BY JAMES HOOPER.
At the risk of sending the PC fright bat fraternity into complete social media meltdown, here’s why Israel Folau should be afforded a second chance in the NRL.
Rugby league is one of the most inclusive sports on the planet and unlike the AFL it can be proud of the melting pot of cultures from all walks of life it accepts and has long treated equally.
The first sport to have an indigenous national captain? Rugby league. The Kangaroos made the Immortal big Artie Beetson Test skipper all the way back in 1973.
Yep, almost 50 years ago.
Let’s go back to 1995 and the Manly and South Sydney champion forward Ian Roberts becomes the first rugby league player to openly declare he is gay.
Was it an issue? No. On the contrary, it was a celebration. The game supported him.
Here was a man playing one of the toughest sports on the planet who was proud to declare his sexuality.
It was a similar story when NRL referee Matt Cecchin announced he was gay in 2010.
The whistle-blower received full support.
Now to Folau - the deeply religious dual international who has polarised the world and been condemned to hell by the woke warrior Twitterati for the expression of a religious belief on social media.
As much as all the outrage merchants will scream like banchees, the only crime Folau is guilty of is offering a religious opinion.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
If you don’t agree with it, laugh it off as the musings of a religious whack job.
Personally, I think people getting swept up in the best fairytale of all time - religion - is hilarious.
But I don’t condemn them for it. I understand and accept.
They like the Bible and church, I like the pub and a schooner.
It’s the same for people who are gay, straight, bi, trans, LGBTQIA or whatever.
If that’s how they want to roll, happy days. Whatever floats your boat.
The imbeciles at Rugby Australia almost sent the entire sport to the wall by digging in on the moral high ground against Folau.
Only this summer we have seen a number of NRL players make headlines for everything from Brent Naden’s cocaine use in the lead-up to the NRL grand final to Mitchell Pearce’s wedding being called off over a sexting scandal.
Neither of them have been suspended from playing a solitary NRL game.
Let’s go back to the melting pot of rugby league - a game where indigenous, Lebanese, Maltese, Greek, Tongan, Samoan and Italian players have all been celebrated for the champion players they are.
The NRL has never judged a player based on the postcode or country they hail from, the colour of their skin or what side of politics they sit on.
Whether it was Mal Meninga, Benny Elias, Johnathan Thurston or Sonny Bill Williams, it’s never mattered where you came from.
It’s always been about how you played the game.
In the case of Sonny Bill, he was a Muslim who refused to endorse betting companies and would regularly engage in Ramadan.
Was it frowned upon? No, it was accepted as his choice, his way of living.
The greatest game of all has always been an advocate for providing a platform for people to make good with second chances.
One of the best-ever lines from the infamous Sydney gangster Neddy Smith was “if you nurse a mug he’ll die in your arms”.
It’s true, the NRL has seen a couple of serial off-field offenders end up on the operating table and run out of the game.
But there’s also been countless players who’ve been given another shot and made good. Look at the Sydney Roosters co-captain Jake Friend.
He had his contract torn up in 2009 and worked in a sandwich shop in Surry Hills before getting another opportunity and going on to win three premierships.
Last November, he made his State of Origin debut for Queensland and won an Origin shield at the age of 30.
Israel Folau has not been found guilty of any criminal offence in a court of law.
He’s simply been hung, drawn and quartered for expressing a religious belief in the court of public opinion.
How dare he.
