# Israel Folau
**Israel Folau** (Isileli Folau) is an Australian professional rugby player, born in Minto, New South Wales, who is the first Australian athlete to play three professional football codes: rugby league, [Australian rules football](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-rules-football), and rugby union.[1](https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/144109/2/02whole.pdf) A fullback and winger of Tongan heritage, he starred in the [National Rugby League](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-rugby-league) as a teenager, spent two seasons with the [Greater Western Sydney Giants](https://www.edgepedia.org/greater-western-sydney-giants) in the AFL, and then became one of rugby union's most prolific try-scorers for the NSW Waratahs and the Wallabies before his 2019 dismissal from Australian rugby over a social media post.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-league/israel-folau-nrl-australia-sacked-instagram-tweet-rugby-union-homophobia-a8944691.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birthplace | Minto, New South Wales, Australia[4](https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/Israel-Folau/summary.html) |
| Rugby league (2007–10) | 91 NRL games and 73 tries for the Melbourne Storm (2007–08) and Brisbane Broncos (2009–10); 8 Tests and 6 tries for Australia[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) |
| AFL (2011–12) | 13 games and 2 goals for Greater Western Sydney, on a four-year contract reportedly worth $6 million[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) |
| Rugby union (2013–19) | 96 games and 60 tries for the NSW Waratahs; 73 Tests and 37 tries for Australia; Super Rugby champion 2014[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) |
| Records | Youngest Melbourne Storm NRL debutant (aged 17); youngest Australian rugby league Test player (18 years and 194 days); John Eales Medal a record three times (2014, 2015, 2017)[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) |
| Dismissal | Contract terminated by Rugby Australia in May 2019 for breaching the code of conduct with a social media post[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-league/israel-folau-nrl-australia-sacked-instagram-tweet-rugby-union-homophobia-a8944691.html) |
## Rugby league career
Folau debuted for the [Melbourne Storm](https://www.edgepedia.org/melbourne-storm) in 2007 at age 17, becoming the club's youngest NRL debutant, on a contract worth $35,000 a year.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) • [5](https://swcs.net.au/israelfolau.htm) He scored the match-winning try in his first game and crossed 20 more times that season, breaking [Billy Slater](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-slater)'s previous NRL record for the most tries in a debut season, and he won the Dally M Rookie of the Year award.[5](https://swcs.net.au/israelfolau.htm) • [2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) He was a member of the Storm's 2007 grand final-winning side, before the premiership was stripped for salary-cap breaches.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq)
His international rise was equally fast. At 18 years and 194 days, he became the youngest player to appear in a Test match for Australia, against New Zealand on 14 October 2007, and was named the Rugby League International Federation's 2007 Newcomer of the Year.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) Across 2007–09 he played 8 Tests for Australia, scoring 6 tries.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) In 2009 he moved to the [Brisbane Broncos](https://www.edgepedia.org/brisbane-broncos), and over the two clubs he finished with 73 tries from 91 first-grade appearances.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) • [6](https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/isileli-israel-folau/2561) He also played State of Origin for Queensland, winning the series in 2008, 2009, and 2010; the available career summaries differ on his Origin tally, giving either 5 games with 5 tries or 8 games with 7 tries.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) • [6](https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/isileli-israel-folau/2561)
## Switch to Australian rules football
On 1 June 2010 it was announced that Folau had signed with the newly formed Greater Western Sydney Giants, an AFL expansion club, in a move that generated wide interest; the club hoped his ability, success, and standing in rugby league could migrate to a game he had never played.[7](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/32434/3/Racial%20folklore%2C%20black%20masculinities%20and%20the%20reproduction%20of%20dominant%20racial%20ideologies%20-%20The%20case%20of%20Israel%20Folau%20Final.pdf) The reported four-year contract was worth $6 million.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) Commentators treated the signing as a novelty, an intriguing experiment, and a publicity stunt, and his transition was gradual: in a 2012 NAB Challenge match he conceded four first-half goals in a 95-point loss to Port Adelaide while showing evasive skills and athleticism but limited game sense.[8](https://www.afl.com.au/news/473938/taking-giant-strides) • [9](https://www.afl.com.au/news/107633/tough-start-for-folau-as-power-belts-giants)
In November 2012, Folau informed the Giants and the AFL that he had decided to give up on a career in Australian rules football, preferring to switch to rugby union or go back to rugby league.[10](https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2019/12/05/59317d2f-a338-4833-a242-21f858d6fa81/AFL-Annual-Report-2012_web-min.pdf) He left after 13 games and 2 goals across the 2011 and 2012 seasons.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) A later AFL.com.au assessment calculated that his 39 kicks in those 13 games, on about $1 million of AFL industry money per season, came at more than $50,000 per kick, and judged that Folau had been the smarter of the league-to-AFL converts because he left early rather than toiling in a sport he was never going to master.[11](https://www.afl.com.au/news/442958/a-failed-experiment)
