Foran to lead Manly as interim coach for the rest of the year

In a quick coaching rise, Keiran Foran has been named Manly’s new (interim) head coach and has been charged with saving them from a club-first wooden spoon just six months after retiring as a player after his last season with the Gold Coast Titans.

Anthony Seibold had failed to win a game in the first four rounds of the season, and Sea Eagles bosses wasted no time swinging the axe. Seibold had only just been re-signed by the club, with his NRL contract extended to 2027. The club will now have to pay him out for those two contracted years, though some clauses made the release a little bit cheaper.

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Seibold’s axing is the fastest in an NRL season since the Tigers dumped Jason Taylor in 2017.

Foran has been coaching with the Sea Eagles for just six months, originally signing on in late October.

Funnily enough, Foran was on the FOX Sports panel reviewing the Warriors vs. Tigers and Broncos vs. Dolphins matches when the news broke. Foran said he was “shocked” by the news of Seibold’s swift exit.

“It was business as usual for us this morning,” Foran told his fellow panellists on FOX Sports. “We were in there at 630am with Seibs going through the review of last night’s game and preparing for Sunday’s training.”

Manly’s brass chose Foran from among several candidates, mainly thanks to his popularity with the fans. He’s also widely regarded as one of the best communicators currently at the club, and has close relationships with the players.

The 35-year-old knows the Sea Eagles system well, having played 196 games with the club between 2009 and 2015, and then again in 2021–22. He was a key part of the club’s 2011 premiership, playing in the halves with favoured son Daly Cherry-Evans. Some within the club believe Foran’s famously ruthless, hard-nosed style is exactly what Manly is missing.

The move also leaves Seibold looking for a new job in rugby league, and – at least in this Sporting Base writer’s view – likely means we’ve seen the last of the ex-Rabbitohs, Broncos, and Sea Eagles boss as a head coach.

Just some 36 hours before this decision, Seibold had been cagey with the media the day before he was sacked, pointing out only Penn had control over his destiny and suggesting there was no use “wasting energy” on the chance.

(He was brought in to Brookvale’s HQ the next morning and told he was being sacked immediately.)

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“I can’t control that decision [about my future]. Only Scott [Penn] and the ownership group can control that, so there’s no point me wasting any energy or time on that,” he cracked back on Thursday evening.

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“I think I’ve invested a lot of time in the club over the last three-and-a-bit years, and made a lot of sacrifice with my time. But if I’m not the right person, I’m sure Scott will tell me,” he said. “I still believe that we can do something together as a group. I haven’t really put any thought into it. Three games into a two-year extension… it hasn’t sort of been a focus for me.”

Foran’s first game in charge will come next Thursday, when Manly takes on Redcliffe.