Poll shows Israel Folau’s return to rugby league has the support of fans

Israel Folau’s potential return to rugby league has gained momentum after a poll indicated a majority of fans support his return.

Israel Folau is training on his own in Brisbane, waiting for an opportunity

The results are in. Rugby league fans want Israel Folau back in the game and have voted overwhelmingly in favour of his return in polling conducted by the Australian Christian Lobby.

The ACL used an independent marketing firm to poll more than 1000 fans across NSW and Queensland. They found that only 35 per cent of supporters backed the original decision to exile Folau over his contentious social media posts and support for his return was strongest among those with a high interest in the game.

Rugby league purists seemingly have no issue with Folau being given an opportunity by an NRL club — 69 per cent said they would support his return to top-level rugby league.

While the majority of those polled were ambivalent about the amount of rugby league they would watch with Folau back on the field, they did raise concerns over the influence of sponsors on the clubs and head office.

St George Illawarra were close to signing Folau earlier this year, only to withdraw at the 11th hour after a backlash from their corporate backers.

The NRL also has concerns over the response from corporate Australia should Folau be brought back into the game. The Queensland Rugby League felt the same way when it emerged that Folau could make a comeback with a side in the Intrust Super Cup.

Folau continues to train on his own in Brisbane and while there have been rumours that clubs are interested in signing him, no one has pushed the go button.

The NRL has said it will only consider allowing Folau to return once they have a contract put in front of them for registration.

The ACL poll results may help convince a club to take a risk on the 32-year-old, who has maintained his silence since returning to Australia from Super League side Catalans.

ACL managing director Martyn Iles insisted the poll results lent further weight to the organisation’s campaign to get Folau back into the NRL.

“Israel Folau is a much-loved Australian champion who has been banned from the NRL for once sharing a post on social media that they didn’t like,” Iles said.
“Now, corporate and media voices want to keep him out of the game, even though … the fans want him to play; the clubs want him to play; the players want him to play; Israel wants to play.

“Why can’t he play? Those at the top want to punish him forever – even though they allow others to play who have criminal charges and atrocious personal conduct.

“This double standard is wrong. So we decided to ask Australians in the two biggest rugby league states – NSW and QLD – what they thought.

“Firstly, only 35 per cent of rugby league watchers supported the ban in the first place. And now a massive 69 per cent of rugby league supporters want Israel back on the field.

“Even moderate supporters of the game want him back, with 66 per cent saying they support a return.

“Feasibly the most telling piece of data of all is the two-thirds of rugby league supporters that believe sponsors have too big a role in deciding who gets to play and who doesn’t.

“We as a country are still yet to properly enshrine religious freedoms in law. The ACL is committed to a free and fair opportunity for all Australians to play sport and earn a living without fear of discrimination.

“Anything less is an abuse of human rights.”

The polling was carried out by SMR Global.