Israel Folau claims he was in line for 'possible captainship' and is now demanding $14 million from Rugby Australia

NZ Herald

Israel Folau is now demanding $14 million in damages from Rugby Australia, claiming he could have been captain of the Wallabies.

The cross-code star lodged an updated statement of claim in the Federal Court where he's increasing his demands from $10 million to $14 million.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Folau, who was sacked for anti-gay comments made on social media this year, said his contract termination will cost him more than $4 million from 2019-21 and also claimed he stood to make up to $1.5 million a season overseas when his contract with RA was up.

Folau reportedly used estimates of how much money he would have earned in retirement had he been given the position of Wallabies captain to justify his new $14 million demand.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Folau estimated his earnings post-retirement for "possible captainship of a trophy-winning Wallabies team at an approximate rate of $30,000 to $50,000 per annum for between 15 to 25 years (approx $450,000 to $1,250,000)."

In the claim, Folau also says that a Wallabies teammate had told former coach Michael Cheika and CEO Raelene Castle that his sacking would "divide the team and offend Christian Polynesian players."

The lawsuit argues that Rugby Australia breached their obligations by "failing to bring all material evidentiary matters to the attention of the Tribunal, including the fact that a senior player had told the CEO of Rugby Australia ("Ms Castle") and the coach of the Wallabies ("Mr Cheika") that the termination of Mr Folau was likely to cause division amongst the Wallabies and that Christian Polynesians in the team were offended by the actions of Rugby Australia (and the Waratahs), and then proceeding to terminate Mr Folau in circumstances where that material had not been brought to the attention of the Tribunal."

His amended statement also notes that Folau said in a code of conduct hearing in May that he had support from his teammates.

"During the hearing before the Tribunal, Mr Folau revealed to the Tribunal that at least 15 teammates and members of coaching staff had either provided him with messages of support and/or urged for his return to the playing field and that he had been informed by his teammates and management that there would be no disharmony or impact on team cohesion if he were to return to the game."

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Israel Folau has made plenty of complaints this year after making bigoted posts on social media: