Leaderboard

The most intolerant people on this planet are the vociferous so called "tolerant left".

For me, it's as simple as this. If a sport seriously wants to proclaim itself LGBTQ+ friendly and reap the associated benefits of such a policy, as Rugby League does, then it is incompatible with those stated values to welcome into the same sport a high profile, vociferous and unapologetic homophobe. Those two positions are mutually exclusive. You have to choose one, or the other, or be held in contempt. Actions speak louder than words, and all the fine words about LGBTQ+ inclusivity in Rugby League have effectively now been rendered worthless. When push comes to shove, we now know

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/51290285 Private equity and restructure is going to come, I feel. Woods suggests seven heartland clubs but I would start with only five: St Helens, Leeds, Wigan, Warrington and Hull FC. Add Toronto, New York, London, Catalans and Toulouse and you could have a first-rate Super League with international appeal (and with room to expand). Other clubs like Hull KR, Cas, Wakey, Huddersfield, Salford, Bradford etc would play in a highly competitive ‘Super League 2’, which would be part of the TV deal. This would be my strategy, anyway.

He had to apologise because of the backlash in the comments from people who sit and wait to be offended by something. This is why I have respect for Folau for not backing down to these loonys, I mean according to Folau I'd be going to hell for Drinking... do I agree with what he says? Absoultley not, but I'll defend to the death his right to say it.

No but you can choose how you express your beliefs in public. This is particularly pertinent for professional sportsmen & women as they are often seen as 'role models' for young people to look up to and aspire to become. Holding extreme views rarely fits with most professional sports as most have active plans to include minority groups and people who suffer prejudice & persecution. Rugby League as a professional body has its own policies for inclusivity and anyone who participates in the sport should recognize and abide by them. People like Folau are free to hold whatever per

All Israel Folau has done is express his view. He can't personally send homosexuals to hell and, as far as we know, he hasn't inflicted any personal violence against gay people or blocked their employment prospects. He's entitled to his opinion and we're entitled to ignore it. We've players in our game that have committed actual crimes and nobody moans about them playing when their sentence is up.

Folau's genuine religious belief is gay people, adulterers, atheists, drunks etc will go to hell in the afterlife unless they repent and believe in god. In this life Folau means no harm to gay people and believes he is trying to help gay people, adulteres, atheists, drunks avoid forever after in hell. Folau mistake was not realising could be interpreted as harmful by others. Folau has committed no crime, and is definitely entitled to make a living from his god given / human made talents. Would a person who had hatred for gay people appear on the cover of a gay magazine promoting gay rugby. Thi

I got here late, have not read the 24 pages but would like to say the following: - I disliked Folau probably before any of you, for the simple fact that he turned his back on Rugby League! Anyone who does this, for any reason, is a traitor in my mind and I have no time for them. - Seeing how he has been treated though, since his whole twitter fiasco has made me end up almost being on his side now. - The twitter lynch-mob makes me sick and seem to think they have a monopoly on morality. - Folau is now caught between a rock and a hard place. People are complaining that he n

No let’s avoid having An argument and have a discussion , let’s look at this 20 years ago nobody would have batted an eyelid to have suggested a problem at that time would have seemed wrong . My point is that when the arbiters of right and wrong are undemocratically elected and not judicial , we fall back in to who shouts loudest or who has the biggest muscles deciding policy . All sane people know looking at history this never ends well from either political spectrum . I do not agree with or condone Israel’s comments but to deprive someone of a livelihood when they have broken no laws sets a

Ahh the French! Despite all of the outrage in the UK and Australia, I guarantee 100% that no one in Perpignan gives a ###### about what Folau said or did. I grew up with Francos, they tend not to give a ###### about this sort of stuff, it's a cultural thing. Let's face it, Catalans have been near the cellar the past few seasons and need the firepower. They probably even got a discount on account of Israel's "baggage". Smart rugby move.

An apology is never enough for the twitter mob it only is seen as a weekness. They will only settle for the complete destruction of the person and his or her professional life. Its almost as if they act as they are an over zealous religious cult.

I can’t find a quote anywhere that he said legalising gay marriage caused the bushfires. Just opinions of journalists that have suggested that his comments related to gay people. I quote Israel... “Look how rapid these bushfires, these droughts, all these things have come, in a short period of time. You think it's a coincidence or not? God is speaking to you guys. Australia, you need to repent." not one mention of gay people. As for declaring he’ll awaits gay people, a quote from the world’s most published book... Corinthians 6: 9-11 “Do you not know that wrongdoers will no

Very good and accurate article by Dave Woods has just gone up on the BBC Sport rl site. Certainly worth a read and comment.

