London: Israel Folau says he is “grateful” to be at Super League outfit Catalans Dragons as the competition’s clubs held talks on Wednesday over the controversial signing of the dual-code international.
The French rugby league club have been heavily criticised for signing the 30-year-old, who was sacked last year by Australian rugby union chiefs over his highly publicised homophobic views.
Folau, who arrived in Perpignan at the weekend to begin training with his new teammates ahead of Sunday’s round two fixture at Wakefield, said he was raring to get started.
“I’m excited to be back playing the game that I grew up playing,” Folau said.
The other clubs had specifically requested the presence of Guasch after he ignored the will of both Super League and the Rugby Football League in signing Folau.
Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell wrote a letter to the Dragons warning them of possible legal consequences in the event of his club losing out financially due to the presence in Super League of Folau.
Guasch, who has defended his club’s decision to hand Folau a 12-month contract, was expected to attend the regular meeting but had not arrived when it got under way at 1000GMT.