Australia
Israel Folau meets with rugby league official
ESPN Staff
July 17, 2014
Australia's Israel Folau celebrates as he runs in to score his second try, Australia v France, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, June 21, 2014
The Wallabies' Israel Folau is the highest-profile rugby player in Australia © Getty Images
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Israel Folau is at the centre of fresh reports about his future having been seen with his manager, Isaac Moses, in discussions with National Rugby League head of football Todd Greenberg.

The trio held a 40-minute meeting at the Azure Cafe at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday.

The meeting, with New South Waratahs and Folau just one match from the Super Rugby final, comes after reports that Folau's Waratahs and Wallabies team-mate Kurtley Beale is considering a cross-code move to Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs when he comes off contract at the end of the year. Beale, like Folau, is managed by Moses.

NRL officials played down the significance of the meeting, saying "Mr Greenberg ran into Israel Folau, who he knows well, while heading to the coffee shop and they had an unplanned catch up".

"It was not a business discussion," a spokesman said, but Moses' presence a long way from his agency's headquarters at Homebush Bay is likely to have caused concern for the Australian Rugby Union on the day that chief executive Bill Pulver said that he was "not dissatisfied" with the departure of Wallabies players Kane Douglas, Nick Cummins and Ben Mowen from Australian rugby at the end of the Super Rugby season.

"Yes, we've lost a couple," Pulver said. "But every year we've lost a couple or more, so we're not unhappy with the outcome. Clearly there are a couple of players we would have liked to have kept and from a strategic development perspective that's something we want to keep a very careful eye on. But we're not dissatisfied with the outcome this year."

Folau, meanwhile, tweeted in light-hearted fashion to his 65,000+ followers that he was "thinking about going into politics next".

Folau almost returned to league with Parramatta Eels for 2013 before the Australian Rugby Union swooped to lure him from Greater Wester Sydney Giants and the AFL, and his younger brother John is in their current squad. Sydney Roosters could also be in the hunt with salary cap space available after Sonny Bill Williams moves back to rugby, while Folau begin his NRL career with Melbourne and has also played for Brisbane Broncos.

Folau is also currently reported to be receiving lucrative bids to play rugby in France, with ESPNscrum correspondent Greg Growden reporting that "high-ranking Waratahs sources have told Ruck'n Maul that Toulon keep 'offering more and more money' … and there have been mumblings of an extraordinary three-year deal, worth well over $A1 million per season, that would make him easily the best-paid rugby player in the world".

Ruckn' Maul: Smiles aplenty at ARU
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"It will take enormous persuasion by both the Waratahs and the Australian Rugby Union to convince Folau to stay here," Growden reported.

Waratahs backs coach Daryl Gibson spoke this week of the culture at the club being a key reason for confidence that Beale would reject the option to play league, and his comments will resonate with Folau, who has also previously spoken of the attraction of rugby's overseas competition.

"People either choose to stay or go for their various reasons," Gibson said. "But certainly we have a compelling case here, that we've created a very good team environment; a very tight team, you can see that on the field. I think it would be very difficult for him to leave it."

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