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Izzy Folau

"We do not support or agree with Israel's previously expressed and controversial views which are based upon his sincerely held religious belief.

"We do not share or condone those views and we are totally committed to our club and our sport being open and welcoming to everyone.

"We do not believe that those views should be publicly expressed, especially by a high-profile sports person"

Then don't sign him you absolutely gutless fucks
 
big fan of Wigan now, how quick did they come out with the Pride game call, perfect
 
Always had a bit of a passive interest in the Catalan dragons, support would be too strong a word but on the very rare occasion I took any interest in league I'd always hope they do well. Guess I liked the idea or something. They can f*** off now though.

Given Folau signed a contract with Australia saying he'd stop saying stupid s*** worth ridiculous amounts of money he's hardly going to care if he p***es off his new French bosses. Still bad publicity > no publicity I guess.

Top marks for Wigan though.
 
I hope the security for this match will be up to standard. This has the potential to cause a brawl between religion vs. sexual orientation. And it could get nasty.

But I have to say I applaud Wigan for taking the swift initiative. I hope they give Folau hell...
 
TRF_heineken said:
I hope the security for this match will be up to standard. This has the potential to cause a brawl between religion vs. sexual orientation. And it could get nasty.

But I have to say I applaud Wigan for taking the swift initiative. I hope they give Folau hell...
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Virtually inconceivable in the UK these days
 
Groundhog said:
"We do not support or agree with Israel's previously expressed and controversial views which are based upon his sincerely held religious belief.

"We do not share or condone those views and we are totally committed to our club and our sport being open and welcoming to everyone.

"We do not believe that those views should be publicly expressed, especially by a high-profile sports person"

Then don't sign him you absolutely gutless fucks
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Dragons might be about to find out whether there's any truth in the "no such thing as bad publicity" cliche.
 
Has Sonny Bill Williams said anything about this? Can't imagine he's happy about it...
 
TRF_Olyy said:
He's deeply religious and likely has the same views - just doesn't broadcast them.
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Maybe I'm wrong - I'd thought he'd trumpeted the message of tolerance and inclusion, but maybe I imagined it... or maybe the inclusion stops just short of the LGBT community.

I'm mystified by this whole Rugby League thing, it's like an alternate universe ... they seem to have unlimited budgets, legions of fans, but somehow, Rugby League isn't even a category on the BBC Sport page. It's like there's a shadow population out there that we can't see, but are doing quite well, thank you very much...
 
Dave Davies said:
I'm mystified by this whole Rugby League thing, it's like an alternate universe ... they seem to have unlimited budgets, legions of fans, but somehow, Rugby League isn't even a category on the BBC Sport page. It's like there's a shadow population out there that we can't see, but are doing quite well, thank you very much...
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There's quite a lot of misconceptions there.
They don't have unlimited budgets, in England the rugby league salary cap is about £2.2M, in Australia (the only cohntry it's actually popular), the salary cap is equivalent to £5M. Rugby Union salary cap in England is £7M.
League doesn't have legions of fans, Australia and Papua New Guinea are the only countries where it can claim to be remotely as popular as Union. Average attendance non Super League is a bit below that of the Premiership, and isn't then boosted by European cups, or international coverage.
Rugby League is a category on the BBC Sport page with the Super League shown on the BBC
 
Very interesting, thanks! I wonder if my version of the BBC site is different than the UK one?

upload_2020-1-29_13-3-34.png

In any event, I still say it's an alternate universe. ;)
 
Dave Davies said:
Very interesting, thanks! I wonder if my version of the BBC site is different than the UK one?

View attachment 8024

In any event, I still say it's an alternate universe. ;)
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It is I just checked, remove cycling and place Rugby L after Rugby U

I get the international version at work there are huge differences in which stories are placed where.
 
I follow Super League because of Toronto Wolfpack. The Izzy Folau signing by Catalans is a pure business/rugby decision though.

I don't support Israel Folau and think his remarks were abhorrent. I have no doubt that Catalans have inserted a clause in to his contract, that if he makes any more homophobic remarks, he is done.

That being said, taking away the emotion of this issue and looking at it from a rugby perspective, you can totally see why Catalans made this move.

A. Their fanbase won't really care (the French give way less crap about this stuff than Anglosphere countries)
B. They need the firepower to avoid relegation as their club is vulnerable
C. Folau, despite being a world class ahole, is also a world class footballer
D. They probably got a serious discount on him because of his "baggage".

It's a business and rugby decision. Super League is more competitive than ever as is the RFL Championship. There are more clubs capable of playing Super League than there are places with Toulouse, London, Leigh, Featherstone, Widnes all capable of stepping up.

The bottom half of Super League is closer to those clubs in quality then they are to the likes of Wigan, St Helens and Warrington. Catalans will do anything they can to avoid relegation.
 
Catalan dragons are kind of need a TV deal as well I currently don't have one this might help.I think Catalan will make the top five this year I got good players like James Maloney and Sam Tomkins.
 
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