Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby Union have declared an intention to terminate Israel Folau’s contract unless any mitigating circumstances are presented.
They have not been able to make contact with him to discuss directly. Instead opting to flag impending termination.
Holding orthodox Christian views and presenting them publicly is no longer acceptable to Rugby Australia.
Unquestionably Israel Folau has a passion for both the God of the bible and Rugby Union.
These two passions we share, however where we differ is nuance and methods of evangelism.
Izzy has come under intense scrutiny with his Instagram post which can be found here.
A game of rugby can be an absolute thing of beauty, but it can also be a real dogs breakfast. The sheer complexity of the laws when combined with an over exuberant referee and a group of players with little to no law knowledge is like a slow motion car crash, you don’t want to look, but you simply can’t look away.
Dangerous tackles deserve tough sanctions in my opinion (discussed here) but the discussion surrounding the red carding of Sio Tomkinson of the Highlanders (the video can be found here) is mind boggling. From keyboard warriors to “respected” news outlets all crying foul of what is a reasonable open and shut case. Continue reading “Your Opinion does not Dictate Reality”
With rugby season just around the corner, pre season paining training (for us referees) has just begun. Judging by my general lack of fitness, I should have started months ago. Yet with 10 weeks to go until Round 1, not all hope is lost for moderate levels of fitness come season proper.
Fitness training, as a group of referees, has not always been a thing in our association. It is a ‘new’ initiative of our executive this year. I’m pleased to run around with the other referees and help each other to work on our general fitness. But the primary benefit for training, in my view, is not the fitness. Continue reading “Pre-season Paining”
Concussion is serious business.
The Australian Sports commission says;
“There is growing concern in Australia and internationally about the incidence of sport-related concussion and potential health ramifications for athletes.”
This concern is not a local issue, but is being tackled head on by organisations around the world. In a balance between trying to avoid liability and actually looking after player welfare, The Rugby Football Union (England’s version of Rugby Australia) has implemented a trial to lower the height of tackles. Continue reading “When Trying to Help Actually Hurts”
As a long suffering Wallabies supporter (who started watching after we won the ’91 and ’99 Rugby World cups) I’ve known nothing but sustained mediocrity. We have won a few games here and there. But consistency is nowhere to be seen. We are the new Scotland! However thanks to Scott Johnson, even they look consistently dangerous.
Rumours have been circulating since December that Karmichael Hunt would be pulling on the blue jersey for the Waratah’s in 2019. Today these rumours have been confirmed by rugby.com.au in an article indicating the switch with Bryce Hegarty, who heads North to join the Reds.
Just over 12 months ago I left the rugby heartland of NSW to move to South Australia.
Previously the sport section of the nightly news featured any number of Rugby updates, from Izzy’s latest antics on social media and Kurtley’s party tactics to the scores, injury updates and Wallaby woes I’d grown accustomed to over 30 years in NSW.
