Israel Folau calls time on his career

He played at the top level in league, union and Australian rules football.

Israel Folau will not play at the top level again. “Yeah, I’m done now. I’m not looking for any other opportunity in terms of playing at that level”, he told Code Sports, after a last attempt at an NRL comeback with Wests Tigers came to nothing.

From Melbourne to the Wallabies

Folau started out in league with Melbourne Storm in 2007, then played for the Brisbane Broncos, a total of 89 NRL games and 73 tries. He also won State of Origin with Queensland in 2007 and 2008 and played at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup for Australia. After a spell in Australian rules football with Greater Western Sydney Giants, he joined the Waratahs in 2013. He played 96 Super Rugby games for them (60 tries) and won 73 Wallabies caps, scoring 37 tries, including the 2015 Rugby World Cup final lost to New Zealand.

Perpignan, Japan and Tonga

Rugby Australia terminated his contract in 2019 over social media posts. He then returned to league with Catalans Dragons (13 Super League games in 2020), before joining Urayasu D-Rocks in Japan, where he scored 8 tries in 8 games last season. He also won one cap for Tonga in 2022.