Former Gold Coast Titans standout, Kieran Foran, has expressed his ambition to eventually step into a head coaching role within the NRL.

As Foran prepares to hang up his boots following this year’s Pacific Championships, he is poised to lead New Zealand in their Pacific Cup match against Tonga this Sunday. The Kiwis are aiming for a final face-off with Samoa.

Though it was anticipated that the 35-year-old would transition to a coaching role at the Titans, Foran recently caught the NRL world off guard by announcing his return to Manly, the club where his professional journey began.

“It’s truly special,” remarked this year’s Ken Stephen Medal recipient to The Daily Telegraph.

“I’ve spent the bulk of my playing career at Manly, featuring in nearly 200 games for the team and securing a premiership victory there.”

‘I’ve had such close and wonderful ties to the club for a long time. I feel incredibly grateful to be given the opportunity to go back and start the next phase of my life, which is my coaching journey.’

Kieran Foran (pictured with partner Karina) has opened up on why he chose to rejoin the Manly Sea Eagles 

The veteran Kiwi halfback (right) is set to hang up the boots following the conclusion of this year’s Pacific Championship

Across two stints at the club, Foran has made 196 appearances for the Sea Eagles across two spells at the club, notably winning a premiership with the side in 2011.

But after a stellar career on the footy pitch, the 300-gamer is now plotting out his future coaching career, but insists he is not in a hurry to rise to the top, adding he has a lot to learn first.

‘I’ve certainly got aspirations to coach,’ Foran said.

‘What I will say is I’m not in any rush to become a head coach. I want to do a proper apprenticeship and I feel it’s a wonderful opportunity to go and do that back at Manly under Anthony.

‘He’s the sort of guy and coach I probably haven’t had throughout my career. I think I’ll be able to learn and grow a hell of a lot from him.

‘To be able to do it back at Manly with familiar people is a wonderful opportunity.’

Foran’s story is an inspiring one with the footy player having overcome several serious injuries during his career and a breakdown in a former relationship. It was a dark time in his life, with the former Manly and Parramatta star excessively drinking and gambling as a coping mechanism, before, as he puts it, going down a ‘slippery slope’.

He struggled with his mental health and contemplated taking his own life.

The halfback made 196 appearances for the Sea Eagles across two spells at the footy club

He recently opened up on how he suffered serious mental health issues and had considered taking his own life. He added that his partner Karina helped him through that dark period

Obsessed with rugby league, Foran admitted that not being on the pitch was difficult, adding that during his glittering career he underwent a whopping 17 surgeries.

But it was his new partner Karina who helped him.

‘Karina has been the steady soul I needed. She met me at a dark time in my life, and I was warts-and-all about where I wanted to be [in terms of personal growth],’ he told Daily Mail in September.

Foran has gone on to do some inspiring work, becoming a mental health awareness advocate, setting up a foundation called Logan’s Legacy, a charity which was named after his wife Karina’s late son who died by suicide in 2023. The foundation aims to offer mental health prevention and intervention support to those who need it.

Foran had played his junior rugby for Auckland before his family moved to Australia. His dad is interestingly Greg Foran, the former CEO of Walmart and the chief executive of Air New Zealand. Kieran would later go on to represent the Australia Schoolboys in 2007.

He’d also play for the North Sydney Bears before putting pen to paper on a deal to join the Sea Eagles

The Auckland-born halfback also reflected on what his homecoming means, Foran said: ‘People always see me as a Manly player.

‘But since coming to the Gold Coast I’ve also been viewed as a Titans player and that’s what made the decision really hard.

Foran has gone on to do some inspiring work, becoming a mental health awareness advocate, setting up a foundation called Logan’s Legacy, a charity which was named after his wife Karina’s late son who died by suicide in 2023

Foran is now hoping to one day become a head coach, but adds that he is not in a rush, adding that he has plenty to learn 

‘At the end of the day, you’ve got to put family first and do what feels right in your heart.

‘When the opportunity arose and Anthony reached out, it just ticked all the boxes. It felt like a really good fit.’

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