Foran joins Warriors’ test spine
Perhaps the best halves combination in the NRL
Warriors fans can finally rejoice — Kieran Foran is on board for 2017. The NRL yesterday finally approved the playing return of the former Manly and Parramatta playmaker following four months of uncertainty since the Warriors signed him on a one-year deal. Foran has been given the green light to play in the round three clash against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, providing he passes a further psychological test to ensure he is in the ‘‘right frame of mind to play”. It will be his first game since a seasonending shoulder injury forced him from the field in the Eels’ 20-18 win over Newcastle last May. The all-clear comes with the NRL satisfied he has addressed various personal and mental issues and severed ties with gambling figure Eddie Hayson. However, it comes with contractual conditions relating to him having been linked to allegations of match fixing. The 26-year-old five-eighth will waltz right in to Stephen Kearney’s Warriors line-up and reunite with his Kiwis test teammate Shaun Johnson to form perhaps the best halves combination in the NRL. With Issac Luke’s wily ways out of dummy half and Johnson’s speed and footwork on the right edge, Foran will provide the Warriors with much-needed toughness, direction and stability in both attack and defence. Together with new captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at fullback, the Warriors will field the New Zealand test spine that was in place when the Thursday, February 16, 2017 Kiwis had a three-match winning run over Australia in the 2014 Four Nations and 2015 Anzac test.
The 20-test veteran and two-time Kiwis captain helped guide the Sea Eagles to their 2011 premiership win over the Warriors and possesses all the qualities his new club side lacked both that day, and in each of the five long and miserable seasons since.
And after a turbulent past 16 months, Foran will now shoulder much of the burden of expectation that always weighs upon the underachieving Warriors.
But, much like co-skipper Simon Mannering, Foran is the unflappable type of player capable of taking on those responsibilities without his game suffering.
Parramatta fans, including the great Peter Sterling, believed Foran was going to be the Eels’ great saviour but while he played well in limited showings, he managed just nine games in the blue and gold.
It always seemed an awkward union after his exit from Manly, with Foran choosing to remain on Sydney’s northern beaches and commute out west to train each day.
But after committing to relocate back to Auckland, having attended primary school in Ellerslie, Foran has regained his focus and those close to him say he is in better physical shape than he has been in years.
With the help of Warriors managing director Jim Doyle and the support of his Aucklandbased godfather, solicitor and confidante Don Mackinnon and his family, Foran has pulled his career out of a tailspin.
With two young children and his former partner remaining in Sydney, frequent trips across the Tasman have helped the transition.
Those factors were a big part of why he initially turned down the Warriors when Doyle approached him three years ago but tumultuous circumstances brought him home.