Israel Folau

Israel ‘Isileli Folau (Tongan: [fo'lɑʊ̯]; born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks. Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

Israel Folau
Personal information
Full nameʻIsileli Folau
Born (1989-04-03) 3 April 1989
Minto, New South Wales, Australia
Height6 ft 4 in (1.94 m)
Weight16 st 3 lb (103 kg)
Playing information
Rugby league
PositionCentre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–08 Melbourne Storm 52 36 5 0 154
2009–10 Brisbane Broncos 39 37 0 0 148
2020 Catalans Dragons 15 5 0 0 20
Total 106 78 5 0 322
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010 NRL All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
2008–10 Queensland 5 5 0 0 20
2007–09 Australia 8 6 0 0 24
Rugby union
PositionFullback, Wing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–2019 New South Wales Waratahs 96 60 0 0 300
2021– Urayasu D-Rocks 20 16 0 0 80
Total 116 76 0 0 380
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–2019 Australia 73 37 0 0 185
2022– Tonga 2 0 0 0 0
Australian rules football
PositionUtility
Club
Years Team Pld G
2011–2012 Greater Western Sydney 13 2
Source:
As of 14 July 2023

Folau began his professional career playing rugby league. Representing the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL) from 2007 to 2008, where he broke the record for most tries in a debut year. He then played with the Brisbane Broncos from 2009 to 2010. Playing as a wing or centre, Folau represented Queensland in the State of Origin and Australia, becoming the youngest player to play for both teams. In 2020, Folau played for the French rugby league team the Catalans Dragons in the Super League.

In 2011, Folau joined the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL) and played for two seasons. In December 2012, Folau announced he was to switch codes again, this time for rugby union, and signed a one-year contract with the Waratahs. He would later become the record holder for the most tries scored in Super Rugby history post the 2019 season. At international level, he made his debut for Australia in 2013 against the British & Irish Lions, and went on to earn 73 caps. In 2022, Folau switched allegiance in honour to represent Tonga after World Rugby announced its new eligibility laws.

Folau's statements about what he understands the Bible to say about same-sex marriage and homosexuality brought him into conflict with the administrators of Rugby Australia, and in 2019 they terminated his contract. Alleging that Rugby Australia terminated his employment on the basis of religion, Folau commenced proceedings in the Fair Work Commission but was unable to reach a settlement with Rugby Australia. He subsequently commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and a confidential settlement between the two parties was released on 4 December 2019.

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