‘Between a Stone Tablet and a hard place’ - Scotty Stevenson
If Israel Folau really wants to stay in Australian Rugby Union, he’s got a funny way of showing it. Oh, and Rugby Australia is being played.
Yesterday, the Australian rugby union player Israel Folau released what he described as a ‘context’ piece on his recent social media comments regarding homosexuals, and his subsequent meeting with Rugby Australia officials in the wake of the public relations fall out.
In the article published on the Players Voice platform under the by-line, ‘Founding Contributor’, Folau defends his world view through the prism of his own religious experience, which is, he and his supporters would argue, his right.
Folau is indeed entitled to hold whatever views he likes, even those that would seem to run counter to the views of his employer, Rugby Australia, and the views of a number of the sport’s participants, fans, and families; and commercial partners.
Many media outlets have shared the article since its publication on Monday, with most focussing on Folau’s assertion that he was prepared to walk away from his contract with Rugby Australia, rather than his firmly-held belief that homosexuals are going to hell unless they somehow un-Gay themselves, presumably through baptism.
Yes, well, the Devil is in the detail.
In the article Folau, who claims Rugby Australia ‘misrepresented’ his position, says,
“I told Raelene [Castle, Rugby Australia CEO] if she felt the situation had become untenable – that is I was hurting Rugby Australia, its sponsors and the Australian rugby community to such a degree that things couldn’t be worked through – I would walk away from my contract, immediately.”
That is a cleverly-worded paragraph, placing Castle and the Rugby Australia Executive in a clearly invidious position. Folau implies that it was up to Castle to make a call on whether or not she believed the fall-out from Folau’s statements constituted a serious enough situation to warrant his ‘resignation’. Any executive worth her chops – and Raelene Castle certainly has a reputation for effective management – would understand the trap here.
It is a well-trodden path to victimhood here, but it is Rugby Australia who finds themselves in a no-win situation. If Folau felt his comments were out of line (and his article makes it patently clear he does not) he could have offered a resignation which, in turn, may have been gladly accepted. He did not do this. He placed the onus on Rugby Australia to make the suggestion that his comments, and his continued belief in those comments, made his contract unsustainable. That, in turn, would have opened the door for Folau to claim discriminatory policies on the part of his employer.
Even if this was not Folau’s intent – and the benefit of the doubt is offered here – it is most certainly the outcome.
He goes on to say that “there have been offers from the UK, Europe and Japan that are way above anything I could earn in Australia.” It is inconceivable that there have not been such offers, given the respective spending capabilities of clubs within each of those jurisdictions. However, this hardly provides leverage at this particular time as World Rugby regulations are in place to prevent players jumping contracts. If Folau wanted to take up another Rugby Union opportunity in his current contracting period (which comes to a close at the end of this year) he would need clearance from Rugby Australia to do so.
It is no secret that Folau is also being courted by clubs in the NRL, and his representative, Isaac Moses, is one of the most active agents in Australian Rugby League. It is almost certain given Folau’s on-field ability that there will be a bidding war for his services. Resigning from his current Rugby Union contract before the end of its term could be detrimental to any negotiation post-2018. It would effectively take a bidder out of the market.
So, we end up here, between a Stone Tablet and a hard place. Rugby Australia are powerless to prevent Folau from expressing his religious beliefs, and Folau insists on being able to do so. This is contract brinkmanship of a kind rarely seen in Rugby Union, and there is one party to this palaver that has a clear upper hand.
Tip: it’s not the one you think.
UPDATE:
The above was written before the announcement today that Rugby Australia would not take any further action over the comments made by Folau in his social media post on April 4.
In the statement, Raelene Castle says:
“In his article, Israel clearly articulated his religious beliefs and why his faith is important to him and has provided context behind his social media comment.
“In his own words, Israel said that he did not intend to upset people intentionally or bring hurt to the game. We accept Israel’s position.
“Rugby Australia will use this experience as an opportunity to remind all employees of their obligations to use social media in a respectful way.”
According to sources, there is no clause in the players’ agreement with Rugby Australia that directly addresses the issues raised with regards religious beliefs and these kinds of comments in social media forums. In other words, Ms Castle and the Rugby Australia executive would seem to be powerless to sanction Folau even if they wanted to. The release of the above statement does nothing to alter the arguments outlined in the above column. In fact, this statement indeed serves to strengthen that argument
Comments on RugbyPass
Should have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments