Warriors sweating on Foran
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney says he’ll wait until today before confirming if Kieran Foran will play against the
Bulldogs.
The five-eighth picked up a quad injury in the 34-12 win over the Titans two weeks ago.
Kearney said Foran’s recovery had been going well and will give him every opportunity to play in tomorrow’s game at Mt Smart Stadium.
“He’s coming along OK,” Kearney said. “We’ll give him until as late as possible, probably until the captain’s run on Thursday, which is when we’ll make a decision on him.
“But he’s progressing and we’re hopeful he’ll be OK to go on Friday.”
Clearly the Warriors are a better team when Foran is playing in it, but being without him is something they’re going to have to get used to, when he switches to the Bulldogs next year.
When it was confirmed a couple of months ago that Foran would be leaving, Kearney said there would be announcement sooner rather than later on what the club’s plans would be.
They were linked to the Panthers’ Te Maire Martin, but he’s joined the Cowboys and it was recently announced that Ata Hingano has signed a new deal at the Warriors to keep him at the club until the end of the 2020 season.
“It was always our plan to keep Ata, who started the first three games for us this year at five-eighth,” Kearney said.
“I know the wonderful potential that he has, but he’s a 19-year-old and it’s a matter of making sure we create an environment for Ata and he wants to be a part of an environment, which he’s committed to, where he does it consistently week to week. “Obviously, he saw his pathway blocked if Kieran was here, so now he sees that opportunity, which is why he’s committed and we’re very pleased about that.”
It’s believed the club are no longer looking for a big name No 6 for next year and it will be Hingano who’ll get the first opportunity. Warriors: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Blake Ayshford, David Fusitu’a, Ken Maumalo, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Jacob Lillyman, Issac Luke, Ben Matulino, Bodene Thompson, Ryan Hoffman, Simon Mannering. Interchange (from): Nathaniel Roache, Sam Lisone, Albert Vete, Bunty Afoa, James Gavet, Manu Vatuvei, Ligi Sao, Mafoa’aeata Hingano.