The Warriors hope Kieran Foran will want to move across the Tasman because the club, as flamboyant co-owner Eric Watson says, is about to embark on a period of excellence.
Foran is being chased by a number of clubs, including Canterbury, Parramatta, the Sydney Roosters, Manly and the Warriors, and has said he wants his future beyond 2015 settled before the new season kicks off. He's contracted to Manly until the end of the 2015 NRL season.
The Warriors have money to spend, having offloaded Feleti Mateo, Jayson Bukuya and Dane Nielsen early from their contracts and have identified Foran as their No1 target to play alongside fellow Kiwis playmaker Shaun Johnson. Watson is hoping that prospect, as well as a stable front office and the coaching talents of Andrew McFadden, will tempt the 24-year-old Foran to Mt Smart Stadium.
"In management and coaching I've got [new chief executive] Jim Doyle and Andrew McFadden," Watson said during a visit to the club's Mt Smart Stadium headquarters yesterday. "Imagine having Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson on the field as well.
Asked how negotiations with Foran's management were progressing, Watson remained tight-lipped, saying: "The Warriors are about to embark on a period of excellence, of hopefully greatness. It would be amazing to have Kieran be a part of that."
