Former NRL star Israel Folau and his partner have broken their silence after reports emerged that the Wests Tigers were interested in securing the 37-year-old before the June 30 deadline.
Folau's partner, Maria, went to her social media to tell their side of the story, where the dual international came firing at the NRL, calling out their double standards surrounding why they pulled a contract lodge off the table.
Maria claimed that Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall allegedly approached Folau to be a part of the club for the remainder of the season, with Folau agreeing to do so. Although conversations back and forth with the ARL, and among the Tigers board stalled progress in the transfer, where it came to an agreement that the Tigers were not going to proceed with lodging a contract.
"The double standard from the NRL is crazy," Israel said on social media in his partner's Instagram comment section.
"The game talks about inclusion, yet my Christian beliefs were said to be a problem and didn't align with their values.
"At the same time, players who've committed actual offences have been welcomed back. Make it make sense."
Maria explained in the post that after returning from overseas, Folau was told the Tigers were no longer interested due to distractions it will bring from the media and other sectors of the board which didn't agree with the vision.
"Benji contacted 'Iz' saying that he wanted Izzy to be a part of the Wests Tigers for the remainder of the season," Folau's partner said in her social media post.
"Iz told Benji he would have to clear it with Peter V'Landys because of what happened with the Dragons in 2021, with Izzy being blocked to play in the NRL. Benji said, 'Yes, all good', that he'd already cleared it with V'Landys and the Tigers board that it was all good for Izzy to play in the NRL.
"Then about a week later Benji called and said he hit a roadblock, that Peter had spoken to him saying that everyone has given the all-clear, but Wayne Pearce, who is on the commission.
"His reasoning behind not wanting Izzy to play is because of inclusiveness, whatever that means, and also that it would be a bad look to have Izzy back in the game.
"Then an associate of ours got in contact with Wayne Pearce via text, and it was the same thing, that Izzy wasn't welcome to play.
"We were told by Benji that he was still keen to have Izzy back on board and try to get a contract lodged, and that the board were meeting on Sunday to talk about the situation.
"We just got back from Tonga and we've been told the Tigers are no longer going to lodge a contract because of media pressure, it would be a distraction for the club and pressure from elsewhere. It's very unfortunate that the Tigers have changed their mind, I feel like this whole exercise was a complete waste of time.
Folau had his multi-million dollar contract from Rugby Australia torn up in 2019 after breaching the franchise's Professional Players' Code of Conduct through social media posts surrounding Christianity and sexuality.
The highly controversial figure was sought after by the Dragons in 2021 for a return to the NRL after leaving in 2010, but was shot down from backlash from sponsors and Red V fans.
The Dragons withdrew their interest, and Folau hasn't been in the sights of an NRL return until now with the Tigers.
