Liam Foran (born 25 April 1988) is a New Zealand former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who has played for the

Cessnock Goannas The Cessnock Goannas Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Cessnock, New South Wales, formed in 1911. They currently play in the Newcastle Rugby League competition Notable Rugby League Juniors *Matthe ...

in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle representative team was also assembled from players in ...

Competition in Newcastle, Australia, as a or .

Background

Liam Foran was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand. He is the brother of NRL player

Kieran Foran Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, ...

Early years

Foran played his junior football at the

Ellerslie Eagles The Ellerslie Eagles are a rugby league club based in Ellerslie, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1912 and competes in Auckland Rugby League competitions. Its premier team competes in the Sharman cup. The club celebrated its centenary Queen ...

Rugby League Football Club in the Auckland Rugby League competition. Foran went to Ellerslie Primary School before moving over to Sydney. He moved to St Ives on the North Shore of Sydney, where he teams

St Ives North Public School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

with fellow future National Rugby League player

Mitchell Pearce Mitchell Pearce (born 7 April 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He previously played for Sydney Roosters, with whom he won the 2013 NRL Grand Final and Ne ...

. In 2001 he began high school at

Marist Catholic College North Shore , motto_translation = Courage Conquers All , location = , address = 270 Miller Street & 40 Ridge Street , region = Lower North Shore , city = North Sydney , ...

. He also represented the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in t ...

junior teams before signing with

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 2007. While attending

Marist Catholic College North Shore , motto_translation = Courage Conquers All , location = , address = 270 Miller Street & 40 Ridge Street , region = Lower North Shore , city = North Sydney , ...

, Foran played for the school competition representative squad, MCC (Metropolitan Catholic Colleges), leading him to NSW CCC (New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges) and eventually 2006 Australian Schoolboys which toured England and France. During the tour he surprised some by stating his desire to replace

Stacey Jones Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He played as a , but he has also briefly played at during his disting ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's long-term halfback. One year later, he made the 2007 Junior Kiwis squad and played a key part in the team defeating the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

. Ironically, it was Liam's younger brother Kieran who would take a similar role barring injury, debuting in 2009, captaining the side twice & playing a crucial role in their 2014 Four Nations Title & run to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup final.

Melbourne

In 2008 Foran joined Melbourne's Toyota Cup (Under-20s) team, and also played three

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

games for the club during the

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

period.

Auckland

Foran signed for the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

for the 2009 NRL season, with an option for the 2010 season. However he was released by the club in June, without playing a senior game. Instead he played the first half of the season with the

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in the

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

. Foran represented the NSW Residents in 2009 against the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Team, ...

due to good form while with the Auckland Vulcans.

Sydney Roosters

After leaving the Warriors, Foran joined the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground ...

. He then signed for the Jets' parent club, the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

, for the 2010 season.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Foran signed with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

for the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The N ...

, joining his brother Kieran. Foran made his first grade début during the 2012 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season on 9 April, replacing his younger brother in the team at after Kieran was ruled out with a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

injury and made a solid contribution in helping Manly end a three-game losing streak with a 30–0 win over Penrith at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...

.Foran senior fills the breach
This was his first first grade game since 2008, when he played on three occasions for the Melbourne Storm during the State of Origin Series. During that gap, he played for the Toyota Cup or NSW Cup squads for all the clubs he signed, the Melbourne Storm's Under 20's team nicknamed "The Thunderbolts", the New Zealand Warriors' reserve-grade team the Auckland Vulcans, the Sydney Roosters' reserve-grade team Newtown and the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team of the same name.

London Broncos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foran, Liam 1988 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Cessnock Goannas players New Zealand rugby league players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Wentworthville Magpies players Melbourne Storm players Ellerslie Eagles players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Auckland Salford Red Devils players