After the Bulldogs signing of Blake Green, it appears more likely by the day that veteran five-eighth Kieran Foran will be on his way out of Canterbury.
Foran, 30, recently underwent surgery on a torn pec, but believes he still has plenty of football left in him.
Foran has previously been linked with Newcastle and Brisbane, and could be potential destinations should he be forced out of Canterbury.
According to The Australian’s Brent Read though, the belief is that Manly are the front runners for Foran's signature.
Given Foran started his career at the Sea Eagles where he played seven seasons and has a good relationship with coach Des Hasler, the opportunity to return could be enticing.
Read believes Foran will likely remain in New South Wales if given the option to remain in the state.
“I think Kieran has settled on the Central Coast. He’s got his wife and kids up there but he’s also got kids with his former partner in Manly, so I think it would be hard for Kieran,” Read told Triple M.
“I think he would go if Brisbane came to the table and he didn’t have a choice but I think the wildcard is Manly, I really do."
Given the recent news that NRL lists will remain at the 30 for next season, the Sea Eagles know what they're dealing with, and Read believes Manly are in a good spot.
“I know they sort of downplayed it but I know for a fact that Manly are monitoring the Kieran Foran situation, they’re watching it but now that the news has come out (the roster sizes) are going to stay at 30, they don’t have a lot money to spend but Kieran’s not going to cost a lot of money and he knows that,” Read said.
“I’ve spoken to (Foran) in the last few days about it and going back to Manly is something he would love... he’s got great memories of the club, he loves Des and I reckon that’s the one you’ve got to watch in this.
“There’s talk about Newcastle and there’s talk about Brisbane but I think Manly are the real wildcards here and I think they’re keeping a close eye and are very much in the mix. He’d be great for young (Josh) Schuster to learn off, he’d be perfect depth and the perfect player to play alongside Daly Cherry-Evans again.”
If interested clubs are put off by Foran’s history of injuries they should think again. Any player at any age can get a pec injury nowadays and Keiran Foran has 4-5 months to get himself ready for the 2021 season. He would be a big asset for any NRL club IMO.