Savea, Folau on NRL radar
At least one NRL club will make inquiries with Israel Folau about an NRL return this season as teams prepare to raid dormant competitions for stars such as Sonny Bill Williams, Quade Cooper and All Blacks star Ardie Savea.
Sources close to Cooper have said that, if given the blessing of his Japanese rugby club, Kintetsu Liners, he would be willing to discuss a short-term deal with an NRL club for the rest of the season before returning to Japan for a new competition in January.
In a move that could trigger one of the game’s most highprofile signing sprees since the Super League war, momentum is gathering in NRL circles for the international recruitment raid – with luring Folau back to where it all began atop the list.
Folau, whose wife, Maria, is expecting the couple’s first child in August, is in limbo in the south of France waiting for Super League to resume with Catalans Dragons.
With the NRL eyeing a May 28 return – potentially with a shortened 13-week competition – at least one club is preparing an approach to the Folau camp in the coming days to gauge his appetite in signing before the June 30 deadline.
Folau, who turned 31 last week, is one of a host of players around the world who have also been earmarked as part of a raid that would generate unprecedented interest in rugby league.
Folau, Williams, Savea and Cooper are the obvious quartet – but other league and union targets mentioned include Kurtley Beale, Ben Te’o, Will Chambers, Karmichael Hunt, Jordan Rapana, James Maloney, Jackson Hastings and Blake Austin.
While most would be welcomed into the NRL with open arms, any attempt to sign Folau would be met by resistance from head office, which remains intent on excluding Folau from its ‘‘inclusive sport’’.
Ina Sydney Morning Herald poll of NRL club chairs and CEOs before round one, 40 per cent of those who took part said they would welcome Folau back to under strict conditions. That shocked many at NRL headquarters, with one senior official telling the Herald it would have likely been 90 per cent against just six months earlier.
This potential global recruitment raid raises questions. Will their current clubs let them go? Could you get them on a loan deal? Are their current contracts null and void if they aren’t getting paid what they signed for? When will the NRL begin to register contracts again after recently putting a freeze on deals?
Take Cooper, for instance. The former Wallabies poster boy is now living in Brisbane and training with many of the Broncos players – having returned home from Japan.
Chances are the Covid-19 restrictions may have seen Cooper play his last game for the Liners – at least for this year – and those close to the 32-year-old insist he still harbours a desire to play in the NRL.
Cooper admitted as much as recently as last December in a podcast with former NRL player, Isaac John.
‘‘I want to play with Sonny before we both retire. But I wouldn’t mind playing NRL either, just for one season or even just come and do some training with the lads to see what it is like,’’ Cooper said on The Ice Project podcast.
‘‘If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I am happy with what I have been able to achieve, but if the opportunity arose I would love to do it.’’
Then there’s Savea, who comes off contract with New Zealand Rugby and the Hurricanes at the end of 2021. He stunned many when he too used John’s podcast to declare his desire to play in the NRL.
‘‘Strategically I would want to go to a team that was dominating, like the Storm or Roosters,’’ Savea said on John’s podcast. ‘‘One hundred per cent I want to play rugby league, I think they do a lot more in terms of off the field stuff . . . and also, just a new challenge. I want to test myself.
‘‘Learning a whole new game and seeing if I can dominate, or play the way I play in union, that excites me. Seeing guys like Sonny [Bill Williams] do it kind of plays on my mind a bit.’’
A lot has to happen for the stars to align, but perhaps there’s no better way for Savea to gauge if the 13-man code is his future than a short-term stint in the NRL with huge doubts over the 15-a-side code’s Super Rugby and international fixtures this year.