Updated ,first published
Kieran Foran has reminded the Manly squad of the responsibility that comes with playing for the eight-time premiers as he took charge of the Sea Eagles for the first time since being tasked with turning their winless season around.
The recently retired champion five-eighth led training at 4 Pines Park on Sunday after being installed as interim head coach following the sacking of Anthony Seibold.
It has been a turbulent few days for Manly, and veteran Jake Trbojevic admitted players also had to answer for the team’s dismal start to the year.
Foran, who has taken over at the age of only 35, and just four months after becoming an assistant coach, addressed the Sea Eagles squad with chief executive Jason King.
“At the moment we’ve got to find a way to play a full 80 minutes. We’ve got to turn the results,” Foran said.
“It’s been a disappointing start, going zero and three, particularly at home. Jason King addressed the team and I obviously followed after him and the message was pretty clear around the expectations and the responsibility that you have when you play for this club.
“It hasn’t been anywhere near the ideal start that we would have wanted as a club. It’s important that we turn it around and turn it around quick.”
Foran emerged as a player during the Sea Eagles’ last golden era, winning a grand final in 2011 in a team with a ruthless and aggressive playing style.
It was an approach that reflected Manly’s long-time ethos and yielded great success.
Foran said players were in good spirits and “very welcoming and understanding of the situation”.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal but … you play the cards you’re dealt,” he said. “At the end of the day, I feel very well supported by the people around me – the club, the players, and that’ll make my job easier.”
He said he had learnt a lot from Seibold in the short time he was on his staff and spoke to him after the coach’s axing was revealed.
“I obviously wanted him to know that he had my support, that I was thinking of him through this difficult time and about how much I enjoyed coming back to Manly and starting my coaching journey under him,” Foran said.
Manly hope to break their duck against the Dolphins in Brisbane on Thursday night and Foran does not intend to ring major changes before then with so little time to prepare.
Trbojevic said Foran would be a “different voice”, predicting “he’ll be a great leader for us”, but conceded players also had to shoulder responsibility for what had gone wrong before his appointment.
“We don’t feel great about where we’re at,” Trbojevic said.
“We’re very disappointed, obviously. Losing any game is horrible so to lose three straight, especially at home, we don’t feel great about it. We want to turn it around as much as everyone.”
Trbojevic described Foran’s appointment as “a great recognition of his status at the club”.
“He’s a proud Manly man, so I think he’ll do a great job for us,” he said.
“I think it’s exciting. We know how passionate he is for the club. I think it’s going to be great for us and everyone will get behind him.
“He obviously had a chat with us this morning about what he expects and how we’re going to go after it. It was really good.”
The Foran era began as he put out the plastic cones and poles for training, just like he would have last week when still an assistant coach to Seibold.
It seems old habits die hard.
Foran hasn’t had much time to work out exactly what kind of coach he will be but is no doubt about his values.
While he said he had learnt “a hell of a lot” from Seibold and from coaches he played under, most notably Des Hasler at Manly, he would be making his own way.
“[Hasler] has probably been my favourite coach of all time throughout my playing career,” he said.
“I certainly enjoyed his style of coaching and there would be a number of things that I take [from Hasler] to implement into my own coaching style, but again staying true to who I am. I’m not Anthony Seibold. I’m not Des Hasler. I’m Kieran Foran. I want to make sure I stay true to that.”
Foran’s unlikely promotion is a fresh start for Manly, but the road ahead will not be easy.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.