NRL Round 8 Talking Points: The kick-off is on borrowed time, so what replaces it?
Round 8’s NRL was a weekend of domination, with an average win margin of 21 points and some teams seeing their finals hopes really…
After weeks fighting mental demons while his club battled for their NRL lives, Parramatta captain Kieran Foran’s season is over.
Following his side’s victory over the Newcastle Knights last night, the troubled playmaker was given the grim news this morning he will require major surgery on his shoulder.
This latest setback adds to what can charitably be called a season to forget for Foran.
A season that started with hamstring concerns for the Eels’ newest recruit and captain quickly escalated as his new club earned the ire of the NRL over salary cap breaches.
But Foran’s woes were not simply confined to the football field, his personal life was about to take some damaging blows.
A bitter relationship breakdown with his long-term partner, a reported prescription drug overdose quickly followed, culminating in the Eels captain stepping away from the game and checking into rehab to deal with this dark turn in his life.
Not long after his return, Foran was once again in the news as betting transactions from his personal TAB account ended up in a prominent Sydney newspaper.
But despite all the off field hits, he had recovered enough to return to the game he loves.
While his return game against the Melbourne Storm was far from his best, there was hope it was a sign of a possible return to some sort of normality for the troubled star.
Sadly, life is no fairytale.
As the first half in Newcastle drew to a close, Foran’s troublesome shoulder gave out once again.
With his season now over, Foran can hopefully take this unwanted injury layoff to spend time away from the rigours of week in, week out games to get himself mentally and physically well.
The path to recovery is a long road and Kieran undoubtedly has far to go, but the support offered by the NRL community throughout the past few weeks gives hope that he will have the people around him to help with his long journey.
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