Gambling and alcohol almost derailed Kieran Foran’s career, 300 games later he has a warning for young stars
Kieran Foran became one of the highest paid players in the NRL when he joined the Eels in 2016, but behind the scenes his life was unravelling. Now 300 games into his NRL career, the veteran half has opened up on ditching the blue and gold.
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Rugby league great Kieran Foran has pleaded for fans to ease off the new generation of NRL superstars amid attacks on poster boys Reece Walsh and Latrell Mitchell.
Foran became the 53rd player in NRL history to reach the 300-game milestone when he ran out for the Gold Coast Titans against St George Illawarra in Wollongong on Sunday.
It was a special moment for the 34-year-old Foran, who has picked himself up off the canvas numerous times throughout a turbulent 16-season career in the brutal NRL.
Battling gambling, alcohol, prescription drug and mental health issues, Foran was a shattered man when he walked away from a $1.2 million-a-season contract with Parramatta in 2016 following 156 NRL games.
But in one of the game’s most inspirational stories he fought back from the brink to resurrect his life and career.
Now Foran has a warning for the new breed of NRL superstars who are under immense scrutiny in the social media generation, highlighted by Mitchell’s “white substance” scandal this week and Walsh’s unrivalled popularity.
“We put too much pressure on young men,” Foran said in a candid interview with this masthead.
“At 24-25 people were expecting me to think like a 45-year-old. That’s not the way the world is and we’ve got to stop it.
“We need to understand people are human and f*** up. They are learning and growing every day. Grown men at 55 are still making decisions they wish they didn’t.
“How old is Reece Walsh? What are most blokes doing at 22? They’ve left school and are going to uni or doing a trade with their mates.
WE NEED TO BE MORE FORGIVING
“It’s a lot of pressure that falls on the shoulders of these young men. I’ve lived it and been through it.
“You hear everyone say, ‘Well don’t get paid the big bucks’. Just because you’re good at footy and paid a lot of money doesn’t mean you’ve got it all worked out.”
Foran made a hot start to his NRL career with Manly in 2009 and within three years was a premiership-winning Test star.
But he said playing in the NRL hid a lot of his off-field problems.
“We expect blokes in the NRL at 23 to be the ultimate professionals but being good at football masks a lot,” he said.
“I could run out for 80 minutes and be the best footballer on the field while behind the scenes my life was a f***ing chaotic mess and no one saw any of that.
“Everyone would just talk about the 80 minutes I played on a Friday night and got man of the match. They didn’t know I was battling a gambling addiction or struggling with my drinking.
“You get labelled a rock star and find yourself in poor situations because you’re in a different spotlight.
“We have to allow these guys to not be perfect. At times we are too quick to jump on them. They are young men trying to work life out and we need to be more forgiving.
“I’ve learnt so much through my journey and life. Everyone is on their own journey with different challenges they’ve got to overcome.
“We’ve got to have a better understanding of it.”
Growing up in New Zealand, Foran was identified at a young age as being a footballer with a future in the NRL.
ADDICTION TAKES ITS TOLL
He was signed by Manly as a teenager, made his NRL debut for the Sea Eagles before his 19th birthday and played Test footy for the Kiwis later that year.
It was a golden age on Sydney’s northern beaches for a stacked Sea Eagles team coached by Des Hasler and Foran tasted NRL premiership glory in 2011 before featuring in another grand final in 2013. The NRL seemed like a piece of cake.
But behind the scenes Foran’s life was unravelling amid addiction problems and a relationship breakdown.
He became one of the NRL’s highest paid players when he agreed to join Parramatta in 2016 but a nine-game stint with the Eels ended when he attempted to take his life and walked away from a $5 million contract.
“My first 147 games went like that (clicks fingers),” Foran says of his 2009-15 stint with Manly.
“It was the blink of an eye and then I was leaving Manly to join Parramatta. I thought ‘geez that went quick, I’ll breeze through this’.
HITTING ROCK BOTTOM
“I thought it was a dream run but that never happens in life – eventually it’ll come to an end and you’ll face some big challenges. My dream run came to an end after 156 games in 2016.
“What happened at Parramatta would have happened at Manly anyway, it would have just been a slower burn. I was always going to get to a point in my life where it was rock bottom – privately and professionally.
“I was so far out of control with the decisions I was making off the pitch that it wouldn’t have mattered if I stayed at Manly. It was going to come crashing down on me eventually.”
With his life and career seemingly in tatters, Foran escaped the Sydney fishbowl for his homeland in New Zealand. It was a decision that set him on course to play at least another 144 NRL games with the Warriors, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles (second stint) and Titans.
“When I walked away from Parramatta I had lost my love for what came with the NRL, but not my love of rugby league,” he said.
“I was to blame for that and I acknowledge that now I’ve got older. I was in the spotlight and I didn’t like the public perception of me.
GOING HOME TO BREATHE
“It’s not that I didn’t want rugby league, but I didn’t want what came with it. I was well and truly done with it.
“Had it not been for the opportunity to go back to my homeland in New Zealand, I don’t think I was ever coming back. That’s the truth.
