Israel Folau’s contract proof of the diminishing value of rugby union internationals
MONDAY BUZZ: Israel Folau spent Saturday afternoon mingling with celebrities and eating fine food. It says a lot about Australian rugby and why the game is in such a poor state.
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SPOTTED: Part-time Wallabies superstar Israel Folau in the birdcage at Flemington on Saturday afternoon with his fiancee Maria Tutaia.
Both looking a million dollars while rubbing shoulders with celebrities and racing’s elite.
They were all there — Jennifer Hawkins, Karl Stefanovic with his new missus, Usain Bolt, Ian Thorpe, Gary Ablett, Melissa George, Kate Waterhouse and TV stars. A lifetime of ‘Spotteds’.
French champagne, cocktails, premium wine and boutique beer to wash down the free-range chicken, canapés, lobster, prawns, smoked salmon and Tasmanian cheeses.
Meanwhile the Wallabies are in Japan on their way to Europe for the Spring tour.
Yet Folau gets a leave pass despite the fact he’s far and away the highest paid player in the game.
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It says a lot about Australian rugby and why the game is in such a poor state.
Could you imagine Folau’s equivalent in Australian cricket, champion opening batsman Dave Warner, asking for three months off and giving up his baggy green for an overseas tour.
Could you imagine Cameron Smith not wanting to wear the green and gold in one Test match, let alone half a dozen.
Or having a three-month license to go and play UK Super League while the Kangaroos were involved in Test matches.
This wouldn’t happen in any other sport.
Even our tennis brats normally turn up to play Davis Cup for Australia. Most of the time anyway.
The Wallabies are preparing for a World Cup next year. It’s less than two years away.
Spring tours are all about building camaraderie, team work and hopefully a winning culture.
It’s about respect for the jersey.
Yet Folau has the most flexible and most lucrative contract ever offered to an Australian player.
He gets time off, not just to rest his body, but to play overseas and make hundreds of thousands of dollars more, if he wishes to.
Meanwhile his team mates continue the hard slog of training, living out of a suitcase and playing Test matches.
They, like most Australian workers, will get their six-week break over Christmas.
The problem comes back to the diminishing value of rugby union internationals.
These days the Wallabies play 15 Test matches a year.
Outside of the Bledisloe Cup, they’ve become the equivalent value of cricket one-day internationals.
Do we care Australia beat Japan 63-30 in Yokohama on Saturday?
Will we care this time next year about the result against Scotland or Wales over the next few weeks?
In the defence of Australian rugby, administrators had to come up with a salary and lifestyle package to keep Folau in the sport.
A package that allowed him to earn more cash overseas at the completion of our domestic internationals. Or to take an extended holiday.
Otherwise he’d have gone back to rugby league.
Still, that’s not the point.
This is about having different rules for different players in a team sport.
He’s not a boxer, a tennis player or a golfer.
He’s a Wallaby. And he should have been in Japan, not at Flemington.
Originally published as Israel Folau’s contract proof of the diminishing value of rugby union internationals