Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL) and New Zealand at international level.
Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Parramatta Eels and the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League. He won the 2011 NRL Grand Final with the Sea Eagles. Foran played for the NRL All Stars, and captained the Kiwis twice in 2013 and was also part of the side that won the 2014 Four Nations title.
Early life
Foran was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and went to Ellerslie Primary School and played for the Ellerslie Eagles before his family moved to Australia. Foran attended St Ives North Primary School and then went on to attend Marist Catholic College North Shore, along with close friend and future Sydney Roosters player Mitchell Pearce. His father is Greg Foran, the former CEO of Walmart's US division and the current chief executive of Air New Zealand.
Playing career
Junior football
Foran played his junior football for the Ellerslie Eagles in the Auckland Rugby League and several Norths Juniors district clubs; the Asquith Magpies and the North Sydney Brothers. Foran is the younger brother of Liam Foran. In 2007, Foran represented the Australia Schoolboy rugby league team. Foran played in the North Sydney Bears Harold Matthews Cup and SG Ball teams before being signed by the Manly club. Foran played in the Sea Eagles NYC team in 2008 and 2009 playing 34 games, scoring 20 tries for 80 points in his U20s career from 2008 to 2009.
2009
In early 2009, Foran was promoted to Manly's full-time squad and toured England with their World Club Challenge team. Foran became Sea Eagle number 526 when he made his first grade debut in round 15 against the Canberra Raiders, starting at five-eighth and scoring a try in Manly's 20–14 win at Brookvale Oval. On 6 August 2009, Foran was named in the 45-man New Zealand national rugby league team training squad for the 2009 Rugby League Four Nations. On 26 August, Foran publicly declared that he would represent New Zealand, making himself ineligible for Australia and New South Wales. Foran finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 9 matches and scoring 6 tries for Manly-Warringah in the 2009 NRL season. On 2 September 2009, Foran was named on the interchange bench in the 2009 NYC team of the year. On 7 November 2009, Foran become Kiwi number 757 when he made his test debut, playing in the centres in New Zealand's 12–20 loss to England at Alfred McAlpine Stadium. This was Foran's only match in the 2009 Four Nations tournament.
2010
Following Matt Orford's departure before the start of the 2010 Season, Foran started at halfback in Manly's round 1 22–26 loss to the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium. The following week, he played at five-eighth in Manly's 20–24 loss to Parramatta.
After a strong start to the season, Foran was rewarded with selection at halfback for New Zealand in the 2010 Anzac Test, which was played at Melbourne's new AAMI Park. Despite the 8–12 loss, Foran produced a strong performance and was being heavily considered as New Zealand's halfback for the 2010 Four Nations. However, Foran picked up a shoulder injury near the end of the NRL season which required him to have surgery and ruled him out for the entire tournament. During the season, Foran played in 23 matches and scored 4 tries for the Manly club.
2011
Following the early rounds of the 2011 NRL season, Foran was rewarded with selection at halfback inside of Benji Marshall at five-eighth for the annual Anzac test match against Australia at the Gold Coast's Cbus Super Stadium. In the game, he set up the final try of the game to team-mate Lance Hohaia, however Australia won the game 20–10. Heading into round 17 of the season, Foran was trailing North Queensland Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston by six votes when voting for the Dally M Medal went behind closed doors. But soon after, Thurston suffered a knee injury in the third State of Origin game and during his absence Foran produced some man-of-the-match awards to seemingly catch up. Foran was suspended following his role in the brawl against Melbourne in round 25 in Manly's 18–4 win at Brookvale Oval, ruling him ineligible for that year's medal.