Controversial code-hopper Israel Folau is eyeing a shock NRL return but it won’t be at the Wests Tigers.
This masthead understands Folau’s management recently reached out to the Tigers to test the Concord club’s appetite to sign the 37-year-old on a train-and-trial deal.
It’s believed the Tigers have not entertained the move but it’s understood that coach Benji Marshall was made aware of the approach.
It’s unknown whether Folau has approached any other NRL clubs in a bid to mount a stunning NRL comeback.
Folau has been playing rugby league for Urayasu D-Rocks in Japan’s League One Rugby competition since 2021.
The season, which officially ended on June 7, is just weeks before the NRL’s June 30 deadline - the cut off for when clubs can register players into their top 30 rosters for the season.
A fullback for the D-Rocks, Folau has scored 16 tries in 20 games for the Japanese club.
He also had a one-year stint in the English Super League with Catalans, playing 15 games in 2020.
Folau played a total of 91 games for both the Melbourne Storm, where he debuted as a 17-year old, and the Brisbane Broncos, but he has not played NRL since 2010.
The polarising figure defected to the AFL, joining then-fledgling GSW Giants on a rich four-year deal and making his Aussie Rules debut in 2012.
His foray into the AFL was short-lived, however, and Folau again switched codes - this time, linking with Super Rugby side the Waratahs.
The former NRL Dally M rookie of the year went on to earn 73 test caps for the Wallabies.
But in May 2019, Rugby Australia terminated his contract over a breach of his players’ code of conduct.
At the time, a three-person panel ruled that a number of controversial social media posts, including one suggesting sinners are destined for hell, amounted to a high-level breach of the players’ code of conduct.