News Kieran Foran for NRL return says Bulldogs coach Dean Pay

Spoonman84

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This could play a massive part in Dean Pay’s future at Canterbury, because Kieran Foran’s ability to string together consistent performances this year will have a huge bearing on the Bulldogs’ success.

But despite some concern Foran won’t be ready for the NRL’s return round, Pay is adamant the luckless playmaker is raring to go.

And while Foran is desperate to get back on the field so he can prove he deserves another deal beyond this year, Pay also needs the team to hit the ground running because he is also off contract in less than six months.

Understandably, Pay’s future has been put on hold as the club comes to terms with all the ramifications directly related to the coronavirus shutdown.

But Pay confirmed on Wednesday that Foran was back doing contact training, and a meeting with a specialist next week would hopefully give him the green light to play.

“I am confident … and he is 100 per cent convinced (he will play),” Pay said.

“He still has to get through some more contact work. He has only just started.

“I don’t want to put the mock on him. But, touch wood, he should be sweet.”

If this eventuates the question will be who partners Foran in the halves.

Lachlan Lewis and Brandon Wakeham currently have the jump on Jack Cogger but Pay openly admits it is up in the air.

The Bulldogs are also still an outside chance of signing Josh Reynolds but that would only be if Wests Tigers are prepared to carry the majority of Reynolds’ salary.

Internally, this is considered no safe bet at this point, although it is still too early to put a line through any potential deal altogether.

What can’t be denied is that Lewis is facing a significant challenge to keep ahead of the exciting young Wakeham.

Lewis started the season viewed as the playmaker who would lead the club into the future.

However he suffered a setback when he was benched in the round two loss to North Queensland after an ordinary first-up effort against Parramatta.

In both games Lewis’ finish to sets just weren’t up to NRL standard.

It also again highlighted how crucial Foran’s experience is to a team that finished last year winning seven of their last 10 games before opening this season with back-to-back losses in Foran’s absence, after he suffered his injury playing for New Zealand.

Wakeham trained alongside Foran yesterday while Lewis is expected to get his shot at Friday’s team session.

It’s no secret Pay has been coaching under enormous salary cap restraints since he arrived at the club.

Then on top of starting this season without Foran, Pay also had to contend with the sacking of Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor.

But in 2021 at least the Bulldogs will finally be in a position to hit the market with some cash to splash, although they have to start making some big decisions soon.

There are still a stack of the top-30 squad not signed for next year including Foran, Wakeham and Cogger as well as Aiden Tolman, Adam Elliott, Morgan Harper, Kerrod Holland, Marcelo Montoya and young Isaihah Tass.

The Bulldogs also only have 27 contracted top 30 players for this year after the exit of Harawira-Naera and Okunbor.

The question the club has to answer is how many of these off-contract players should be retained if the Bulldogs are fair dinkum about getting themselves back among the genuine premiership contenders.

For instance, how many of the Bulldogs’ current crop would win a place in the Roosters, Melbourne or Canberra’s top 17?

They have already landed tough Englishman Luke Thompson for next year, although in the current COVID-19 crisis that might have some complications in the coming months.

But the Dogs still have a lot of other questions that need to be answered before Thompson is due to arrive.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...k/news-story/4842fb1ed429e4fc803f603c79fc96f5
 

Cosmo24

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Foran and Wakeham should be training together as the halves at every opportunity. Stop wasting any precious training time with a Lewis / Foran combo
 

bradyk

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Foran, Wakeham. Easy.
 

Teddybear

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And that is the problem with pay...whilst I like him he makes dumb dumb selections.

1/Holland and reimis Smith combo absolutely on fire, what does he do? Splits the combo.

2/ reimis Smith to centre - dumb - he is a winger fullstop

3/ dwz to fullback - dumb , hoppa or meaney are actually fullbacks

4/ Lewis and foran - won a stack of games together...lets see what he does.
 

bradyk

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How do you expect us to keep Wakeham if we're not giving him game time? Fittler said he was one of the best halves coming through the grades/his age group. He's off contract.
 

Teddybear

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At 14 he will get game time.

We have to hit the ground running with this shortened comp.

Stick to what works, lewis and foran works along with JMK...
we need to win games straight away otherwise the season will be lost.

Wakeham will get his chance, but we cannot be treating the early rounds as trial games and trying to work on combos phuk that
How do you expect us to keep Wakeham if we're not giving him game time? Fittler said he was one of the best halves coming through the grades/his age group. He's off contract.
 

GrogDog

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I don't believe for one second that Pay doesn't know which way he will go. He's had since the end of last season to decide.
 

Spoonman84

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Lewis and foran combo won us a lot of games last year.
The ying and the yang.
Number 14 for wakeham for mine.
They whole team won 10 games last year and Foran/Lewis weren’t the halves combo in all of those.
If Pay is serious Lewis should never play in the halves in first grade again. He’s been exposed time and time again as a fraud.
 

Teddybear

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Your opinion

The combo foran/ Lewis/jmk combo works well.
Its like poetry in motion.
They whole team won 10 games last year and Foran/Lewis weren’t the halves combo in all of those.
If Pay is serious Lewis should never play in the halves in first grade again. He’s been exposed time and time again as a fraud.
 

BMOC

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I stll don't see what you guys see in wakeham...
I agree. No doubt he is talented but I haven’t seen anything from him so far to warrant all this hype. He hasn’t proven anything yet tbh.
 

DogsOfWar1704

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I think pays already decided with his halves. Wakeham at 7 foran at 6.
He benched Lewis for a reason.
Probably just throwing off so the other teams don’t Know what to expect
 

SPEARTAKVIDREFS

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For Foran to have a chance at consistency he will need to be 100% ( not 98 or 80 or 72 ) but 100% fit.
Not 'yeah he's had a knock today but he should be right for next week'
He is most dangerous when he takes the ball to the line. How can he sustain this from what we have seen thus far?
Is it in his competitive nature not to do this?
Can only hope for a miracle, good luck to him.
 
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