Originally Posted by
Titan_Matchu
I'm sorry DIEHARD but I have to disagree with you. First of all what is idiotic about earning 1.5 mil a season as a 21 year old? Secondly, dropping Folau from the Origin team is probably the worst thing they could do. It is sending out a message that if player inside the NRL (who are very capable of using their skills outside of rugby league) will not be picked, even if they are quite obviously the right man for the job.
Think about it this way if you were Mal Meninga and you picked a player who played well in origin one and knew that he had announced his retirement from RL at the end of this season would you still pick him? Of course you would, he is the best player for the job and if QLD are serious about winning Origin this year they will not take a risk like dropping Israel Folau. Also not picking him for Aus earlier this year and potentially QLD in a couple of weeks is going make Folau less inclined to return to the NRL. He will be 25/26 years old when he finishes his contract in the AFL and will most likely be in the prime of his career.
Thirdly, the only reason Folau's contract amount was inflated so high was because the Melbourne Rebels RU team was a serious contender for his signature. Had it not been for the Rebels coming into the Super 14 then I am highly doubtful Folau would get anything over what Karmichael Hunt got.
Fourthly, not all are from the Broncos. Ryan Cross was from the Roosters, Timana Tahu was from Parra, Mark Gasnier was from St George, Sonny Bill Williams was from the Bulldogs, Clinton Schifcofske was from Canberra and the Gold Coast Titans very own Mat Rogers was from Cronulla. Now if the next arguement is going to "yeah, but they all come back" well they haven't, those named I've listed right there shows not all have returned.
I'm sorry mate, as much as you would like this to be a war the AFL is already 10 steps ahead. The NRL need to realise where they are at and focus on the real threat which is Soccer. If the NRL keep making these stupid decisions Soccer will overtake within the next 10 years. Honestly I hope people read this and change their opinion because the current opinion is one that is going to dig the hole bigger for the NRL and rugby league in general.