Sea Eagles five-eighth Kieran Foran faces a race against the clock to be fit for his side’s grand final rematch with the Roosters on Friday night.
Foran was a late withdrawal from the Sea Eagles’ last minute victory against the Eels last week after sustaining a calf injury in round two against the Rabbitohs.
The New Zealand representative has been named to take his place in the No.6 jersey ahead of Friday’s blockbuster.
However, with the match on Friday, the short turnaround may work against the 23-year-old.
“It’s coming along alright,” Foran said. “I tried to run on it today and that didn’t go too well.
“The short turn around is the problem. If it was a Sunday game I’d like to back myself in, but being a Friday night game, it’s probably changed things a little.
“We’ll see how it goes day to day but at this stage it is not looking too good.”
The Sea Eagles will be without a number of key players in their bid to avenge last year’s grand final heartache, but Foran insists Manly’s proud winning culture will help his side get over the line at Allianz Stadium.
“We thrive when our backs are against the wall and when we’ve got players out. We’ve got great depth here. The guys that come in seem to lift and do a great job,” Foran said.
“It’s just something that’s so great about this club.”
The two sides contested in some of the most brutal matches last season, including the grand final, igniting a rivalry that is set to continue on Friday night.
“I guess we’ll think about it a little bit closer to the game. It’s so early in the season it’s hard to think about rematches and all that sort of thing,” Foran said.
“We just want to get wins at this time of the year and it’s going to be a massive contest up against last year’s premiers. We’re going to go out their and hopefully try and get the win.”
