League: Ata Hingano following in Kieran Foran's footsteps

Ata Hingano is keen to become a regular starter at No 6 next season after Kieran Foran moves on. Photo / Getty Images

Warriors young gun Ata Hingano is learning as much as he can under Kieran Foran but insists he's ready to step up and replace the Bulldogs-bound playmaker next year.

The 20-year-old five-eighth has signed a three-year extension with the Warriors and wants to cement himself alongside halfback Shaun Johnson, after turning down a tempting offer from the Melbourne Storm.

The Warriors are confident the six-game rookie can handle the role but are still considering whether to sign a more experienced No 6 to replace Foran at the end of his one-year deal.

Hingano understands he may need to bide his time on the bench or in reserve grade but has had enough of playing second fiddle.

"I do want to be a frontline half next year," said Hingano. "I'm not really looking at continuing in that development stage again.

"With the amount of time Mooks [coach Stephen Kearney] has invested in not only me, but Mason [Lino] as well, I can bide my time.

"But as much as I'm learning off Shaun and Kieran, the best way to showcase that is to just play first grade. Even if I'm on the bench, at least I can be up there, and if someone goes down, I can have a crack."

The Warriors are determined to get the most out of Foran before he leaves and have asked him to share his football knowledge with Hingano.

"I'm trying to do as much as I can with Ata," explained Foran. "It's something I've spoken to Mooks and [managing director] Jim [Doyle] about and I'm going to really try and tutor Ata through the rest of the season.

"He's a great kid with an enormous amount of talent, so I'm going to spend as much time as I can with him around footy and just try and speed up his development.

"If he's the man to take the reins here as the No 6 next year, it'd be great to see him do an awesome job."

Foran's influence was evident when Hingano replaced him late in the second half of last week's win over the Titans. His fast and direct approach, body language and timing were all straight out of the Kiwi international's play book. With one of his first touches, the Pakuranga junior mimicked Foran's first-half foray down the left edge and fired a cut-out pass to put Ken Maumalo over the tryline, only for the referee to rule the ball had gone forward.

"I've tried to simulate the way he runs and takes the ball to the line on that short side, or on the long side as well," Hingano said. "Even if the opposition have a man-on-man situation, to still be able to take them on. I always watch and ask why he was running there or a certain way and why he'll run at certain times.

"What I've learned is he can be really deceiving and his body language is really good. Just watch the way he makes a casual pass, it can put you in two minds, even if he's just running with a prop outside him.

"It's hard to explain but it does come down to those little things. It's a work-on for me and it's good to have him there mentoring me in that area."