Five Foran moments that made him a 'Manly Man'

From teenage debutant to interim head coach, Kieran Foran's journey at the Sea Eagles has been anything but ordinary.

He was 18 years old and barely out of school when he ran onto the field against the Canberra Raiders and scored on debut. He'll turn 35 this year and be calling the shots from the sideline. In between, Foran gave Manly fans some of the most memorable football the club has seen.

As he prepares for his first full week as Manly's interim head coach we revisit some of the moments that made him a Manly legend.

The debut against Canberra, 2009

Foran was 18 years old when Des Hasler handed him his NRL debut in Round 15 against the Canberra Raiders. He scored a try and played his role in a 20–14 Manly win, announcing himself to the competition as a fresh face that meant business.

He went on to finish that first season with six tries from nine first-grade games in a start to a career that gave the club every indication they had something special on their hands.

The 2011 Grand Final

The defining moment of Foran's first stint at Manly. He and a teenage Daly Cherry-Evans combined in the halves as the Sea Eagles ran out 24–10 winners over the New Zealand Warriors in front of 81,988 at ANZ Stadium - the youngest premiership-winning halves pairing in 30 years at 21 and 22 respectively.

Foran had played 26 games that season and scored eight tries. It was the kind of campaign that sets a player's career trajectory, and Foran looked every bit the halfback who would go on to dominate the competition for the next decade.

The preliminary final try against Brisbane, 2011

The grand finals get the headlines, but Manly had to get past the Brisbane Broncos first. Foran crossed in that preliminary final as the Sea Eagles booked their date at ANZ Stadium - a performance that cemented his value in the games that matter most.

Foran was elite at full tilt in a high-pressure knockout environments like this and while Manly are a far cry from a prelim final, Foran needs this character to rub off onto the playing group, fast.

The 2013 season

Foran's 100th NRL game came in a year that saw him reach his second grand final with Manly, captain the Kiwis in the Anzac Test, and play all six matches at the Rugby League World Cup before being named New Zealand Player of the Year.

While it was unknown at the time, this season at the age of 23 would shape as one of Foran's best seasons as injury continued to plague the middle and later stages of his career.

The comeback in 2021

After years away - a difficult stint with the Warriors, a move to Parramatta, and a range personal struggles - Foran returned home to Manly and delivered one of the more quietly remarkable seasons in recent NRL memory.

He played 25 games, his most since 2013, generating 11 try assists alongside Cherry-Evans as the Sea Eagles surged to a top-four finish and a preliminary final.

For a player whose career had looked finished more than once, it was an emphatic final statement in the Manly colours.