League: Whanau always comes first and star recruit owes club nothing

Therefore, with his children in Sydney with his former partner, that's where Foran should be. Photo / Andrew Cornaga

The fog is clearing over the Kieran Foran exercise. The nonsense of the past few weeks - will he stay at the Warriors, will he go, to whom will he switch his allegiance - appears to be being sorted. Sort of.

The champion, but troubled Kiwis halfback, is shooting through, back to Sydney, most likely to the Canterbury Bulldogs. So the stories out of Sydney go.

Let's be clear: in life, family should trump all. Therefore, with his children in Sydney with his former partner, that's where Foran should be.

Here's a hunch: he was only coming to the Warriors for one season. Would he even have contemplated multiple seasons three hours flying time away from his children? Doubt it.

There is talk the situation with his children is more complicated, that there are other relocations in the wind. So where did the notion that he might fancy another couple of seasons gain traction?

Now there are whispers that the idea of Foran staying one more season at the Warriors is not a dead duck just yet. Still with me? Watch this space.

Warriors' officials maintain one year was the plan when Foran arrived, and they said as much, but the waters have been muddied.

Instead the swirl of rumour and counter-rumour, which helps no one but keeps the Sydney league media in a feeding frenzy, has taken hold.

And, Lord help us, we had the spin that Foran somehow owed the Warriors some loyalty for having given him a lifeline out of a deep hole back into the NRL.

Spare me. Loyalty is a fine thing, often undervalued, but unfortunately when it comes to sport it's basically in the past. Sad but true.

The modern sportsman, or woman, by and large, is not given to flights of "doing the right thing". They are governed by factors such as "where's the money" or ... well, "where's the money".

What the Warriors' faithful make of all this - if they feel dudded by the club's management, or by the player, or both - will first be seen in their reaction to him in eight days' time when the Warriors host the Sydney Roosters.

On Anzac Day the Warriors are in Melbourne, supposedly one of the clubs Foran was reported to be sounding out. Problem is Melbourne isn't Sydney. If it was true then it casts Foran in a poor light. A Melbourne-Sydney commute is still a commute.

Among the most painful labels that can be affixed to a professional sportsman or woman is that they have behaved in an unprofessional manner.

But before slinging it at Foran, consider the fury of noise which has surrounded him since he arrived at Mt Smart Stadium. The word is he's playing pretty well and is helpful in his work bringing the younger players up to speed. In other words, it's hard to fault him on the park, or within the confines of the players' work.

You could, by contrast, throw it at Sonny Bill Williams and his latest piece of headline grabbing, around what he will and won't wear on his collar for the Blues. Wasn't it lovely how every relevant party jumped over each other to pronounce his behaviour was just fine with them.

Here, there's no issue with Williams and his religious beliefs. But if, as is understood to be the case, no one knew he wouldn't accept a bank logo until the day of the game against the Highlanders in Dunedin (when he ran out with tape over the offending brand) - that is unprofessional in the extreme, and disrespectful to those who pay his substantial salary.