The star who does his talking on pitch
The big names in Australia’s most popular codes are never too far away from the headlines. Last week New South Wales’ full-back Blake Ferguson was charged with indecently assaulting a woman during a booze-fuelled night out while St Kilda star Stephen Milne was formally charged with four counts of rape following an alleged attack on a woman eight years ago.
Yes, the household names of both codes are never too far from trouble. Many are big, brash, confident and bullish in front of the cameras. Not Folau, however. The now established three-code star does his talking on the pitch.
Therefore, when the stellar performer of Saturday night’s Test was surrounded by the phalanx of international press following his electric debut, he looked uncomfortable.
The soft-spoken winger of Tongan decent is a family man with a deep religious upbringing. No late night shenanigans and court appearances for this man.
Folau was a phenomenon against the Lions; a 17 stone giant with a devastating arsenal of talents with or without ball in hand.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better debut,” he said after his man-of-the-match display at Suncorp Stadium. “I was very happy with my first game but very disappointed with the result.”
Ah yes, the result. Robbie Deans’ troops looked odds-on favourites to snatch the first Test at the death, only for Kurtley Beale to slip as he stepped up to the last kick.
“Obviously the boys are right behind him,” said Folau on the luckless Beale.
“It was just unfortunate that he slipped as he kicked it, so we can’t do anything about it now; we just have to move forward and worry about next week.”
Folau proved more than a handful for the Lions defence on more than one occasion. The former AFL player surely would have had more possession to showcase his skills had the home side not been decimated with so many back line injuries. And Folau is confident his fellow backs, whoever may be fit to take the field at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, will be ready to test the visitors’ rearguard in the wide channels.
“I think that’s the key for us next week,” said the powerful winger. “We made our way through the defensive line a few times, we just need to try to finish off those plays.
“If we have the ball, I think we can do a lot more with it, especially on the edges. We just have to lift the tempo of the game and see if we can play with pace.
“I thought we did all right with the amount of possession we had but a few errors let us down in the end.”
Before Folau turned his hand to Aussie Rules, he was a master of the 13-man rugby code. A precocious talent, Folau was the youngest player ever to represent the Australian Test side, the Kangaroos, at 18 years and 194 days old. An integral member of the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos league franchises, Folau was then selected for the Queensland side during the yearly State of Origin three-game series in 2008; a bitterly disputed slugfest between Australia’s two main regions.
The intensity of that series is something without comparison in Australian sport, but Folau saw direct parallels between those brutal contests and the opening Lions battle in Brisbane.
“Yeah, I have to say, it’s up there [with State of Origin] in terms of the pace of the game,” he offered. “It’s very quick, everything I expected.”
The man who was marking Folau didn’t have a bad night around the paddock either and Folau was effusive in his praise for a fellow freakish specimen.
“He scored a very good try tonight,” said Folau on George North’s performance.
“I think during the week we’ll need to look at the footage and see what we can do to try to limit his opportunities.
“He’s very dangerous on the ball; a big man and quick for his size.”
Folau was his usual modest self when asked to rate his own performance.
“I was aware that they were going to try and test me with the high ball, but I think I coped well,” he said.
A huge talent with huge humility.
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