Controversial Israel Folau told to work on his tackle – after becoming a dad!
ISRAEL Folau has been told to work on his tackle – days after becoming a father.
But this is nothing like Tommy Makinson’s disciplinary problems for grabbing someone’s genitals.
Instead, this is firmly a technical thing as he has been told he cannot always challenge like he did in rugby union.
Catalans Dragons boss Steve McNamara has been not surprised in the slightest how the controversial centre has adapted back to rugby league after 10 years away.
As a player, off-field opinions on a range of matters aside, few can doubt Folau’s quality once he takes to the pitch.
But his boss has advised him the way you tackle opponents in the 13-a-side code is different.
He said: “In rugby union, they tackle very low, whereas in rugby league sometimes you need to tackle a bit higher.
“It’s about making those decisions. Izzy was in rugby union for 10 years, so he’s got into that natural habit of tackling low – you have to keep that right balance.
“As a player, I’ve not been blown away by what he’s done since joining – when I saw highlights of him, I could see his athleticism so this was almost expected.
“But it’s more his desire to work hard for the team that’s impressed everybody. If you’re not prepared to work hard, players find that out straight away.
“He’s come in and rolled his sleeves up. He had no pre-season and he came in and immediately picked up what we want to do.”
Catalans’ travels to and from matches on chartered flights, which are costing a total of about £250,000, have been well documented after what McNamara calls a ‘massive piece of work’ secured them a Government exemption.
It sees them go from Perpignan to Leeds-Bradford Airport and back for today’s Challenge Cup clash with Wakefield.
But even though he and his English stars are on the doorstep of their families, they cannot see them as it would breach their bubble and mean two weeks of quarantine.
McNamara, though, is used to being apart from his family, even though his son Ben has just completed his A-Levels.
He added: “I’ve got a very understanding family and a wife who just lets me get on with my job. It’s just me over in France.
“And it was the right thing for the kids to be back in England for them to be able to do exams and things like that.
“Early in lockdown, I came home and spent time with my family. Now when I travel to the UK for games, I can’t see them because of the Covid-19 regulations.
“But it’s the same in many walks of life. People in the armed forces spend time away from their family.”
Catalans and the Challenge Cup have history.
Their Wembley win in 2018 sparked huge interest and even meant a match at Barcelona’s Camp Nou against Wigan.
For McNamara, though, that should be the start of something – not least rugby League becoming much bigger in France.
He told SunSport: “We were very proud to win that. It was a great feat and it showed the club what’s required to win.
“It created a lot of interest, certainly in this part of France but France is a huge country and creating interest is one thing, giving kids the opportunity to play is another.
“That’s the biggest challenge but we did it in the Cup, now we want to do it in the league – that’s the next step.”