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The Eels have paid way too much Foran okay player

17th March, 2015
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Kieran Foran should have stayed with Manly. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Roar Guru
17th March, 2015
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5164 Reads

The Parramatta Eels are celebrating the prized signature of Kieran Foran, but when the hoo-hah dies down and reality sinks in, some thinking supporter will remind them that they have stuffed up – again!

The modern day NRL team cannot pay huge ‘overs’ for any player and expect to win a competition.

The new-look Eels have a fresh board, chief executive and even created a new position for a general manager of football. Their popular coach is currently in his second year after inheriting a nightmare from Ricky Stuart.

Most fans had the expectation that this new structure would have learnt from their many past recruitment mistakes.

The current team includes Will Hopoate (reported $800,000 a season) and Chris Sandow ($550,000 a season). Both are earning close to double their real worth on an open market, and now we hear that Kieran Foran will bank $4.7 million over four years.

How is Kieran Foran worth almost $1.2 million a season? He is not even the best player at Manly – most professionals would rate him behind Daly Cherry-Evans and Brett Stewart. But Eels living legend Peter Sterling has no doubts Foran is worth every cent.

“He’s one bloke you would (pay that much money) for,” Sterling said.

Sterlo was a great player for the Eels and after many long years of trying, they have not come close to replacing him. Post-retirement, his deeds as a co-caller on Nine have given him enormous credibility in the game, but he must have failed maths at school.

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To rip $1.2 million out of a 2016 salary cap of $6.8 million you would need to have a once-in-a-generation player, and as talented as Foran is, he simply is not that good.

Greg Inglis, Daly Cherry-Evans and Johnathan Thurston are the only players who would be considered at this price in the NRL today. Perhaps Israel Folau and Jarryd Hayne if they had a change of heart.

I asked two professionals who make their living from rating teams and players’ value and they both had Foran’s value between 550k and 600k. It remains to be seen how this buying market-share strategy will affect the Eels, as they have paid out $400,000 a season greater than Foran’s club, the Sea Eagles, and well over double what is generally considered his true worth to a salary cap.

Everyone agrees he is a great competitor and an asset to any club, but it is relative to value percentage into the cap. If Eels fans think that Foran is going to turn up next season and finally be the long-lost organiser that has been sadly missing since Sterlo and Brett Kenny then they are in for a disappointment. Foran will bring leadership and stability, but he is not an on-field general with a brilliant tactical kicking game.

He has said that it is not about the money but that he wanted his game to go to a new level, which is a nice slap in the face to his coach Geoff Toovey and specialist halves coach Andrew Johns.

Kieran, you have just completed the deal of the century and congratulations to you, but let’s get it right – it was all about the money.

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