CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
With State Of Origin Game II happening this Sunday night, content producers at both the NRL and Channel 9 are facing an ethical dilemma.
This comes after former NRL-player-turned-AFL-player-turned-rugby-star Israel Folau reaches the $500,000 mark on $3m crowd-funding target.
The 30-year-old is appealing to the public to help him pay his legal fees against his former employer Rugby Australia, after they terminated his contract in April this year on the grounds of him continuously posting homophobic vitriol on Instagram.
While the rugby union community is using considerable resources to part ways with Folau for good, the rugby league are wondering if the same standard should apply for them – especially considering he was playing for them before he start offending people with his fundamentalist brand of Christianity.
Folau played five State Of Origin matches for Queensland before his transition to the AFL, in which he scored five spectacular tries that frequently appear on pre-Origin highlight reels.
However, with a growing list of ex-players that probably shouldn’t feature on primetime television due to court proceedings, the NRL has today gently asked the Australian LGBTI community if it would be okay for them to still use a highlight reel of tries and intercepts made by Israel Folau B.C. (before crook comments).
It is believed the LGBTI community have today granted permission to the NRL and Channel 9 for the usage of Israel Folau’s two ballet-esque tries in the 2008 Origin Game III – which landed him Man Of The Match in the 16-10 win over NSW and subsequent series win.
“The community acknowledges that Israel Folau’s Origin career took place six concussions ago” says NRL gay liaison officer, Cinto Lavendar.
“It’s not the Izzy we know today. It was the sexy Queenslander. Not the happy clapper. We give permission for those leaping tries to remain on television”
At time of press, the AFL had not indicated that they had any intention of broadcasting any match highlights from Folau’s alleged 3-year-career playing for the GWS Giants.
