Nick Bendel
Izzy serious?
June 1st 2010 11:24
How else to describe Western Sydney Football Club’s decision to recruit Israel Folau on over $1 million per season?
It is not madness when a 21-year-old signs a four-year contract worth millions of dollars to try to master a sport he has never played. That, in fact, is the epitome of sweet reason. But it is utter, utter madness when a club invests a fortune in such a person.
There are some athletes who deserve that sort of money to kick around a Sherrin – Gary Ablett, Chris Judd, Nick Riewoldt, Jonathan Brown. And there are some athletes who don’t – Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, Sachin Tendulkar. Keen observers will have noticed the difference between the two groups.
It must be noted that the decision, per se, was not flawed. If an athlete as talented – and marketable – as Folau was interested in crossing codes, it would have been illogical for an organisation like WSFC, which is desperate for success and publicity, not to have at least considered it. By all means, speak to him, gauge his intentions, subject him to some tests. Then, at the end of the process, if it looks as though he’s worth a gamble, discuss terms. But make him an offer commensurate with his Australian football experience – as opposed to, say, his record in rugby league, backyard cricket or tiddlywinks. In other words, aim low. That way, if the gamble fails – as is likely – little has been lost.
For it must be appreciated that this experiment is almost certain to end unhappily. To understand why, we need only look at the high profile NRL stars who switched to rugby union. Given that Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Timana Tahu were all selected for the Wallabies, it can be said that their transitions were successful. However, with the benefit of hindsight, few would claim that they were so successful as to have deserved multi-million dollar contracts.
So if players moving from one code to a reasonably similar one would not have delivered enough value for that sort of money, what hope is there that somebody moving from one code to an entirely foreign one will prove worthy of such a large paycheque?
Further examples emphasise the point. Garrick Morgan may have been a union superstar, but he turned out to be depressingly average at league. Jeff Fenech may have been a great boxer, but he barely packed a punch during his brief stint with the Parramatta Eels. Michael Jordan may have been the greatest basketballer of all time, but he was not much of a baseballer.
Yet all this has been lost on WSFC’s chief executive, Dale Holmes. “Israel is a western Sydney boy and he’s someone who is going to play a great role for us,” he insisted, “not only as a player, but also in...bringing fans to our club. It was our administration’s view, and that of Kevin Sheedy as our senior coach, that an athlete of Israel’s height, skill, pace and power who wanted to come to our game was an exciting mix, and we want to give him the opportunity to succeed in our sport.”
Holmes’ reference to Sheedy raises an interesting point. Holmes, whose contribution to the game has almost exclusively been administrative, might perhaps be excused his foolishness. But how someone as experienced and astute as Sheedy could have been persuaded to embrace such a reckless throw of the dice is inexplicable.
It was only six months ago that Sport: The Australian Disease spoke out against WSFC’s pursuit of Jarryd Hayne.
Even if the Parramatta fullback could somehow be seduced, it is extremely unlikely that he would be able to turn himself into a star in a second code. And unless he could do that, the whole exercise would be pointless, because why would the [western Sydney] region be inspired by the exertions of a middling footballer?
The same article also highlighted the folly of short term thinking:
For WSFC to succeed, it will have to convince people that it’s committed to the region, and that it’s going to be around forever. In other words, it has to establish itself as a credible entity.
Cheap publicity stunts, therefore, are a hindrance rather than a help. Unquestionably, the Hayne story would have aroused the interest of the locals, many of whom would have devoted rare attention to a code that they’re ignorant of, and even hostile to. But one suspects that a majority of those would have regarded with scorn the idea of a league star wanting to convert to an entirely foreign sport, or making a success of it if he did. And that scorn would then, in turn, have been directed to the party responsible for the idea – WSFC. So increased recognition would have come at the price of decreased credibility.
Cheap publicity stunts, therefore, are a hindrance rather than a help. Unquestionably, the Hayne story would have aroused the interest of the locals, many of whom would have devoted rare attention to a code that they’re ignorant of, and even hostile to. But one suspects that a majority of those would have regarded with scorn the idea of a league star wanting to convert to an entirely foreign sport, or making a success of it if he did. And that scorn would then, in turn, have been directed to the party responsible for the idea – WSFC. So increased recognition would have come at the price of decreased credibility.
This is where we are now at with Folau. The locals will have taken notice of the Bronco’s defection, and will be keen to see how he performs once his new team joins the AFL in 2012. So far, so good.
But when he fails to live up to his superstar billing, as he almost certainly will, these same people will lose interest in Folau and lose respect for his club, making the task of winning over the region even harder than it already is. Forget about the exorbitant contract – that’s one hell of a price to pay.
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