Was Kieran Foran's Warriors Contract The Greatest False Dawn in Rugby League History?

When he first appeared at Mt Smart last September, out of the rugby league mists, Kieran Foran looked like he might just be the answer to all of the Warriors prayers.

On his day, Foran was one of the NRL's best stand-offs. A tough, commanding stoic no. 6 whose combination with Daly Cherry-Evans for the Sea Eagles between 2009 and 2015 produced some of the best halves inter-play the comp has probably ever seen.

When it wasn't his day, especially off the paddock, things went really bad for Foran. Before linking up with the Warriors last year, the 26-year-old Auckland was on a super low ebb. Last April, Foran overdosed on prescription drugs.

In the next month, it was revealed he was suffering from a relationship break-down with his wife, issues with a third party sponsorship deal with his old club Manly - and a horrible gambling addiction that saw him hemorrhage tens of thousands of dollars on TAB bets. Foran was tight with controversial gambler Eddie Hayson back in Sydney.

The Eels cut the cord, and Foran went to ground - quite rightly - to figure out his life. It was a sad arc to watch from such a talented individual, and you had to hope he'd emerge on the right side.

That was the hope when he signed up with the Warriors. His godfather, and close mentor, lived in Auckland still - and the club's front office bent over backwards to help him and convince the NRL that he could play footy again.

Foran's situation was a hard one to address, but the excitement of seeing him playing first-grade alongside mercurial halfback Shaun Johnson, star fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and veteran hooker Issac Luke at Mt Smart seemed a dream to Kiwi league fans.

"Kieran Foran might just be the most important signing in the Warriors' history," New Zealand Herald reporter David Skipwith wrote, last September. Others - from former Kiwis coach Frank Endacott to countless radio talkback callers - echoed him too; Foran might just be the Warriors missing link to a title challenge.

Sadly, he won't be. Foran - whose one-year deal at the Warriors was thought to be worth as much as NZ$600,000 - inked a new one with the Canterbury Bulldogs this week, through to 2020.

His on-field season, and partnership with Johnson, hasn't produced the fireworks fans were hoping for, and the sheer act of him sniffing around for a new contract with the Warriors stuck in a mid-table morass leaves a bitter taste.

As he often has the ability of doing, controversial NZ Herald columnist Chris Rattue didn't mince words when writing about Foran this week.

He labeled the Kiwis standoff "a fool" for heading back to Sydney - and describing the Warriors treatment of him "madcap humanitarianism."

"He's a fool going back to Sydney so soon," Rattue wrote. "The pressures and temptations there are enormous, and he's a headline magnet.

"Foran has been disloyal to the Warriors who have gone to quite extraordinary lengths to rehabilitate him, when his career and life were in absolute tatters last year. Warriors boss Jim Doyle and coach Stephen Kearney are being soooooo understanding, but then again, they would be with their favourite project."

"Some will applaud their madcap humanitarianism, but [the Warriors] have been used as a willing doormat," Rattue continued.

"In my opinion, Foran used the oldest bidding war trick in the book to get his price up by meeting with Newcastle coach Nathan Brown. And he only wanted the Warriors to think they had a chance. Nobody I know in the media, or their contacts, thought he would stay in Auckland past this season."

Rattue seems to have found the bucket here. From the start, Foran probably saw Mt Smart Stadium as a springboard back into the glamour city of rugby league; Sydney. Clearly his relationship with his former Manly Sea Eagles boss Dessie Hasler - now the coach at the Doggies - mattered, as did his interest of being near to his kids, who live back there still.

Now, they're are valid things to want - especially if the talented stand-off feels like his life is back on track. He told media in Auckland this week it has, too.

"Coming to New Zealand for this year … will be the year that changed my life forever," he said.

"Things weren't great for me back in Sydney, my life had taken a downwards spiral and it was out of control really. Being able to come back to New Zealand, back to my homeland and take myself out of that environment for that year has changed my life forever."

Nice - and Foran gave a sincere nod to Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle and coach Stephen Kearney - but, let's be fair, it seems the club were strung along a little.

Outside the Doggies and Knights, the Warriors and Storm thought they were in the race for his signature past this season, but probably never were. The Storm, shorn of Cooper Cronk next season have other options in the halves. Though a hooker, Brandon Smith - a 21-year-old Waiheke Islander and recent Kiwis call-up - could be tried in the halves, or Titans talent Ash Taylor could be an option.

The Warriors are a bit up shit's creek now, though. Plenty of stock looked invested in Foran, prompting Under-20s star Ata Hingano to look elsewhere.

The Warriors have but nine points from their eight matches in this NRL season, and have rarely looked like a club worthy of a top four spot. They'll be in the mix for the eight come September, sure, but the return on the investment hasn't been the greatest.

Outside Foran, there's big changes looming for the Warriors. Legendary winger Manu Vatuvei has been rumoured to be on the out, while the knives have been out for Johnson of late.

Chaos has been the one constant at Mt Smart since the Warriors joined the Australian rugby league comp. The highs have been bloody awesome - the GFs in 2002 and 2011 - but the underwhelming lows have always felt near.

The stars looked like aligning, when Foran got into the mix over the last six months. They weren't, unfortunately.