Rugby Australia extended an olive branch to Israel Folau, but Folau apparently values his beliefs to a degree that had him nixing the chance to return to Super Rugby and the Wallabies.
As the all-time leading try scorer of the Super Rugby competition, it would seem that Rugby Australia needs Folau worse than he needs Super Rugby and what has prevented him from heading overseas to take in some money from the French or the Brits is anyone’s guess.
Folau had an opportunity to address a congregation at a church recently, where he commented on the offer from RA that would essentially restore him to their good graces if he would agree to delete his most recent post that stirred things up.
“There have been many opportunities to potentially make the situation a little bit easier. I could go back and play the game, get everything back to the way it used to be,” Folau said.
He spoke of the offer from RA as though the governing body were offering a temptation, but he made a rather odd comment that somewhat points to the dichotomy of thought between practitioners of certain forms of Christianity and the rest of the world.
“All the materialistic things I have been able to have over the last number of years are slowly being taken away from me,” Folau said from the lectern of a Sydney Church.
A three-member panel with claims of independence in the matter will decide the fate of Folau sometime this week.
Folau could see his lucrative four-year, four-million dollar contract sent to the shredder, but Folau is of the belief that there are other paths open to him, indicating that he will not accept the decision simply based on blind faith.
The panel that will decide Folau’s fate is looking at written arguments from the lawyers representing Folau and Rugby Australia.
Both parties have the right to appeal whatever decision is handed down, so it would be reasonable to conclude that the matter can drag on for an indeterminate period of time.