## Rugby union career
Folau joined the HSBC Waratahs in December 2012, making rugby union the third major football code of his career.[12](https://www.rugby-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-Media-Guide-BOOKMARKED.pdf) His first [Super Rugby](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-rugby) season in 2013 was a strong one, with the most carries and the equal-most tries for the Waratahs, and he equalled Lote Tuqiri's record of 10 tries by a Wallaby in a calendar year in his maiden international season.[13](https://www.rugby-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-Super-Rugby-Media-Guide.pdf) • [2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) His international union debut came in the 2013 British and Irish Lions series, where he scored two tries in the opening Test against a side containing [George North](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-north), after only 14 games of top-class rugby in Super Rugby.[14](https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/aussies-all-round-superstar/29753051.html)
**Peak years.** With the Waratahs he won the 2014 Super Rugby championship, was Super Rugby's equal top try-scorer in 2014 and top try-scorer in 2016, and became the competition's record holder for most tries.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) For Australia he won the Rugby Championship in 2015 and claimed the John Eales Medal, awarded to the Wallabies' player of the year, a record three times, in 2014, 2015, and 2017.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq) In one season he scored tries in each of three Tests against the All Blacks, a feat achieved only once before, by Matthew Burke in 1998.[6](https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/isileli-israel-folau/2561) He finished with 73 Tests and 37 tries for Australia, equal third on the Wallabies' all-time try-scoring list with Adam Ashley-Cooper, behind Chris Latham and David Campese.[2](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq)
At his first [Rugby World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/rugby-world-cup), in 2015, his impact was limited by an injury to his left ankle suffered in the pool match against England.[6](https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/isileli-israel-folau/2561) • [16](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/33912430.amp)
## Dismissal and aftermath
In May 2019, Rugby Australia terminated Folau's four-year contract after he was found guilty of breaching the players' code of conduct for a social media post stating that hell awaits "drunks, homosexuals, adulterers" and other groups; the post remained on his Instagram account with more than 70,000 likes.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-league/israel-folau-nrl-australia-sacked-instagram-tweet-rugby-union-homophobia-a8944691.html) He declined an appeal, saying he had no confidence in the governing body's judicial process, and engaged the law firm Macpherson Kelley as he considered legal action.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-league/israel-folau-nrl-australia-sacked-instagram-tweet-rugby-union-homophobia-a8944691.html)
A return to the NRL was blocked: Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter Beattie said the league would not sanction the 30-year-old's registration, stating that his social media posts went against what the game stood for.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-league/israel-folau-nrl-australia-sacked-instagram-tweet-rugby-union-homophobia-a8944691.html) Folau subsequently played in Japan, and in later interviews explained that he preferred rugby union for its international variety, with every national team playing a distinct style.[15](https://www.rugbydump.com/news/theres-a-lot-more-that-goes-into-it-israel-folau-breaks-down-why-he-prefers-union-to-league/)
Away from playing, Folau married Maria Tutaia, a Black Ferns netball international, during a break from the game.[6](https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/isileli-israel-folau/2561)
## References
1. [Managing Pasifika Diaspora in Australian Rugby League, UTS ePress](https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/144109/2/02whole.pdf)
2. [Israel Folau's sporting career at a glance, SBS News (AAP)](https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-folaus-sporting-career-at-a-glance/jrvwddzxq)
3. [Israel Folau: NRL closes door on prospect of sacked Wallaby returning to rugby league, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-league/israel-folau-nrl-australia-sacked-instagram-tweet-rugby-union-homophobia-a8944691.html)
4. [Israel Folau – Playing Career, Rugby League Project](https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/Israel-Folau/summary.html)
5. [Israel Folau, Shire Christian School profile](https://swcs.net.au/israelfolau.htm)
6. [Isileli 'Israel' Folau – Player Profile, Classic Wallabies](https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/isileli-israel-folau/2561)
7. [Racial folklore, black masculinities and the reproduction of dominant racial ideologies: The case of Israel Folau, Bournemouth University](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/32434/3/Racial%20folklore%2C%20black%20masculinities%20and%20the%20reproduction%20of%20dominant%20racial%20ideologies%20-%20The%20case%20of%20Israel%20Folau%20Final.pdf)
8. [Taking giant strides, AFL.com.au](https://www.afl.com.au/news/473938/taking-giant-strides)
9. [Tough start for Folau as Power belts Giants, AFL.com.au](https://www.afl.com.au/news/107633/tough-start-for-folau-as-power-belts-giants)
10. [AFL Annual Report 2012](https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2019/12/05/59317d2f-a338-4833-a242-21f858d6fa81/AFL-Annual-Report-2012_web-min.pdf)
11. [Hunt, Folau poaching a failed experiment, AFL.com.au](https://www.afl.com.au/news/442958/a-failed-experiment)
12. [2013 NSW Waratahs Media Guide](https://www.rugby-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013-Media-Guide-BOOKMARKED.pdf)
13. [2014 Super Rugby Media Guide](https://www.rugby-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-Super-Rugby-Media-Guide.pdf)
14. [Aussies' all-round superstar, Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/aussies-all-round-superstar/29753051.html)
15. [Israel Folau breaks down why he prefers Union to League, Rugbydump](https://www.rugbydump.com/news/theres-a-lot-more-that-goes-into-it-israel-folau-breaks-down-why-he-prefers-union-to-league/)
16. [Rugby World Cup 2015 squads](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/33912430.amp)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Rugby and other football codes › Cross-code athletes and cross-cutting participation topics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license