Israel Folau

Israel ‘Isileli Folau (born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks.

Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

Folau began his professional career playing rugby league.

On his international debut, Folau became the youngest ever player to represent Australia at 18 years and 194 days old, passing the previous record set by Brad Fittler (18 years and 247 days) in 1990.

Folau then went on to score two tries in Australia's record-breaking 58–0 victory over New Zealand.

In his rookie year Folau broke a number of club and NRL records, the most prestigious being teammate Billy Slater's previous NRL record of most tries in a debut season (Slater scored 19 in 2003).

He attended Lurnea Public School and Westfields Sports High School before his family moved to Brisbane, Queensland, in 2004, after his father obtained work there.

In Brisbane, Folau attended Marsden State High School from where he was selected for the Queensland Schoolboys squad in the Australian Under-15 Championships and also represented the Australian Schoolboys team in 2006.

Folau also played several seasons of junior rugby league at the Goodna Eagles in Goodna.

At the Australian championships, Folau was spotted by a Melbourne Storm scout and was invited to play his junior football with the Storm's feeder club at the time, Queensland Cup team, the Norths Devils.

He won a premiership while playing with Norths and became the first player to represent Queensland Under-19's while still only 16 years old.

From playing with the Queensland Schoolboys and the Devils, in 2006, while in year 12 at Marsden State High School where his classmates were Chris Sandow and Antonio Winterstein, Folau was selected to play in the Australian Schoolboys squad that toured Wales, England and France.

Folau was strong, representing Australia and at the end of the tour was awarded the Australian Secondary School Rugby Leagues (ASSRL) Award for the best back of the tournament.

Playing years above his age gave Melbourne the confidence to give Folau an opportunity in the NRL.

Representing the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL) from 2007 to 2008, where he broke the record for most tries in a debut year.

Folau was just 17 years of age when he made his debut in the 2007 NRL season.

His debut came earlier than his coach Craig Bellamy intended, and he was named as a replacement on the for injured Steve Turner.

He started in the side's first match of the 2007 NRL season, against the Wests Tigers, and became the youngest player ever to play for the Storm.

In his first game, he scored the match-winning try to help Melbourne beat the Tigers 18–16.

After such a solid performance in his opening game, and an injury-free year, Folau went on to play in every match of the season, the only player to do so for Melbourne in 2007.

Playing superbly on the wing, coach Craig Bellamy brought Folau in to play in the s from time to time, where he would receive more ball and have more opportunity to score points.

After 26 rounds Folau finished the regular season with 21 tries and 5 goals for a total of 94 career points.

His try tally (21) saw him the equal top-try scorer for the 2007 regular season alongside North Queensland Cowboys full-back Matt Bowen.

Folau capped off a magnificent first season in the NRL by winning the 2007 Dally M Rookie of the Year Award and being a part of the successful 2007 Melbourne Storm premiership side, that only lost three matches all year.

This premiership was later taken away due to mass salary cap breaches.

Following an ankle injury to Brisbane Broncos centre Justin Hodges, Folau replaced him in the Australian test side to play New Zealand on 14 October 2007.

In 2008, after Melbourne and New South Wales representative Matt King announced he would be leaving the Storm to play with the Warrington Wolves in the Super League, Folau filled the void as the starting centre for Melbourne.

After seven rounds of the 2008 season, Folau was named on the wing in the starting squad to represent Australia for the second time in the Centenary Australia vs. New Zealand test, contributing a try in the 28–12 win for the Kangaroos.

He then played with the Brisbane Broncos from 2009 to 2010.

Playing as a or, Folau represented Queensland in the State of Origin and Australia, becoming the youngest player to play for both teams.

In 2011, Folau joined the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL) and played for two seasons.

In December 2012, Folau announced he was to switch codes again, this time for rugby union, and signed a one-year contract with the Waratahs.

At international level, he made his debut for Australia in 2013 against the British & Irish Lions, and went on to earn 73 caps.

In 2022, Folau switched allegiance in honour to represent Tonga after World Rugby announced its new eligibility laws.

He would later become the record holder for the most tries scored in Super Rugby history post the 2019 season.

Folau's statements about what he understands the Bible to say about same-sex marriage and homosexuality brought him into conflict with the administrators of Rugby Australia, and in 2019 they terminated his contract.

Alleging that Rugby Australia terminated his employment on the basis of religion, Folau commenced proceedings in the Fair Work Commission but was unable to reach a settlement with Rugby Australia.

He subsequently commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia and a confidential settlement between the two parties was released on 4 December 2019.

Folau was born in Minto, New South Wales, to Tongan parents, Eni and Amelia.

In 2020, Folau played for the French rugby league team the Catalans Dragons in the Super League.