Foran 'forever grateful' to Warriors 'for resurrecting my career'

When it's all said and done at the end of 2025, the story of Kieran Foran the rugby league player will be predominantly set in Australia, but with the major plot points ultimately centered on a small radius within his hometown of Auckland.

Despite all but a few of his 35 years to date being spent across the Tasman, Foran's journey in rugby league began, was revitalised and then almost ended again within a stone's throw of Go Media Stadium, where he played his final game on New Zealand soil on Saturday night. 

The premiership-winning five-eighth playing a key role in guiding the Titans to a 24-16 win over the Warriors in the year 2025 would have been almost inconceivable when he arrived at the Kiwi club at the back end of 2016, having earlier that year stepped away from the game in order to deal with personal issues. 

The thought of him playing on for a 17th season seemed perhaps even more unlikely after he suffered a serious injury on his already battered left shoulder while playing for the Kiwis in 2019, with the operating surgeon concluding at the time that retirement was probably imminent. 

But against the odds, surrounded by family in the busy hallways under the stadium minutes after downing the Warriors, Foran stood and reflected on what it meant to play one last time in the city and country that has shaped him.

"What I am really proud of, despite moving to Australia at a young age and doing the majority of my footy in Australia, is that inside of me, at the core of me, I have always been a Kiwi boy living out my dream," Foran told NRL.com.

Auckland will always be special to me; It's where I was born, where I grew my desire and passion for the black and white jersey and for rugby league.

Kieran Foran

"This ground is special too. I played for the Warriors in 2017 which was a huge part of resurrecting my career and getting me back into the game that I love.

"I just have wonderful memories on this field. I don't think I'm playing rugby league today if I don't come home and play for the Warriors when I did. 

"I'd walked away, I didn't feel I could give anymore... but the opportunity to come home, back to where it all began and be around family, I'm forever grateful."

Foran admitted he has "no idea" how his shoulder has remained mostly intact through the 122 games he's played since breaking down on the Eden Park turf back in 2019, but he's thankful to have been afforded the opportunity to go out on his own terms at the end of this season.

"A couple of weeks after they had operated back in 2019 they pretty much indicated that the shoulder was probably on its last legs... he said it was in pretty bad shape," Foran said. 

"I'd had about five or six surgeries on that shoulder and that one was seen as the final straw. 

"To think that it's held up... to think I have managed to through another six seasons, the surgeon must have done a bloody good job.

"I'm pretty grateful. Lucky and grateful.

"There's still a few games to go in the season, but at the end of it all I'm sure I'll have more time to reflect on it."

Helping an understrength and last-placed Titans side to a convincing win over the fourth-ranked Warriors might go down as one of Foran's most impressive feats performed on Kiwi soil.

While Jayden Campbell was the more active of the halves, the veteran's ability to control the tempo of the game was key, while his looping cut-out pass to set up Phillip Sami's try early in the second half was a turning point in coach Des Hasler's 500th NRL game. 

But ask Foran to pick out a favourite memory from games played in New Zealand and there's only one answer. 

"To beat the Kangaroos 30-0 in the 2023 Pacific Champs, a historic result... for me it doesn’t get any better than that," he said. 

"I have always been so proud to represent my country. I dreamed as a kid of the day I would be involved in a game for the Kiwis against the Kangaroos where it was just dominant like that.

"That will live with me forever."