McKenzie warns Folau of rugby potholes

Reds coach Ewen McKenzie has eased some of the best league converts into rugby but
has warned Israel Folau there will be no simple path into the Wallabies.
Test three-quarter Folau is expected to advise the Brisbane Broncos on Friday he
will activate a get-out clause from his four-year contract.
While Folau is tipped to deliver the bad news to Brisbane on Friday, it is unclear
if the 195cm giant will confirm he is joining rugby union's expansion club the
Melbourne Rebels on a deal reportedly worth more than $600,000 a season, including a
$100,000 top-up from the Australian Rugby Union.
"We thought Izzy was going to be a long term player for us and he still might be,
I'm not saying that he's not going to be," said hopeful Broncos coach Ivan Henjak 24
hours before Folau's deadline expires.
"He still could well be, I hope he is."
Folau's switch is set to cost him a place in Australian and Queensland league sides
this year but it will give him nine months in rugby to make a tilt at playing for
the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup.
Able to play wing or in the centres, Folau has the raw skills to be a major success
story at Super 15 level.
But McKenzie - who oversaw the transitions of Mat Rogers, Lote Tuqiri, Mark Gasnier
and Will Chambers - indicated the 195cm try-scoring machine couldn't expect to
immediately stroll into the Wallabies side.
Folau's lack of exposure to the 15-man code would make his transition to rugby even
more of a challenge, according to the Queensland Reds coach.
He used former Melbourne Storm teammate Chambers, a Queensland Schoolboys rugby rep
who took a starting position in the Reds backline, as an example of the difficulty
Folau faces.
"Clearly he's a good player but we all know there's a bit of time lag," McKenzie
said. "He's a young guy so he can learn.
"Even a guy like Will Chambers had his whole schoolboy rugby career, so he's only
been out of rugby for four years, but it's taken him some time to re-assimilate and
get the spatial side of it.
"If he hasn't done that before ever that will make it a challenge."
McKenzie could see considerable merit in the Rebels chasing Folau as a marketing
tool in Melbourne following two stand-out seasons with the Storm.
The Reds are interested on-lookers with Folau's likely signing possibly helping them
to lure Gasnier, who McKenzie coached at Stade Francais, back from France ahead of
the Rebels.
"The Gasnier thing is in the hands of the ARU so we'll see how that plays out," the
ex-Waratahs coach said.
"The Folau situation might lead to a massive domino effect."