Steve McNamara "unsure" on Folau debut at Catalans Dragons

Israel Folau has two more training sessions with Catalans Dragons to prove whether he is ready to make his Super League debut this weekend. The 30-year-old, whose signing by the French club caused a furore in the game, has been sidelined since being sacked by Rugby Australia last May after claiming "hell awaits" gay people. However, Folau is in his second week of training with his new team-mates and could make his comeback in the Dragons' home game against Castleford on Saturday. Speaking about the newcomer's debut, Dragons boss Steve McNamara said: "We're not sure. We didn't take him to Wakefield, we left him here to do some more training, which he completed. "We've got two reasonable sessions, one this afternoon and one tomorrow afternoon when we'll have a look and then we'll decide. "There's no way I'm going to throw him into something that he's not ready for. By the same token, if he is ready, then we'll consider it. We're really unsure at this stage." Catalans' next game in Perpignan is not until March 7 but McNamara says he will not be influenced by the obvious temptation to give the club's biggest signing his debut in front of their own fans. He added: "It's not based on anything other than football, when he's ready to contribute positively to the team on the field, as simple as that, whether that be home or away. "Physically he's in good shape. He's not played the game for 10 years and he's not trained with a team for seven or eight months so it's going to take him some time but, in terms of how he looks after his body, he looks in really good shape." Source- Sky Sports