Eels Blogs

Manly legend Steve Menzies says the “sky is the limit” for the Eels with star recruit Kieran Foran leading the way.

Foran, who is the vice-captain of New Zealand, announced in March last year that he would depart Manly after seven seasons.

Parramatta handed the captaincy to Foran, with the former Sea Eagles star saying the Eels are building a team around him.

“They’re (Parramatta) building on the back of him, signing a few players (and their) preseason’s been positive for them. Things are looking good,” Menzies said.

“On the back of his leadership ... I think they’ll have a good season.

“How far they’ll go towards the end of the year? That’s unsure yet.”

Menzies says Foran’s leadership and combination with Corey Norman will be crucial to the Eels success this season.

 “Guys that play with him love playing with him, and I think his combination with Corey Norman is evolving as a quality No.6 and I think that’s going to be integral to how the Eels go this year,” Menzies said.

Such is Foran’s standing in the game – NRL legend Peter Stirling said he was Parramatta’s most important signing in the club’s history – Menzies says he is a world-class half.

“History has shown to win premierships and do really impressive things in the back-end of the season you need world-class halves, and I think he’s definitely that,” Menzies said.

“And with the combination with Corey Norman they’ve got some exceptional forwards. They have had for a couple of years some really good guys that can lay the platform and I think on the back of that they’ll do very well.”

A minor setback has been a hamstring injury that has hampered Foran’s pre-season, with a trial game against Penrith last weekend his first outing in the blue and gold.