John Folau

John Folau (born 23 September 1994) is a rugby league and rugby union footballer who plays for the Sydney Rays in the National Rugby Championship competition.[2] He is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer.

John Folau
Folau with the Wentworthville Magpies in 2014
Full nameSione Folau[1]
Date of birth (1994-09-23) 23 September 1994
Place of birthBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
SchoolMarsden State High School
Patrician Brothers' College
Rugby league career
Position(s) Centre, Wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2017 Parramatta Eels 8 (16)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014 Tonga 1 (0)
Rugby union career
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018– Sydney Rays 2 (0)
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
2019 Waratahs 0 (0)

Background

Folau was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He is of Tongan descent and played his junior football for the Goodna Eagles,[3] Souths Acacia Ridge[4] and Minto Cobras, before being signed by the Parramatta Eels. Folau attended Marsden State High School and Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown, where he represented the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges rugby league team.[5]

Folau is the younger brother of former Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos player, and former NSW Waratahs and Wallabies player Israel Folau.[6]

Rugby league

Early career

From 2012 to 2014, Folau played for the Parramatta Eels' NYC team.[7][8] In April 2013, he was 18th man for the Queensland Under-20s team.[9] In May 2014, he played for the Queensland Under-20s team.[10]

2014

In October 2014, Folau played for Tonga against Papua New Guinea.[1]

2015

In 2015, Folau moved on to the Eels' New South Wales Cup team, Wentworthville Magpies.[11] In Round 3 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Eels against the New Zealand Warriors.[12] On 4 April 2015, he re-signed with the Eels on a 2-year contract.[13] In May 2015, Folau was named 18th man for Tonga against Samoa in the 2015 Polynesian Cup.[14]

2018

After being unable to break into the Parramatta first grade side, Folau signed a contract to join the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles for the 2018 Intrust Super Premiership NSW season.[15]

Rugby union

New South Wales Waratahs

On 4 September, Folau announced that he was quitting rugby league and switching to rugby union signing with the Sydney Rays.[16] Following Folau's move to the NRC, the New South Wales Waratahs signed Folau shortly before the start of the 2019 season, joining his brother, Israel Folau. He was released in June 2019 without ever playing a match for the team.[17][18]

References
  1. "PNG & TONGA SQUADS NAMED FOR TEST MATCH". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  2. "'I want to play with Izzy': John Folau switches to NRC". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  3. "Eagles grounded by Folau move | Ipswich Queensland Times". Qt.com.au. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  4. "NRL Player Profile". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  5. "John Folau - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. Garry, Chris (4 May 2014). "'Mini Izzy' John Folau is ready to carve his own path, outside brother Israel's". couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  7. "John Folau". NYC DATABASE. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015.
  8. "supercoach banner Parramatta Eels young gun John Folau set to make his mark in Holden Cup grand final". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  9. "Under 20's Origin squads named". NRL.com. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  10. "Queensland name Under-20s Origin team". NRL.com. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  11. "TEAM LIST: Wentworthville Magpies Round 2 - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  12. "Late Mail: NRL Round Three - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  13. "Eels Re-Signing News - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  14. "Tonga Named To Face Samoa In Pacific Test". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 26 April 2015. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "'I want to play with Izzy': John Folau switches to NRC". www.rugby.com.au. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  17. Decent, Tom (6 June 2019). "'Divided loyalties': John Folau granted immediate release from Waratahs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  18. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-06/israel-folau-sues-rugby-australia-for-breach-of-contract/11185064?WT.ac=localnews_sydney
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