Isileli Folau is the first Wallabies name to be carved into the back of Australian Rugby’s most coveted, the John Eales Medal for two consecutive years in a row. Isileli, the traditional Tongan version of Israel, means, quite fittingly, strength.
With Tongan heritage flowing through his blood, strength is a natural-born quality that has seen the western Sydney born talent transpire into a cross-code football master, and now the first player ever to win Australian rugby’s highest accolade back to back.
His strength of talent and ability has once again secured the highest amount of votes from his Wallaby teammates, who, in voting for who they feel was the best player after every Test match from the Spring Tour through until the final Bledisloe, are ultimately responsible for each year’s John Eales Medallist.
In so doing, Izzy becomes just the third player to win Australian rugby’s highest honour twice in its 14-year history, joining two of rugby’s most notable legends of the game, George Smith and Nathan Sharpe.
Izzy was amongst the top ten early in the John Eales Medal voting period this year after scoring two tries in the Wallabies opening Spring Tour victory against Wales in 2014. But it was the Force's unrelenting workhorse, Ben McCalman who deservedly received the highest tally from his Wallabies counterparts after an impressive spell in Europe and the UK.
Izzy managed to climb his way further and further up the ladder as he received more votes from his peers throughout this year’s Rugby Championship and Bledisloe series.
In the end he pipped David Pocock, who returned from injury in glorious form, after the second and final Bledisloe at Eden Park, the last match within the voting period. His teammates, clearly thankful for his relieving try late in the piece, giving him the numbers to secure his place as this year’s John Eales Medal title winner once more.
Whether it’s under the high ball or slipping through opponent’s defensive walls, Izzy makes the highest level of international rugby look easy, sitting high atop many of the stats tables at provincial and national level.
He was once again named in the Wallabies starting line-up for every single one of their Tests during this year’s John Eales Medal voting period, from the start of the Spring Tour in 2014 to the final Bledisloe Cup Test this year. Further, and not surprisingly, he has started in every single match of his Wallabies career, which dates back just two years ago to the first British & Irish Lions Tour in 2013.
This year’s JEM joins an already long list of recognitions for Izzy who is well on the way to becoming one of the Men in Gold’s most decorated players. In his debut year of rugby at his first John Eales Medal in 2013 he was announced as the Wallabies Rookie of the Year. The very next year he won his first John Eales Medal and Australian Super Rugby Player of the Year, tied with Michael Hooper.
Provincially too he has reaped the rewards, this year being named NSW Waratahs Best Back, in another astounding Super Rugby season that saw him start in every single one of the Waratahs’ 17 matches within their 2015 semi-final finish season, setting a new record for the fastest Waratah player in history to reach 25 tries.
He came second to Michael Hooper in the NSW Waratahs’ Players’ Player Award, the Matthew Burke Cup.
Off the field, Izzy has a calm, kind and humble nature and finds his inspiration from the bible, recently revealing it is his spiritual side that helps him get into the right head space to play his best rugby.
He has expressed an interest in youth work through RUPA’s Cultural Diversity and Development Program, a component of the Player Development Program (PDP), which has supported players in their professional development since 2001.
Izzy also co-authored a series of children’s books, released earlier in the year, which follow the lives of two young boys brought together by rugby. The books star Izzy himself as a mentor in rugby and life, sharing some of the lessons he’s learned from playing sport.
A testament to sporting ability, Izzy was making marks on sporting fields long before his glory days in the 15 –man code. He even had a street named after him in Goodna, near Ipswich in Queensland, at the ripe age of 21, back when the Rugby World Cup was last held in 2011. The three-code superstar played for Goodna Rugby League club as a teenager.
From a street sign in Goodna, to a series of accolades throughout his football career already, the name Isileli Folau will undoubtedly be etched in rugby’s and sporting history books for years to come.
