Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara believes “champion player” Israel Folau has what it takes to rise to the “challenge” of succeeding in Super League.
The 30-year-old dual-code Australia international, whose signing has been criticised by all sections of the sport because of his homophobic views, has been training with his new team-mates all week but will miss Sunday’s game with Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
Folau, who was sacked by Rugby Australia last May after claiming “hell awaits” gay people, has not travelled with the squad to Yorkshire.
But McNamara is of the belief the outside back will make an impact for his side sooner rather than later.
“Israel has not played rugby league for 10 years but true champion players respond to a challenge and he’s in unbelievable shape,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “He leads a clean-living lifestyle in terms of what he eats and drinks and he’s actually at his playing weight.
“His athleticism is something to behold when you see him move. He’s been good in and around the group and been involved in most things this week. We’ll see how he reacts to training this coming week, but we don’t want to make any predictions on what the timescale might be for his first game.
“As he is such a champion player, Israel will probably progress quicker than most but we don’t want to push him too far too soon.”
Folau’s last match for the Waratahs was last April and he has not played rugby league since switching codes 10 years ago.
He could now make his Super League debut in the Dragons’ home game against Castleford on Saturday week.
Wakefield have already made plans to celebrate inclusivity in the sport by inviting LGBT groups to Sunday’s match.
Super League executive chairman Robert Elstone this week admitted he had sleepless nights over whether to sanction the signing of Folau and conceded the game “came to the wrong conclusion”.
The Rugby Football League said it was powerless to prevent the registration but Super League clubs voted at a meeting in Salford on Wednesday to look for ways to tighten up the rules to prevent such a signing in future.
Additional reporting by PA
