Jado
Reserve Grader
Well News Ltd have surprised me, giving Foran the credit he deserves...
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...les-down-dragons/story-e6frexri-1226636366185
GIVEN Benji Marshall is about to sign a $4 million contract, how much would you pay Kieran Foran?
C'mon, have a crack.
Play the balding CEO and, with those Marshall numbers as a guide, throw up your own figure for a 22-year-old who last night took the fight to more Dragons than even St George himself.
Or if figures aren't your forte, have a crack at being New Zealand coach Steve Kearney; coming fresh off the psychiatrist's couch following that Parramatta stint to choose between Foran and Marshall for his World Cup No.6.So who do you pick?
For while writing off Benjamin Marshall is fraught with more danger than running upstairs backwards, there is no doubting the Sea Eagles five-eighth is a very real threat to his Nu Zeeelund supremacy.
And it's because, on the type of night when Manly coach Geoff Toovey felt the need to remind you "rugby league is the toughest sport in the world", it was Foran who put an exclamation to said statement.
Sure, this gritty playmaker has never released a biography, headed The Footy Show or plugged Power Balance wristbands. No newspaper columns either. But to watch this playmaker is, to steal a line from Sea Eagles winger Jorge Taufua, "f ... ing awesome".
Like when, more than once against the Dragons, Foran took the ball at first receiver and with nothing but 91 kilos for company, charged headlong into men carrying at least 20 extra kegs.
And when St George Illawarra centre Chase Stanley crashed over after 14 minutes, it was the same bloke who somehow got himself underneath to prevent a certain try.
"Geez, we defended strongly," Toovey continued afterwards.
"We brought it on our ourselves a bit, but this one was a gutsy win."
Of course, Foran's story was lost the moment NSW Origin winger Brett Morris limped off with injury. Relegated further when not only did Brett Stewart fail to return after the break, but someone spotted Cronulla playmaker Todd Carney, off contract and up for grabs, watching from the grandstand.
But just as it was his foresight that put Taufua over when the scores were locked at 18-18, so too it was the grit of this No.6 that proved a key difference between the sides.
A tenacity that will be more and more in the spotlight as the Cup rolls around.
And so we come full circle to our original question. If Benji Marshall is worth $4 million, how much to make Kieran Foran yours?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...les-down-dragons/story-e6frexri-1226636366185
GIVEN Benji Marshall is about to sign a $4 million contract, how much would you pay Kieran Foran?
C'mon, have a crack.
Play the balding CEO and, with those Marshall numbers as a guide, throw up your own figure for a 22-year-old who last night took the fight to more Dragons than even St George himself.
Or if figures aren't your forte, have a crack at being New Zealand coach Steve Kearney; coming fresh off the psychiatrist's couch following that Parramatta stint to choose between Foran and Marshall for his World Cup No.6.So who do you pick?
For while writing off Benjamin Marshall is fraught with more danger than running upstairs backwards, there is no doubting the Sea Eagles five-eighth is a very real threat to his Nu Zeeelund supremacy.
And it's because, on the type of night when Manly coach Geoff Toovey felt the need to remind you "rugby league is the toughest sport in the world", it was Foran who put an exclamation to said statement.
Sure, this gritty playmaker has never released a biography, headed The Footy Show or plugged Power Balance wristbands. No newspaper columns either. But to watch this playmaker is, to steal a line from Sea Eagles winger Jorge Taufua, "f ... ing awesome".
Like when, more than once against the Dragons, Foran took the ball at first receiver and with nothing but 91 kilos for company, charged headlong into men carrying at least 20 extra kegs.
And when St George Illawarra centre Chase Stanley crashed over after 14 minutes, it was the same bloke who somehow got himself underneath to prevent a certain try.
"Geez, we defended strongly," Toovey continued afterwards.
"We brought it on our ourselves a bit, but this one was a gutsy win."
Of course, Foran's story was lost the moment NSW Origin winger Brett Morris limped off with injury. Relegated further when not only did Brett Stewart fail to return after the break, but someone spotted Cronulla playmaker Todd Carney, off contract and up for grabs, watching from the grandstand.
But just as it was his foresight that put Taufua over when the scores were locked at 18-18, so too it was the grit of this No.6 that proved a key difference between the sides.
A tenacity that will be more and more in the spotlight as the Cup rolls around.
And so we come full circle to our original question. If Benji Marshall is worth $4 million, how much to make Kieran Foran yours?
