Tim Mannah hails new Eels skipper Kieran Forans blend of work ethic and talent
56 minutes ago
Paul CrawleyThe Daily Telegraph
Its about as big a compliment that any player could give a teammate. Especially a new recruit coming in to take over your prized job.
But if you thought Tim Mannah would be dirty about losing the Parramatta captaincy to Kieran Foran this year, think again.
Not only is the Eels longest-serving current player convinced coach Brad Arthur made the right call, but when handing over the top job ahead of Forans first game for the Eels in this Saturdays trial against Penrith, Mannah also labelled Foran the hardest working elite player he has ever seen.
And he believes that work ethic will help lead the Eels out of the dark ages in 2016.
There was some years there a while ago where it was a bit of a dark time (at Parramatta), Mannah said.
There wasnt much of a light at the end of the tunnel.
But that has well and truly changed since Foran arrived to inspire his new club throughout the tough pre-season slog.
His work ethic for someone with that talent is something I havent seen before, Mannah said.
A lot of the time when you get talented players the work ethic isnt as strong in them as guys that arent as talented. But he just has everything.
He is a great example for the younger boys. He leads by actions.
And that is exactly how Foran wants it to remain.
I guess your expectations go that bit higher (when you are captain), Foran said. But I dont want to do anything differently to what I have done in the past.
I am the sort of guy who will always try and go out there for 80 minutes and give my all and play my best 80 minutes for the side and do my role for the team.
I am not going to change any of that. I dont think I have to. I will hopefully lead with my actions on the field.
Foran admitted he wants to take his game to another level in 2016. When Foran was negotiating his future last year, the speculation was that Foran was concerned he was not learning enough at Manly.
Asked if that was the case, Foran refused to bag his old club but admitted he felt it was time for a change.
It wasnt just that (that he wasnt learning enough). I think it was just the combination of things, Foran said.
I had been at Manly since I was a kid. I had been there since I was 16. Maybe I was just getting to a point where I wanted something different.
It was a really hard decision because I love the club and I had great mates there. I guess you start your career thinking you are going to be a one club player. It is every kids dream.
I didnt think it was going to happen to me but it did. I got to a point where I felt I needed to change. I needed something different. I wanted a new environment and I am really grateful for the opportunity that was thrown to me to come here.
I have a lot of great mates (at Manly) and the boys, they will be life long friends.
He was also adamant being handed the Parramatta captaincy had nothing to do with his decision to leave Manly.
None whatsoever. Never even spoke about it, he said. It was never mentioned.
Brad had mentioned to me that he was bringing me here because he wanted me to bring my football here and leadership and come here and improve my game.
That was the focus, to come here and get myself as fit and strong as I could and buy into the culture here. And I was really excited by the playing group here and I couldnt wait to get over here and play amongst these guys.
Asked how tough it was to play through the internal turmoil at Manly last year, Foran admitted: It was tough, it was really tough.
I reckon my last two years at Manly were really tough. I think in a way I just needed a change. I still cant put my finger on (what went wrong). It is something that I have given time to think about.
But now he said he just wanted to focus on the future, and helping Parramatta shed that premiership curse that has stood since the Eels won their last premiership in 1986.
It is really exciting the roster we have, he said.
The young guys that have been coming through plus the guys who have been here for some time and there have recruited really well.
Michael Jennings, Beau Scott, Michael Gordon, they are all quality, really experienced guys. We are excited by what we have here but we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves.
We know it is going to be tough. We are under no illusions. All we can say is that we are confident. We know we had a real good pre-season. We believe we have put in the hard work.
If we believe enough in that and we are confident in the work we have done then hopefully we will put ourselves in the best position to have a strong season.
