It isn't over until bozo says that it is
The inside story of how the Kieran Foran deal unravelled
Date
June 25, 2015 - 10:00PM
Geoff Toovey confirms he had spoken to Kieran Foran this week and that the door remains open for him to remain at the Sea Eagles.
Would you like an insight into the insanity that is Parramatta?
The now infamous $1 million exit clause that has all week threatened to unravel
Kieran Foran's $4.8 million deal was inserted at the 11th hour earlier this year.
Head-scratcher: Kieran Foran's devout allegiance to Brad Arthur has perplexed Manly.
It was done to protect him if the coach or chief executive suddenly departed.
You can set your clock to when turmoil happens at the Eels: about a year, sometimes less.
That the turmoil came five weeks -
five weeks! - after signing the deal,
before the NRL even registered the contract and
before he even arrived says why heading to Parramatta could be a disastrous move.
That alone should've been enough for him to this week unpack the removalist boxes and stay at Manly for his own sake - not to save Eels coach
Brad Arthur.
At the time of writing, Foran's future remained clouded.
On Thursday morning, he appeared certain to honour his commitment to Parramatta, despite all that has happened in the past five days. Foran didn't want to be another player to backflip. It says much about the man: his reputation and commitment to others means more than what's best for his football career.
As the day dragged on, there was a growing expectation that an announcement was imminent that Foran would be heading to the Eels. Parramatta officials were confident.
Then, as dark storm clouds rolled in over Sydney late in the day, the word filtered through that Foran had been talked off the ledge, the process slowed down, and that he would speak to Manly boss
Bob Fulton before making any call.
A glimmer of hope remained that the most unlikely of acts could play out: that
Daly Cherry-Evans and Foran could remain at the Sea Eagles, after they had both signed with other clubs, after almost a year of speculation about their respective futures.
Whatever Foran decides to do, Parramatta is not the right option.
The exit clause was inserted at the behest of his management company, SFX Sports, which became spooked about what Foran was getting himself into.
A premiership-winning playmaker and a Kiwi international, the 24-year-old was set to join a club that had claimed two wooden spoons in three years.
He was doing so, seemingly, not just for the cash as much as blind loyalty to Arthur, who had been an assistant at Manly.
SFX is the game's leading management company. It has dozens of players on its books, including many superstars, from
Billy Slater to
Brett Stewart.
It steers clear of messy clubs such as Parramatta with its factions, politics and its recent lack of success across its NRL, under-20s and NSW Cup sides.
So Foran's management asked then-chief executive
Scott Seward to slot in the get-out clause. Seward was so desperate for a kill he agreed to possibly the dumbest clause in rugby league history.
According to several sources, Bulldogs coach
Des Hasler - Foran's former mentor at Brookvale - was on the phone to the player's manager,
Paul Sutton, as soon as news broke the Eels deal had collapsed.
Did the Doggies have the salary cap room? It can always be found. The big clubs always do because they can use "best endeavours" to find cashed-up third parties to turbo-charge the deal.
Critically for Foran, however, is that Canterbury is a big, strong, club. A powerhouse. He hasn't played for one of those since Hasler stormed out of the Sea Eagles less than a week after winning the 2011 grand final.
In those four years, Manly unravelled. It became almost Parra-like.
It was once the most influential team in the game under patriarch
Ken Arthurson. They are headed in the right direction again. A fascinating rebirth is happening on the northern beaches. History is repeating underFulton.
Some might've thought a five-year plan - similar to the one under way at Penrith - was in order.
Fulton has had to work much quicker because of problems at the club for several years. It was very un-Manly.
That lack of direction allowed headstrong senior players to take control. That formed a yawning crack in the playing group with others, headed by Cherry-Evans.
The lack of a benevolent dictator - essentially a requirement at most successful footy clubs - pushed favourite sons such as
Anthony Watmough and
Glenn Stewart out the door, and prompted premiership-winning halves in Foran and Cherry-Evans to sign with other clubs.
Few at the Sea Eagles want to say it given his service to the club, but coach
Geoff Tooveymust shoulder some of the blame. He hasn't been the leader the club desperately needed.
Enter Fulton, who answered an SOS from owner and chairman
Scott Penn.
In a matter of months, Fulton added much-needed grunt to the forward pack for next season with
Nate Myles,
Darcy Lussick and
Lewis Brown. Arthurson did something similar in the 1970s with the likes of
John O'Neill and
Malcolm Reilly. History repeating.
Fulton then convinced Cherry-Evans that he belonged at Manly. It might've been a painful change of heart - the halfback's reputation has been battered - but nobody remembers backflips when you're doing laps of honour.
Rumours have also been swirling that Fulton really wants to get the band back together. In other words, that Hasler could make a comeback.
This column is assured that is not the case, and that
Trent Barrett will be announced in a matter of weeks.
What about Foran?
Manly observers reckon he started getting jittery after the trial match against the Roosters on the Central Coast earlier in the year.
"It's going to be a long year ahead," Roosters halfback and good mate
Mitchell Pearce jokingly said to Foran as they left the field. "Good luck."
That was February. The club was in crisis. Four months later, Manly is a vastly different club, because it has a future.
Foran's devout allegiance to Arthur has perplexed many at Manly, but they also tell you it sums up the young player. His angry statement to Channel Nine on Tuesday night that the Eels had not shown him the same "utmost respect" he had shown them should've been a dealbreaker.
Should Foran go to Parramatta, what can he expect?
"They should blow the joint up," said one rival club boss this week.
For a club steeped in so much history, which gave rise to the likes of Sterlo and Bert and Guru and The Bear and the Zip-Zip Man, that is something that cannot happen.
Parramatta should be the Collingwood of the NRL.
They are loaded. Adjacent to Parramatta Stadium is a leagues club that is basically one big poker machine that never stops paying out.
They are popular. There are enough Powerpoint presentations at League Central that indicate the Eels are the most followed team in the NRL. They have average home crowds of 18,000 per season, and more than 22,000 members.
Imagine if they made the eight. Or the four. Or won the comp.
Instead, they are perennially mired in finger-pointing and arse-covering.
Seward stands accused of going behind the board's back, slotting in and then taking out the $1 million get-out clause. He's told others, though, he's confident he has the documentation to prove the board knew all about it. We'll see.
Even if Seward didn't, the directors must still be held accountable because they appointed Seward. It can only blame factionalism and old administrations for the club's ineffectiveness so long.
Meanwhile, the NRL is closely watching.
The Foran issue vindicates its decision to order a corporate governance review after slugging them with a $525,000 fine for salary cap breaches earlier this season.
The Eels are arguing with head office about which firm does it.
Dave Smith is said to be far from impressed.
The threat of starting next season on minus-four competition points - part of the suspended punishment for their salary cap infractions - could well be enforced.
Starting the 2016 season without four points would be as inexcusable as starting it without Kieran Foran.
Yes. You're right. Good point. It's insanity.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...hy-he-should-go-to-manly-20150625-ghxa1j.html
