Waratahs star Ned Hanigan would be ‘immensely disappointed’ if Israel Folau joined rivals Reds

THE news that Israel Folau is contemplating a move to the Reds is not something the Waratahs players want to hear, with Ned Hanigan saying he’d be ‘immensely’ disappointed if the star moved north.

Israel Folau’s form hasn’t dipped due to off-field controversy.

WARATAHS forward Ned Hanigan says the controversy around Israel Folau’s divisive religious tweeting hasn’t affected the team, or the fullback’s on-field performance.

But while sidestepping Folau’s social media use, the news that Folau is contemplating a move to the Reds is a pressing concern for Hanigan and the flanker said he’d be “immensely” disappointed if the star moved north to join Brad Thorn.

“I think you’d be silly being a supporter or a player of the Waratahs hearing that he was going to leave (and not being disappointed),” Hanigan said.

Israel Folau’s form hasn’t dipped due to off-field controversy.

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“He’s a good bloke to have around and I know as a young guy coming through in 2016, he was a guy who always carried himself with a smile, puts an arm around a young kid and outside we know whatever happens, happens.

“If you took a bloke of his stature and comes up to you and just offers anything, it’s special.

“That’s why I get along with him so well, because he’s warming and he’s like that.

“His outside world is his outside world.

“But when he’s here, he’s here for the group, and I’d be immensely disappointed if he was going to leave because I like him as a guy, he’s awesome on the field, he’s a fella that you want to give the ball to because he creates stuff. No one can deny that.”

Folau has been at the centre of a public storm in the last few months due to his use of social media to push his Christian beliefs, which include anti-gay messages.

Stuck between community outrage and a potential freedom of speech war, Rugby Australia did not sanction Folau for a comment on Instagram saying gay people would go to hell, but he was urged use respect on his social media platforms.

Ned Hanigan said he hoped Israel Folau didn’t head north to play for the Reds.

They probably hoped Folau would quieten down but he has since said he doesn’t back down from his beliefs and he shared a video on Twitter from an evangelical preacher on Tuesday that continued to stir up anger.

The 11-minute video referred to tolerance as a “misguided belief” and uses images of rainbow flags while talking about “perversion” in society.

Hanigan, who said he hadn’t seen the video or the tweet, said the attention and controversies around Folau’s views hadn’t affected the team.

“I haven’t (seen the tweet), no, which is interesting. That means that coming back here today it hasn’t affected anything so I can’t really comment on that to be honest,” Hanigan said.

“There’s obviously been a bit around Izzy of late and I think he probably came back into the squad and I can honeslty say his preparation for that Blues game was first class, which is testament to the athlete he is and his performance he had against the Blues, I reckon he was best on park.

“So he’ll be the same around here this week and that stuff hasn’t affected us at all.

Hanigan said he was supportive of Folau as a teammate but when pressed, he declined to support the content of the contentious messages he is sharing on social media.

“I’m probably not going to comment too much on that because, like I said, I haven’t seen the tweet or anything like that, Hanigan said.

“Izzy’s an integral part of our team. He’s been injured for a while now and he’s gotten back on the field so (we’re making sure) we concentrate on what’s happening on the field and we’ll go over there to Christchurch and hopefully he puts in a performance like he did.”

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Originally published as Waratahs star Ned Hanigan would be ‘immensely disappointed’ if Israel Folau joined rivals Reds