Israel Folau's wife has hit out at the NRL on her Instagram account, questioning the level of 'hypocrisy' from Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter V'Landys.
The Manly Sea Eagles' pride jersey controversy has taken a majority of NRL headlines this week, and Folau's wife Maria wasted little time in taking a shot at V'Landys, who said during the week that players religious and cultural beliefs had to be respected.
โWeโre all human beings at the end of the day.โ
โBut at the same time, you have to respect the playerโs religious and cultural beliefs. Those players are taking a stance, and they have every right to.โ
Israel Folau has a controversial history around issues such as these, having had his Rugby Australian contract torn up over a number of social media posts.
He then looked to return to the NRL around the time V'Landys became chairman of the ARLC, only for V'Landys to label Folau's comments 'not inclusive.'
โThe game is inclusive. The comments of Israel are not inclusive," V'landys said at the time.
Maria Folau has now hit out on Instagram with a screenshot of the comments, suggesting V'Landys had been hypocritical in the way he had handled the Manly situation against how he had handled any possible contract opportunity in the NRL.
"The hyspocrisy [sic] from this man and this organisation. What a joke," read the post.
Folau, following his stints with the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos between 2007 and 2010 where he played 91 games and 8 State of Origins, went on to play both AFL and rugby union, representing the Wallabies in 73 Tests between 2013 and 2019.
Aiming for a return to rugby league, he played 15 games for the Catalans Dragons in 2020, as well as spending some time in the local Gold Coast competition, before playing Japanese rugby this year with the Shining Arcs and making his Test debut for Tonga just a number of weeks ago.
The Minto-born 33-year-old is till currently linked with the Shining Arcs in Japanese rugby.
