Warriors marquee recruit Kieran Foran is no certainty to take on the Gold Coast next week after he was a late scratching from his scheduled NRL return game due to a hamstring injury.
After a 300-day absence from the NRL, Foran had a line ruled through his name five minutes before kick-off on Sunday evening after twinging his hamstring in the warm up.
Foran was too distraught to talk after the loss to St George Illawarra and Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said while initial signs were positive, Foran wasn’t assured of taking on the Titans at Mt Smart Stadium next weekend.
“It’s too early to tell, he’s got pretty good strength in it,” Kearney said.
“He came in and it just didn’t feel 100 per cent right. Obviously it’s been a long lay off for him. The last thing we wanted to do was make it worse.”
Foran will be assessed on his arrival in Auckland on Monday.
After a torrid and long journey back to rugby league, Foran was set to play his first game since May last year and his tumultuous exit from Parramatta to address personal issues.
Foran spent time in a mental health clinic after the breakdown of his long-term relationship with the mother of his two young children, and to address drug and gambling issues.
After returning to New Zealand to get his life back in order, he was cleared by the NRL to resume playing and was due to come back in round three, only to be restricted by a shoulder injury.
He looked set to make his long-awaited return to the field at UOW Jubilee Oval only to be struck down in the warm up, forcing the Warriors in to a last-minute reshuffle that threw a spanner in the works.
Tuimoala Lolohea was shifted into the halves and 18th man Blake Ayshford was rushed in to play his second game in two days after turning out for the Warriors’ reserve grade side some 24 hours earlier.
“It would have been five minutes before they were about to run out,” Kearney said.
“He came into the sheds and felt a twinge at the top of his hamstring.
“You wouldn’t read about it. Under the circumstances it did throw us out a bit.”
