Kieran Foran was spotted in NSW Origin camp on Thursday. Here’s why

Updated June 11, 2026 — 6:48pm,first published June 9, 2026 — 5:38pm

Manly coach Kieran Foran has completed a 200km round trip just to have a coffee and check in on axed NSW star Haumole Olakau’atu.

Foran, who was decked out in club kit, made a surprise visit to the Blues’ Central Coast base on Thursday to catch up with his back-rower, who was relegated to 20th man duties at the start of the week.

Olakau’atu started in the back row in game one and was more than solid – his one sin was cramping late in the game – only to lose his starting role to Newcastle’s Dylan Lucas.

Sea Eagles coach Foran said himself at the start of the week: “All I’ll say is I wouldn’t swap Haumole for any back-rower in the competition.”

When asked about the impromptu visit to the Central Coast, Foran told this masthead: “I messaged ‘Shmole’ on Wednesday, asking him what his schedule was like the following day, he told me he had some free time in the arvo, so I said, ‘Beauty, I’ll pop up and have a coffee with you’.

“I just wanted to check in on him – I deadset care about him. I know it can be really hard as a player when you miss out on these representative sides. He was looking forward to playing against Queensland, but now he’s obviously not playing.

“I wanted to let him know we were all here for him and all of us at the Sea Eagles love him. The drive was nothing because me and my wife [Karina] still have a lot of family in the area, so it’s not unusual for me to make the trip up there once every couple of weeks or so. It was nice to see him. He’s a huge part of our footy team – he always will be.”

Manly parted ways with Anthony Seibold after three losses to start the year and appointed Foran in a caretaker capacity. The Manly legend was handed the job on a permanent basis until the end of 2029 after the Sea Eagles charged into the top four under his stewardship.

They have the bye this weekend and play Canterbury next round, with a fresh Olakau’atu and returning fullback Tom Trbojevic.

St George Illawarra forward Luciano Leilua has requested an immediate release from the club.

Leilua, off contract at the end of the season, has been one of the Dragons’ better players in a side that has won one game in 2026 and is sitting last on the NRL ladder. However, he has been frustrated by his lack of game time, prompting the Samoan international to ask interim coach Dean Young to drop him to NSW Cup to get more minutes.

Leilua had a blinder against Newtown in the lower grade on Saturday, scoring a try and running for 199 metres from 18 hit-ups. But the lack of certainty about h