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Manly five-eighth Kieran Foran has a special name tattooed on his chest
WHEN Kieran Foran realised Manly expected him to step into the boots of Matt Orford this season, he took a deep breath and rubbed the three-word tattoo inked on his chest.
It simply reads: Hedley Royle Fielden — the name of his grandfather. “He was a man of very few words but he spoke with his actions. He influenced a lot of people’s lives. He was a man of very special qualities with great morals and standards,” Foran said.
Among his chief admirers was his grandson, now 19, who this season has taken over the leading playmaker role for the Sea Eagles by wearing the No 6 jersey.
It was a fairly daunting prospect. “One of the best things for my footy was having those nine games with Matt last year. I had a good understanding with him and learned fast.
“Then when he left it was mixed feelings. No one wanted him to go and then I thought: `Wait a minute, all the pressure comes on me now. They’ll want me to do what he did.’
“Matt’s had years of first grade and I’ve had a handful of games.”
Then Foran placed his fingers on his grandfather’s name.
“One of the great things about granddad was that he hated to see people get stressed or fussing over things,” he said.
“He never did it, so he would sit down with me and talk it through. He was able to remove the frustration and stress of everything — whether it was football or life in general.”
Foran, who hails from Auckland where his grandparents also lived, cannot speak to Hedley Fielden in person any more.
Foran was playing in a junior league tournament in Townsville in July 2008 and his grandparents were on holiday in north Queensland at the time.
“It just happened to coincide and they came to all my games.”
Hedley Fielden died two days after the competition ended of a massive heart attack. He was 79.
“So he got to see me play. And I look back and think of how I spent the last five days of his life with him,” he said .
“I can see him walking over to me to talk with me after I played.
“Those memories are with me always and they are some of the best days of my life.”
So why place the tattoo over his heart? Why not across his shoulders or down his arm as other NRL players have done with family names?
“Well if he means that much to me I’m going to put it somewhere where it means a lot,” Foran said.
“Several times a week I hear his voice in my head — that calmness and strength of his words — and it helps me. I feel sometimes he’s quite often `there’ with me.”
However, getting the tattoo had its embarrassing moments.
“I skipped school one day to go and get the tattoo, but I wasn’t 18 and they wouldn’t do it. I had to take my mum back with me the next day.”
All his Manly teammates have now heard of Hedley Royle Fielden and keep hearing about him. “It’s a daily reminder for me of him and how I want to live my life and how I want to deal and handle the tough moments,” he said.
“He was easygoing and everyone’s friend.”
Manly is also feeling fine with its Kiwi-born half.
After five rounds he is second in the NRL on try and linebreak assists behind Benji Marshall.
Since they both play No 6, Foran’s path to New Zealand colours seems thwarted. But he made his Test debut in last year’s Four Nations playing in the centres in the 20-12 loss to England.
He won’t get stressed about whether he makes the May 7, Anzac Test or not.
“I haven’t set any long-term goals. For the moment I just want to keep improving and keep consistent each week. I want to be a good player.”
He credits Manly’s international centre and five-eighth Jamie Lyon and coach Des Hasler for improving his play this year.
“I go home from training every day a better footballer.”
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