“Had a Sydney or Queensland club offered me a contract, I wouldn’t have accepted it no matter what they threw at me.
“At the time I was pretty mentally unwell and dealing with some stuff I had to address and get sorted.
“What got me back is I returned to New Zealand where I was born and grew up. I could just breathe for a minute and reconnect with extended family, reinvent myself and find some internal peace and happiness.
“I rediscovered my love for the game and embarked on the second phase of my rugby league journey, but it was really just the start of my challenges.
“I came back to Australia and had to get back on top of everything to rebuild my life. I was trying to be the marquee man for a big club (Canterbury Bulldogs) and had my body failing me. I had so many injuries.
“But that shaped me, moulded me and so much came out of those tough times. That is why I’m here, am the man I am and player I am today. It’s because of what I went through over those five years.”
Foran battled through three injury-riddled seasons with the Bulldogs (2018-20) before reuniting with Hasler at Manly in 2021, where he put together two strong seasons before joining the Titans last year.
He credits wife Karina, who he married in 2018, for keeping him in the game and they have ridden life’s highs and lows together, including the tragic suicide of her son Logan Steinwede in November last year.
“There’s no way I’m back playing rugby league if it wasn’t for Karina and both of our families,” Foran said.
“She has ridden it with me. She’s been the closest one over those last seven or eight years.
“She’s sitting there when I’ve wanted to throw it all away or copping it for being overpaid and being told I’m a waste of space who should medically retire.
“She picked me up in those times when I said ‘I’m done’. She said ‘no you’re not, I’m not letting you, you don’t have a choice. I’m not living with you for the rest of your life knowing you walked away when you had more left in the tank’.
“You need someone like that in your corner.”
As he embarks on his 300th game and the twilight of his career, Foran has mixed emotions about his life and NRL journey.
On one hand, he wishes he didn’t experience what he has and the vulnerability that comes with it but acknowledges those struggles have built the resilience and character that has helped him reach this milestone.
“To think about how long it’s taken to get the next 150 games and the challenges I’ve had to overcome is incredible,” he said.
“There was no way I was getting to 300, no way, that mountain seemed so big. But it’s like all things in life, you just keep chipping away and the rest takes care of itself.
“I’m so grateful I embarked on the next part of my journey. You realise the whole other side to the NRL that’s not top four and success. The next period has given me a wonderful understanding.
“I don’t want the fairytale finish – my journey has been the fairytale.”
FOURTEEN SURGERIES AND COUNTING FOR FORAN
Since debuting for the Sea Eagles in 2009, Foran has been under the surgeon’s knife more than a dozen times and has been secretly playing through the pain of an ankle injury this year that may need an operation at the end of his 16th NRL season.
“I’ve had 14 surgeries since I debuted in the NRL,” Foran said.
“I’ve had six operations on my left shoulder – it’s basically held together by string, metal, plates and screws.
“I’ve had two wrist surgeries, broken my hand, torn a pec, had a tightrope put in my ankle for syndesmosis and three big toe surgeries.
“I’ve been under the knife about 14 times and that’s not counting soft tissue injuries or the ones I’ve had to just needle and push through.
“My body has been put through the absolute ringer but I’ve found a way.”
Foran is the ultimate example of hard work, perseverance and resilience beating talent.
He claims he isn’t in the top 15 most talented halves in the NRL but has found a way to remain at the top.
But it’s taken a dramatic change in his lifestyle for Foran to reach this milestone.
“I’m way more professional now than I was in my younger days. I wouldn’t be playing now if I didn’t make changes,” Foran said.
“I loved a beer back in the day. I was a party boy and enjoyed going out after most games, getting on the piss all night and drinking with the boys. I loved the culture of rugby league.
“It’s evolved over the years and I’ve evolved with it. Now I’d be lucky if I had two piss-ups a year with the boys when it used to be 24 rounds out of 25.”
Foran’s injury struggles are highlighted by the fact that in eight of his 16 NRL seasons he has played less than 20 games.
In contrast, his great mate Daly Cherry-Evans at Manly has only missed that mark once (19 games in 2016).
But despite the numerous hamstring and calf strains on top of his major surgeries, Foran has refused to throw in the towel.
Foran now spends more time in the sauna and ice baths at Recovery and Massage Centre at Miami on the Gold Coast than he does in the nightclubs of Surfers Paradise.
“The foundations are built in the pre-season and now a normal week for me is all around my recovery and preparation,” he said.
“If we play on a Friday night then we get the weekend off, but I start my recovery straight away on Saturday at the sauna, hot and cold baths. I try to fast-track it so I’m in a better spot but I’m generally still sore on Monday-Tuesday.
“It’s then a matter of working with our high performance guys about what my program looks like for that week. I have to get the balance right because of my history of soft tissue injuries.
“When you get to a milestone you can reflect on your journey and the hard work and persistence you’ve put in, but you can also acknowledge all the good people around you that have helped.”
And he isn’t finished yet, with Foran to play on in 2025 after signing a new contract with the Titans.
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