Champion halfback Kieran Foran has clipped the NRL over its crackdown on contact with the kicker ahead of his farewell match, saying „it’s gone too far“ and is „a bad look on the game“.
The tough-as-teak Kiwi also says playmakers are „exposing“ the rule.
Foran will play his 318th and final NRL game when the Gold Coast Titans host Wests Tigers on Saturday evening.
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On Tuesday night, the 35-year-old was asked in an interview on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports if he thought the game’s rule makers had gone too far with the contact-on-the-kicker rule.
He answered without hesitation.
„I’m not a fan of the contact-with-the-kicker [rule]. I think they’ve gone too far with that one,“ Foran told 2GB presenter Adam Hawse.
„We put measures in place to protect ball players when they were digging deep in the line of passing and they’d already passed and we didn’t want guys hitting them late, and I understood that sort of ruling and trying to, I guess, get on top of that and protect the playmakers.
„But I’m not a fan of the kicking one. I think it’s gone too far.“
One of the most contentious contact-on-the-kicker incidents of the ongoing season gifted Manly a win.
With the scores locked up at 16-16 in the 78th minute of Manly’s clash with Melbourne in round 20, Storm hooker Harry Grant raced out of the defensive line to put pressure on Luke Brooks as the Sea Eagles five-eighth fired off a field goal attempt.
Brooks‘ kick sailed wide, but the Sea Eagles were awarded a penalty because Grant had made contact with the Manly playmaker’s kicking leg.
The contact was widely considered to be incredibly light, but the Bunker official, who was reviewing the incident for a captain’s challenge, deemed the contact „dangerous“.
Reuben Garrick potted over a simple penalty goal to give Manly an 18-16 win.
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Kieran Foran. Getty
„I enjoyed back in the day when you had to kick deep into the line and kick pressure was coming out and sort of putting a hit on you,“ Foran recalled.
„I think it was a bit of a badge of honour to get back to your feet and sort of play on, and I just find now that the playmakers are exposing it now, and I think it’s a bad look on the game.“
Legendary halfback Andrew Johns penned a searing column about the rule in The Sydney Morning Herald after the incident in the Melbourne-Manly game.
„In 2025, halfbacks can now play the game wearing a koala suit – they’ve officially become a protected species,“ Johns joked.
„Harry Grant’s penalty for challenging Luke Brooks last Saturday night – and it was a penalty by the laws of the game – was so soft his contact didn’t draw a reaction from the referees, touch judges, Manly players or even Brooks.
„But the Bunker has a look, and ultimately, that call cost Melbourne the game.
„I’d hate to see an Origin or a grand final decided on that type of penalty.“
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