Kieran Foran will walk into the opposition dressing room at Brookvale on Saturday for just the second time in his long and illustrious NRL career.
One of Manly’s favourite sons, Foran has been named at five-eighth for the Gold Coast Titans for the round nine clash at 4 Pines Park.
The much loved ‘Foz’ played 196 NRL matches for Manly from 2009-15 and 2021-2022, winning a premiership with the Sea Eagles in 2011 alongside half-back and close friend, Daly Cherry-Evans.
He won 116 of his 196 games for Manly and scored 40 tries. Foran has now played 268 career games.
Foran’s only previous visit to Brookvale as an opposition player was in round seven, 2016, when, as captain, he led the Parramatta Eels to a 22-10 victory.
Playing against him on that Thursday night was lock Jake Trbojevic and a very youthful winger in Tom Trbojevic. Cherry-Evans missed the game with an ankle injury.
Saturday’s match at 4 Pines Park will be just the third time Foran and Cherry-Evans have played against one another at club level in their distinguished careers.
The first came in round 17, 2017, in Perth when Manly pipped the Warriors 26-22. Foran played five-eighth that night for the Warriors.
Cherry-Evans would then break his good mate’s heart once more that season when he kicked two field goals – one off each foot – to get the Sea Eagles home 22-21 at Mt Smart Stadium in a round 25 thriller.
Foran never played against Manly when he was at Canterbury from 2018-2020 either due to form or injury.
Cherry-Evans and Foran were hoping to finish their careers together at Manly before Foran left at the end of last season to accept a deal with the Titans.
With regular five-eighth Josh Schuster out through injury, Cherry-Evans will partner five-eighth Cooper Johns in the halves battle against Foran and Tanah Boyd on Saturday.
"We loved our time together as mates and also out on footy field. We felt like we built a really built connection,’’ Cherry-Evans said of Foran on Wednesday ahead of his 291st game for Manly..
“We get to verse each other again. That’s probably another highlight for us as friends is playing against each other.
“He is here in different colours at Brookie. He is so competitive, so I know he is going to be looking at our game as a side. He will be finding ways to pick us apart this weekend.
“I can’t wait to get out there and play against him. At the end of the day, it is a game. We will be doing everything we can to win it.
“It’s a great opportunity for two friends to play at the highest level against each other.”
For Foran, the match marks his first appearance back at 4 Pines Park since his emotional lap of honour in his final home game in August last year.
“The Manly fans have really loved me in a way that I haven’t felt anywhere else, I feel that,'' Foran said in a farewell club tribute video.
"I feel very humbled that they have loved me and supported me."
As for returning to 'Brookie', Foran has some words of advice for his Titans team-mates.
"It's a really great atmosphere when you can play down there in front of a packed crowd, so that's something that I'll be letting the boys know to enjoy," Foran said.
"It's a really, really good stadium to play at, it's a great pitch and they've done a really good job with it. It's a pretty vocal crowd down there."
Kick off at 4 Pines Park on Saturday is 5.30pm. Tickets available here