Tom Hopkins and Mark Tyson both signed up, great news.

"Robin Park’s indoor running track will be converted into a huge fanzone during Warriors home games – complete with live music." https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/bars-and-live-music-inside-wigan-warriors-new-indoor-fanzone-next-to-the-dw-stadium-1-10227505 Wigan trying to add to the game day experience - good work, and using existing facilities.

Flipping heck, we've already had 38 pages of whether Israel Folau should be debarred for thinking homosexuality is a deviant sexual behaviour liable to be punished by the Almighty. There's no need to make the situation worse by bringing goats into it.

Here's another angle on it for you. I'm clear that he's in the wrong, either morally, legally or both. But he is also a young man, in relative terms - he's been an adult for 12 years, he might have 50 to go. He is trotting out out-dated religious doctrine verbatim. My view is that he has not yet learned that what he has said is hurtful, prejudicial and wrong. I don't believe he's a bad man, I believe he has a skewed perspective. Maybe we should embrace him, and he should meet people like Keegan Hirst and Gareth Thomas, and go to matches in support of Pride and meet other LGBT people inv

Typical tfl they let Catalan register a player that no one in Australia will touch because of his comments . There just making the sport a joke and allowing a player to cover the sponsors logo.up as its against his religious beliefs . But when a coach asks for different hotel as he witnessed as a life changing event the answer is no . Just shows how there prioritize things

Sadly i don't think we have the right amount of capable people involved in senior positions to take the game forward, fully grasp the potential and prosper. Not in the next two years anyway. Hope i'm wrong.

Who made him apologise? The article doesn't say. Choosing to drink alcohol and being gay are not similar in the slightest.

Exactly, youre either inclusive or not. Its a two way street. You can't say your inclusive but then exclude someone on thier faith. Other than a some comments about the bible and his faith he has in my knowledge never committed any sort of homophobic offences towards a gay person. Where as Zak Hardaker actually has actually verbally assaulted someone with a homophobic slur.

Such a pity that we have to choose between wife beaters, drug users and religious zealots as role models. I don't know who made up this rule but it seems rather arbitrary! This 'whataboutism' where we describe other people who have committed some serious offence is not a very grown up way to discuss the merits of Falou being in our sport or not. It is possible to discuss our position on Falou as a stand alone topic without constant references to other incidents.

" it was not my intention to hurt anyone and I'll not be making further public comment on it " To me that's the end of it Unless others feel they need to make a point by continuing to make an issue of it , if that's the case then I'd be looking to question why and what their motives are ?

Since people are quoting what others have said and misquoting what Folau himself has said; here's a couple of quotes from him. "My response to the question is what I believe God's plan is for all sinners, according to my understanding of my Bible teachings, specifically 1 Corinthians 6:9–10" "Since my social media posts were publicised, it has been suggested that I am homophobic and bigoted and that I have a problem with gay people. This could not be further from the truth. I fronted the cover of the Star Observer magazine to show my support for the Bingham Cup, which is an internat

Interesting you should mention Rochdale given they've just signed someone who only last month was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend, punching her and forcing his hand down her throat. Whilst deploring what Folau said, RLs moral compass is totally messed up.

We seem fixated only on Israel Folau's denunciation of homosexuals. But let us consider the entire gamut of offenders of fundamentalist Christianity whom he denounced: Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. There's the entire adult population of Leeds, Hull, Huddersfield, Castleford, Wakefield, Wigan, Warrington, St Helens, and Salford, right there!

Your first opportunity to watch our new recruits on home turf will be the Challenge Cup 3rd Round tie against West Bowling. Kick off is 2pm. Sunday 9th February. Prices are reduced to: £10 Adult £8 Concession Kids go free! There is no early bird offer for this game. Season tickets are not valid for Cup games. RL is back at Derwent Park. #ourtown

Just as I was getting excited about the new season this embarrassment of a show returns...

That would be an ecumenical matter.

dont mention falou,bums and force in the same sentence.do you want to go to hell

If that's the case then there's one hell (sic) of a lot of religious folk who won't be making it to heaven. I hope Folau can squeeze himself a bit then if Jesus was right on this: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

What timing...I read the article earlier this morning and have now finished a brutal workout in the weight room reflecting and thinking on it. I believe what he says is true in a 'macro' sense....the crossroads is indeed here, in the NOW, even though some refuse to admit it. This is our time as a sport...sometimes your number just comes up. Its the 'micro' that gives me concern....it will be the nuts and bolts that define what happens. There does not seem to be alot of support from the administrative structure on how to proceed....the lack of support and direction from SL for the W

This thread is horrible, plenty of ignorance from both sides of the debate and it’s gone on far too long. Why don’t you all get back to discussing rugby league, the season starts tomorrow.

