- ‘Izzy’ joined the Melbourne Storm when he was 17.
- Australian sport shocked by GWS Giants switch
Controversial football star Israel Folau has revealed he hit a ‘dead end’ during his time at Melbourne Storm when he got into drugs, alcohol and women for the first time in his life.
The 35-year-old code-switcher also confessed to his shock switch to playing AFL in 2011, announcing he never wanted to play the sport and only defected from the NRL because of the size of his paycheck.
Folau, who now plays rugby in Japan after his headline-grabbing scandal with the Wallabies, broke into rugby’s top flight with the Storm in 2007, when he was just 17.
He moved south from his home in Brisbane and was soon exposed to a whole new way of life in Melbourne.
“When I left school and went to Melbourne, that was the first time I was exposed to drinking and everything, like picking up girls and taking drugs,” he told the BBC. Podcast Flows and ebbs.
‘I got caught up in all that.
‘I look back now at that point in my career and realize I was going through a downward spiral.
‘There was so much going on off the field that nobody knew… what was going on behind the scenes.
Folau was just 17 when he joined the Melbourne Storm in 2007 (pictured) and was soon exposed to a very different world to the one he was used to at school in Brisbane.
The code-switching star had huge success on the pitch but struggled off it as he hit a “dead end” while trying drugs and alcohol.
‘I was getting into alcohol, women, drugs, and I reached a dead end, I was so lost and empty.’
Folau said he had “everything I wanted” at the time, but still felt something was missing: religion.
The famous and staunch Christian turned his life around when he “couldn’t stop crying” while singing during a church service and dedicated himself to God.
In 2010 he shocked football fans across Australia by making a shock switch to play AFL with the GWS Giants, and now for the first time he has made a startling admission about walking away from a rumoured four-year, $6 million contract.
“I didn’t want to do it,” he confessed.
‘The main reason I went (to the AFL) was simply to help my family financially.
‘I was going back and forth with my parents and particularly with my old man (father).
‘I didn’t want to go, it was something I never wanted to do.
“I struggled with that for a long time, but in the end the money was too good to turn down and I opted for that one option only.”
His two seasons playing under Australian rules were one of the lowest points of Folau’s long career, as he “hated” the experience after signing only to help his family financially.
Folau played 13 games over two years with the Giants in one of the worst periods of his long football career.
“I would come to training and hate going, I just didn’t enjoy it,” he said.
In December 2012, he made another shock switch, this time to rugby union with the NSW Waratahs.
He rose to prominence and became a mainstay for the Wallabies, but was dropped from the team by Rugby Australia following a controversial Twitter post in which he infamously wrote “gays will go to hell”.
In a humiliating setback to spare the sporting body a lengthy court battle after Folau sought $14 million, Rugby Australia, the star and NSW Rugby announced they had reached a settlement in their long-running dispute in December 2019.
RA said it did not support Folau’s controversial post but “acknowledges and apologises for any harm or damage caused to the Folaus” following his dismissal.
