Folau joins the AFL
Sometime today news will break that Israel Folau has become the newest recruit at the prospective Greater Western Sydney Football Club.
Floating rumours of the twenty one year old Brisbane Bronco's plans to switch codes were confirmed, somewhat tentatively, on "Before the Bounce" on Monday night.
Reports have it that the contract offered to Folao is worth around $1 million a season, a figure that would see the gifted rugby league player amongst the highest paid earners in the AFL.
While a switch of codes is seldom attempted, let alone achieved, the news comes almost a year after Karmichael Hunt made the same move, for a similar price, to the Gold Coast.
A related revelation is that Gary Ablett, who has been offered a lucrative multi-million dollar deal from the Gold Coast, has opted to postpone negotiations between he and the Gold Coast and he and his current club, Geelong, until the end of the 2010 season.
When asked about the future of his star midfielder, Geelong coach, Mark Thompson, refused to pass further comment. After some months of media saturation, the premiership coach is determined to focus on his current circumstances.
While many critics are adamant that the attempts from both emerging clubs to secure high profiles is a blind and dangerous ploy to generate hype and membership numbers, the bold recruiting has real potential to boost the image and support foundation of the game. Only time will tell.
More to come...
Floating rumours of the twenty one year old Brisbane Bronco's plans to switch codes were confirmed, somewhat tentatively, on "Before the Bounce" on Monday night.
Reports have it that the contract offered to Folao is worth around $1 million a season, a figure that would see the gifted rugby league player amongst the highest paid earners in the AFL.
While a switch of codes is seldom attempted, let alone achieved, the news comes almost a year after Karmichael Hunt made the same move, for a similar price, to the Gold Coast.
A related revelation is that Gary Ablett, who has been offered a lucrative multi-million dollar deal from the Gold Coast, has opted to postpone negotiations between he and the Gold Coast and he and his current club, Geelong, until the end of the 2010 season.
When asked about the future of his star midfielder, Geelong coach, Mark Thompson, refused to pass further comment. After some months of media saturation, the premiership coach is determined to focus on his current circumstances.
While many critics are adamant that the attempts from both emerging clubs to secure high profiles is a blind and dangerous ploy to generate hype and membership numbers, the bold recruiting has real potential to boost the image and support foundation of the game. Only time will tell.
More to come...
