Australian rugby player Israel Folau and Silver Fern Maria Tutaia at the Auckland Cup in March 2016. Photo / Photosport
Australian rugby player Israel Folau and Silver Fern Maria Tutaia at the Auckland Cup in March 2016. Photo / Photosport
Wallabies superstar Israel Folau has opened up about his high profile relationship with Silver Fern Maria Tutaia.
This past week, Folau announced that he would be taking an extended break from rugby and would miss the Wallabies end-of-year tour. He also rejected a short-term contract to play in Japan reportedly worth A$500,000 (NZ$560,000).
In a revealing column for playersvoice.com.au, Folau outlined the reasons for his decision saying he wanted to spend some much needed time with his fiancée.
"Through all of it, what the last few years have confirmed to me is that I love Maria, my fiancée, and I'm really looking forward to spending these next few months together as part of my break from the Wallabies' Spring Tour," said Folau.
"That's a big element of this time off. But there are others.
"I haven't had a break of more than five or six weeks since my first season with the Melbourne Storm when I was 17. That's 11 years, three footy codes and more-games-than-I-can-remember ago!"
Folau opened up about the challenges he and Tutaia have faced juggling their relationship and their respective careers.
"I felt very quickly that this relationship was different to anything else I'd known and Maria was the person I wanted to spend forever with.
"We knew at the time we committed to each other that the next period of our lives would be full of challenges.
"I want Maria to achieve everything she can out of her netball career, and she feels the same way about my footy."
Folau admits to feeling that their relationship has "always been on the clock".
"That [spending time together] was never going to be simple. She's contracted with the Mystics and the Silver Ferns in New Zealand and I'm signed with the Waratahs and the Wallabies in Australia.
"If I'm touring in South Africa or Argentina, I'm always making the time zone calculations in my head and trying to work out when she'll be on a break from training," says Folau.
"And when we're together in-person, you know there'll be a time in the next few hours or days when one of us is going to have to catch a plane back home.
"We're always comparing seasons, training schedules and calendars to find the little windows where we can spend time together."
The long-distance nature of their relationship has some perks, the 62-cap veteran insists.
"Some days I jump on a plane to Auckland in the morning and fly back to Sydney the same night (you should see my frequent flyer points). Other days I talk on the phone for hours and hours (you should see my phone bills).
"Because of the situation we're in, we probably talk more than most couples do. We know how each other thinks and the beliefs and values we share. It's been really nice to connect with someone on such a deep level."
Maria Tutaia announced her engagement to Folau via Instagram in October 2016. Photo / Supplied
There are plenty of tough times, though.
"Like when Maria might be having a rough day and all you want to do is to be there and give her a hug, but you can't. Or when something about our relationship is said in the media and you want to be there in person to help each other out.
"What we always come back to is that our sporting careers are temporary and, once they're over, we've got the rest of our lives to make up for this time apart.
"After my rugby commitments finish this weekend what I am looking forward to the most is having a couple of months where we can just be in a normal relationship without living on the phone or Skype or WhatsApp.
"I can't wait to do the things lots of other couples get to do every day, like getting a coffee together or going to the movies.
"That might sound boring to you but I'm really looking forward to it!"
With a recent victory against the All Blacks under his belt, Folau says his next challenge is to convert Tutaia into a Wallabies supporter.
"Now we've done that, I'm putting my mind to the next challenge: to convince Maria to get behind the Wallabies and stop supporting the All Blacks (she also supports the Blues in State of Origin, but that's another story).
"I've tried to talk her out of it but without much luck to date!"
