frees speech, hate speech or a comedy routine?

[brewer]

That was the club's argument also. Some agree, but some argue that the company does not have the right to infringe on his free speech irrespective of contract.
If he has said something nice, all is good. Who decides what is morally correct? The company paying him to play football? Are they qualified to make that decision?

The courts, at least in the US, disagree.

This is not about morals. The employer gets to decide what their brand will represent to the public. 

Apparently he was terminated because he appears to have violated Code of Conduct provisions: https://www.researchgate.net/publication...rael_Folau

Choices have consequences. We'll have to wait to see how the AU courts rule in this particular case.