Kieran Foran made a name for himself as a fierce and tough five-eighth who as a 21-year-old helped lead the Manly Sea Eagles to premiership glory in 2011.
However, he admits a fateful decision at youth level helped shape his career as a premiership winner and 30-time New Zealand international.
Speaking to Sporting News' Ebbs & Flows podcast - available online now — Foran says he only started playing in the halves when playing Jersey Flegg football for the Sea Eagles.
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"A lot of people wouldn't know but I was an outside back as a kid. I was signed at Manly as a 16-year-old and I played left or right centre for SG Ball and around that point I'd made Australian Schoolboys; the knock on me was 'is he going to be big enough to play centre in the NRL or fast enough?' And the answer was probably no."
"I went up to Jersey Flegg and the coach at the time — David Penna — was sort of the reason why I ended up moving to the halves in the first place; he was just short of halves in the U21s comp, and basically said to me 'I reckon you could make a fist of five-eighth.'"
Foran says he was skeptical at first, but Penna was able to win him over.
"I was like 'oh my god, I can't kick or pass, let alone organise a team [and] ball play.' And he said 'I'm telling you, if you just find your style and work had as a running five eighth — which I was early on in my career — I think you can be alright at it.'
"I'm not sure of the conversations between him and Des [Hasler] at the time, but that next 18 months was crucial, [from] 16 and a half to around 18 and a half when I made my NRL debut was that transition into that five-eighth role."
He says he took Penna's advice and was able to quickly carve out a niche for himself as a five-eighth.
"But I was just a running six... and I think I realised what my strengths would be pretty early on as a playmaker, and I wasn't blessed with a fancy passing game [or] a fancy kicking game.
"[In] my first pre-season I went with all the NRL guys under Dessie, and I remember just digging deep into the line and just giving Snake [Then Manly fullback Brett Stewart] heaps of clean ball out the back, and I remember Snake saying to me after the session, 'I just love how far you're digging into the line, and you're just looking short and hitting me out the back and I've just got all this time to play these three-on-two's.'
"I think that's how I got my chance in the NRL in the first place. I think in the end, I just had that one style, that one play and i just stuck to it; obviously I had a running game as well, I could take the line at the right times."
His game would turn up a level when legendary halfback Andrew Johns joined the club as a specialist halves coach, and Foran is effusive in his praise for the rugby league immortal and his impact on his own career.
"My game just evolved I think during that that next two-three years Joey [Andrew Johns] came on board at Manly, me and Daley [Cherry-Evans] were blessed when he came on as halves coach — the greatest number seven the game's ever seen and Des brought him on to train me and Daly up and pass on all his knowledge and skills. I just evolved my game over time through all those little areas and in bits of information that I was passed on.
"I remember just little things, like he was so good at getting the poles out and teaching us to kick from A to B defender, start on B defender, go back at A or kick over to defender C, and those things at times that we just did repetition after repetition, things that I still use today.
"The fundamentals of what Joey taught both of us through those two or three years were hugely valuable."
In this time, the young halves pairing of Foran and Cherry-Evans would be part of a premiership triumph as they beat the Warriors in the 2011 Grand Final, and Foran would play 147 times in his first stint for the club before departing for Parramatta in 2016.
Whilst injuries and off-field issues curtailed his career to an extent, he is still playing for the Gold Coast Titans in 2024, coming up against former partner in crime Cherry Evans.
Foran praised his former teammate, citing his competitive drive as a factor behind his longevity.
"A great competitor, he is super competitive, I think that's one of Daly's great traits, he's driven by constantly achieving a really high standard and I think that's what makes him the player he's been for so long. He wants to win and he wants to be the best he can be.
"He just knows how to win games of footy, he can swing momentum better than most."
