Israel Folau's rugby career could be over | Thebigtip

By Michael Cowley and Brad Walte @ smh

BY 9.20pm tonight, the rugby league career of Israel Folau could be over.

Unless the planets somehow align and miraculously save Brisbane from missing the finals for the first time since 1991, Folau will play his 91st and last NRL match – for at least four years – at Suncorp Stadium against the in-form Canberra Raiders.

After ruling out a stint in French rugby union and abandoning plans to represent Tonga in the Pacific Cup, the 21-year-old's new life in the AFL beckons.

"I just wish Israel all the best and hope everything goes right for him to make the finals if they can get there," said Kevin Sheedy, Folau's soon-to-be coach at Greater Western Sydney. "When he comes over to Greater Western Sydney, that will be a pretty exciting exercise that we are going to undertake – but that's a little way off yet.

"To us, it's irrelevant whether he has one more week or four more weeks in the NRL, you just wish him all the best. You only get opportunities to play in the big league of any sport for a certain period of your life, and you just go for it."

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