'Cost him $4m': Israel Folau's fatal mistake at code of conduct hearing

Leading journalist Robert Craddock says Israel Folau ultimately lost his code of conduct hearing with Rugby Australia because his defence was weak.

Folau’s legal team is working feverishly to save his career after the Wallabies superstar was found guilty of committing a “high level” breach of his contract on Wednesday night.

Folau’s future in Australian rugby is looking increasingly grim after an independent panel retired to consider a sanction following an intense three-day code of contract hearing in Sydney.

Folau’s fate now rests in the hands of the three-person panel comprising chair John West QC, Rugby Australia representative Kate Eastman SC and the RUPA-appointed John Boultbee.

Dissecting the ruling on The Back Page, Craddock said the panel had got it right.

“We’ve seen one of the most significant moments of the sporting century in Australia, in that a powerhouse rugby union player who is Australia’s best player heading into a World Cup, will be banished from the game, probably for good,” Craddock said.

“It is a decision that will echo through generations — it is a huge story and if you think the bushfire is burning now, wait until you see the follow up in the next few days.

According to Craddock, the decision by Folau’s legal team to present a defence that centred on how the 30-year-old was merely posting the words of the Bible was flawed.

“I thought his defence was weak,” Craddock said. “He went in there saying they weren’t my words, they were the Bible’s words.”

“But when you’ve been warned about four times and you post that, I’m sorry, that’s just inflammatory. That’s going to burn the building down.”

Fellow panellist and journalist Kelli Underwood was stunned that Folau hadn’t accepted a reported $1 million offer from Rugby Australia to quit.

“Why would he not take that money?” Underwood said.

“Either he’s greedy and he thought he had a good chance at $4 million or he’s trying to be a martyr.

“It’s so highly offensive and what it does to young kids who are confused and trying to find out more about themselves — it just sends such a horrible message.”

Ed Kavelee added: “It’s cost him $4 million.”

What happens now?

RA boss Raelene Castle issued Folau with a breach notice last month following his controversial social media posts about homosexuals and other sinners and threatened to tear up his four-year, $4 million contract.

The 30-year-old devout Christian took to Instagram to proclaim “hell awaits” for “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolators”.

While Folau may yet be spared the sack, termination of his contract is now a possibility.

The panel will consider written submissions from both Folau and RA before a sanction is handed down – with no time frame on any decision provided.

It is likely to be several more days before Folau learns his fate – and even then the three-times John Eales Medallist is expected to appeal and one of the most divisive cases in Australian sports history will wind up in the courts.

Folau and his legal team will plead for leniency on the issue, saying while it is a high-level offence, he should be fined and suspended instead of having his contract torn up.

RA will argue they have no option but to go through with the sacking of Folau, given his vilification of the gay community – among other alleged “sinners” in controversial social media posts – and the damage he has caused the game.

Had the panel deemed Folau’s breach of RA’s players’ code of conduct anything less than “high level”, the governing body would not have had the power to boot the devout Christian out of the game.

The best punishment Folau can now hope for is a suspension and/or a fine.

with AAP