL player.

“I have much to learn around the tactics of the game, but I am determined, I am a hard worker and know that there is a lot to do but I am determined to succussed as an AFL footballer.

Team GWS Head Coach Kevin Sheedy said he was excited by the athletic package that Folau offered, and it was now his job to mould his raw attributes into an AFL player.

“My whole coaching career, my time in this game, has been about finding talent, developing talent, and building our game,” Sheedy said.

“What we have in front of us is a 195cm power athlete who we know can run, jump and catch and is a star at the game he grew up with. He’s determined to be the best he can be and now we’ve got to use the tools he has and add what we know about the game and develop him, just like our game has developed Irishmen like Jimmy Stynes and Tadhg Kennelly and other current players who come from different sporting backgrounds, such as Sam Gilbert, Setanta O’Hailphin, Dean Brogan and Tom Williams.

Sheedy said development coach Alan McConnell, who had a long-standing career developing elite young talent within the AFL system, would be the primary person to work with Folau now that he would be joining Team GWS.

AFL General Manager Market Development David Matthews said Folau would also work with the AFL and AFL NSW to promote and develop the game over the next three years, and this development work would be the substantive base for his football income.

“Today’s announcement is about an elite sportsman coming to our game,” Matthews said.

“As Kevin has said, our game has had successful players come from overseas and also from other sports in Australia, such as Dean Brogan as a basketball, who have competed at an elite level in another sport.

“We commend Team GWS for being prepared to give Israel an opportunity to play and we wish him the best.”