Israel Folau hopes to receive an apology from Rugby Australia (RA), whom he believes sacked him unfairly following his controversial social media post.
The former Australia international saw his contract terminated by RA and the Waratahs for a "high-level breach" after he posted on Instagram to say that "hell awaits…drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolaters".
Folau had been warned over his conduct for similar posts in the past, and the 30-year-old began a GoFundMe page to raise money for his legal challenge against RA.
That was subsequently shut down by GoFundMe, while a second page – through the Australian Christian Lobby – has been paused after raising more than $2 million.
MORE: Israel Folau: Raelene Castle, Rugby Australia clarify position on ongoing saga
Folau is set for a hearing with the Fair Work Commission on Friday, where he hopes that RA will apologise for what he feels was an unfair dismissal on religious grounds.
“It starts tomorrow with the Commission, heading there,” Folau told Alan Jones on Sky News, in his first television interview since he was sacked last month.
“I’m hopeful for an apology from them and an admission that they were wrong.
“That’ll be something that I would like to get.”
Asked if he plans to ever play rugby again, Folau reiterated his wish for RA officials to say sorry.
“Look I’m extremely proud to have represented my country, it’s truly an honour, but again tomorrow’s the first step, in terms of legal stuff,” he said.
“I’m looking for that apology and if I can get that that’ll be awesome.”
Folau also claimed RA officials asked him to remove his controversial post from social media and says the governing body offered him money to do so.
Asked by Jones if he was offered moneyto take the post down, Folau replied: “Yes”.
“... I said no, you know I couldn’t do that as a person that’s convicted by my faith, I couldn’t live with myself.”
“... I felt like I was backed into a corner, into a boundary where I was put into one side where I had to compromise in order to agree to what they were asking.
“But in the end, like I said, I couldn’t do it because my faith to me is what’s most important.”
The 30-year-old insists his message, which has been criticised as homophobic, ‘certainly comes from a place of love and it’s nothing personal’.
“I can certainly see it from both sides and look if I had a child that was a drug addict I would certainly still love my child without anything attached to that,” he said.
“It’s something that I’m trying to share in love and that’s the way I look at it in terms of sharing the bible and the passages with my fellow men each day.”