Oh that's easy all the self appointed hard lefties they are experts in this

So it's a straight choice between being lgbt friendly or deeply religious people.lesgue should choose lgbt Why ? Where does it.say it has to pick any sides. Its a sport not a poltical movement

Well isn't that what freedom of religion is about? As long as you don't use it to incite violence. I for one do not and never will proscribe to the court of social media opinion, to destroy someone's life. If druggies, women beaters, cheats, drink drivers and other criminals can play rugby league. Then so can a person who only quoted the bible and is a bit too religious for people on social media.

I don't know how anyone can hold Falou up as some kind of moral role model. He took millions of dollars from thousands of people on the promise of fighting a battle for their rights to freedom of religious expression only to walk away with a $4million dollar settlement out of court and an apology for the harm he has caused. Now he is promising to not speak on the issue again as he earns another salary. To me, this is completely unethical behaviour bordering on outright fraud.

The simple measure for me is exchange gay for another group such as people of colour. Is it offensive now? if you answer yes then it offensive for all groups. Really disappointed that there isn't a code of conduct for clubs to follow and that the RFL/Sl don't have any teeth

Saying Hell awaits gay people and that legalising marriage between them has caused the Australian bushfires

https://chaser.com.au/sport/folau-quits-french-club-after-teammates-keep-kissing-him-on-the-cheek/

You must have missed my quotes from Folau earlier, Tommy. Folau has stated he does not hate and/or have any problem with gay people. He quoted religious scripts which is important and completely different to the likes of Fury and Hardaker who used their own bigoted/homophobic views to articulate their thoughts. I'm surprised you're happy to dismiss them more readily than you are Folau because they said the word sorry?

Since when do fake apologises make up for slagging off an entire group of people? Whether you agree with his views of not, at least Folau is man enough to stand by what he says instead of bending down to the people who sit and wait on social media to be offended by something.

This furore reminds me of the Ched Evans case. Everybody and his superficial auntie climbed on board the bus to denigrate him after a trial that had obviously delivered a dodgy verdict. I didn't notice any clamour of apologies when his sentence was quashed.

It's not as black and white as that though is it. Yes, he hasn't said gay people are bot welcome in RL but he has said they need to 'repent' in order to save their eternal souls. The idea that gay people need to repent inherently shows that he (and all fundamental Christians plus other religions) believe that being gay is wrong and being gay is wrong and unnatural. It is these types of messages about homosexuality being wrong and unnatural, perpetuated by the influence of the church, which breeds intolerance and more dangerous homophobia. Folau may sincerely believe what

100% this

Interesting that two of the biggest signings in the English super league have been made by non English clubs. Coincidence?

Or maybe very honest , sometimes you have to be prepared to stand up for what you believe in

I'm aware that it was stupid, ill-conceived and pointless precisely because the answer was obvious, which was why I asked it. Of course nothing Folau could tweet would have any effect on the pride you take in your son's achievements. So bearing that in mind, why should that affect whether or not you support the Catalans Dragons? As I have pointed out earlier, my daughter and son-in-law are evangelical Christians who have some views that I strongly disagree with. But that doesn't mean that I would not give them as much support as I could with their lives and with bringing up

I've e-mailed Sportsnet Now, requesting info on Super League rugby games, and they have indicated that the following will be available, this week: Wigan vs. Warrington -— Thursday, 2:30pm St. Helens vs. Salford -— Friday, 2:00pm Toronto vs. Castleford -— Sunday, 9:00am Leeds vs. Hull FC -— Sunday, 11:30am That said, the current schedule grid only lists the Thursday and Friday games, putting their coverage of Toronto Wolfpack games into question. It will also require the very expensive SN Now+ package. So, you're looking at $27.99+tax per month ($20.83+tax per month, when billed annual

Batley 12 Fev 32 1st game of season and not going with any optimism as has been mentioned we have not beaten them at home in a league fixture in a long time. Lets see how many Leeds 1st team squad players they have in their team. You know that they will not be academy players which was what D/R was meant for . See you all up at the mount hoping for a shock result.