Izzy follows ADP's humble lead

[beige]

Israel Folau is already a sporting superstar but he's going the right way of lifting his reputation to another level - by following the humble lead of Alessandro Del Piero.

Folau marvels at the Italian football legend's modesty and down-to-earth, friendly nature that has won him extra fans worldwide.

The code-jumping Wallabies fullback has become good friends with Del Piero in Sydney and was delighted to ironically be "welcomed" by the Juventus great to his home town of Turin, where they will play Italy this weekend.

Folau and teammates Ben Mowen, Benn Robinson and Bernard Foley were invited to Del Piero's own personal art gallery where he spoke to them via Skype, and his brother Stefano presented them with a Sydney FC jersey.

Del Piero's gallery and exhibition centre, ADPLOG, also highlights integrity in sport and promotes his Save The Dream campaign.

After a career in which he has reached international heights in rugby league and union, and in between play AFL, Folau said Del Piero was a perfect role model for any athlete, and one he wanted to emulate.

"He's had a clean image throughout his whole career and the key thing is he is a humble person and very down to earth, he's attracted people through that," he told AAP.

"It's very inspiring to other athletes like myself, it's something you want to aspire to and want to be.

"You can just feel it through the way he speaks. He has very high standards and morals and that's something you can learn off him."

Read more: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8750732

[shasta]

What a refreshing change to the attitudes we've had to observe from some of his fellow gen Y Wallabies.
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[PeterM]

Must confess I was really blown away by the humility and approach-ability of quite a number of the Wallabies when I took the kids to the open training session earlier this season.