Sea Eagles Tap Club Legend Forg For Interim Coaching Role Amidst Tumultuous Start
The Manly Sea Eagles have made a significant coaching change, appointing club legend Kieran Foran as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2026 season. The decision comes after the club’s disastrous start to the year, which has seen them lose their opening three matches, all on home turf. The announcement was made on Friday afternoon, with chairman and owner Scott Penn, CEO Jason King, and Foran himself addressing the media on Saturday morning to outline the club’s strategic shift.
Scott Penn initiated the press conference with a brief statement before the trio fielded questions from reporters. “In the last 24 hours, we have made some important decisions for the future of the club,” Penn stated. “Obviously, we announced last night that Anthony Seibold is no longer with the club. We are very thankful for Anthony for the last three years, and we have certainly made some progress. We wish him and his family well. But we are here today to announce an interim head coach and we are pleased to announce Kieran Foran as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2026 season.”
Penn highlighted Foran’s deep connection to the club. “Kieran is well known to the Manly faithful. He played almost 200 games for the club, was recently appointed a life member, and has played almost 320 games in the NRL, so clearly one of the most respected players in the game. He has been with the club for the last six months in an assistant coach capacity, and he was a warrior on the field. He has brought that attitude to the coaching staff, which is one of the key reasons we have appointed him as interim head coach for the rest of the year.”
The immediate focus, Penn emphasised, is on the remaining 21 games. “The focus now, we have 21 games ahead of us. That’s one of the key reasons we made the decision as early as we have. We certainly aren’t out of it yet; we have a long way to go. If we win more than we lose for the rest of the season, we will be in with a fighting chance for the finals, and that’s the focus right now. We are delighted Kieran is going to take the helm, and we will see what we can do.”
Rationale Behind Seibold’s Sacking
Penn elaborated on the club’s decision to part ways with Seibold so early in the season. “That has been an ongoing discussion in terms of we were quite clear that the back half of last year we didn’t quite meet our expectations,” he explained. “We capitulated in a few games. We did have a number of injuries which didn’t help, but we also had some solid leads throughout certain games but then didn’t finish it off. We knew that we needed to turn that around this year, so during the review process at the end of last year, we said we didn’t make the finals and weren’t happy about that. We thought there was more potential in the team, so we really wanted to turn that around for the 2026 season and didn’t see that progression.”
The stark reality of the current season’s performance was a major factor. “Obviously, we lost three games here at home for the first time in 20 years. Not happy about that. Doesn’t meet our club standards. We could have said, ‘Yeah, we will give you another three games,’ but we didn’t want to risk it. We didn’t want to be zero and six; we need to win now and we need to get on the park and get everyone’s head in the right space. We feel that Kieran is the best person to do that right now.”
Clarifying the recent contract extension granted to Seibold, Penn stated, “Well, the extension was part of the process. We always had a clause in our contract in terms of a termination clause, but it was an extension because we wanted to back the coach with a pre-season under his belt. Let’s turn it around. We just didn’t see that progression.” When questioned about whether Seibold had lost the dressing room, Penn declined to comment directly, stating, “I don’t think we can make a comment on that in terms of that’s not for us to say. Certainly on the field, we saw some performances that we didn’t like the look of from a head space point of view. I wouldn’t say whether he lost the dressing room, but we base it on team performance, and it wasn’t there.” Penn also confirmed that the senior playing group was not consulted in the decision to sack Seibold, adding, “It wasn’t for us to do. Obviously, Jason in particular is constantly talking to the team in various capacities, but it wasn’t a witch hunt like that.”
Foran Embraces the Challenge
Kieran Foran acknowledged that his appointment might be perceived as a “baptism of fire,” but he expressed no fear regarding the challenge of commencing his head coaching career so soon after his playing days concluded. “You could say it could be that, but at the end of the day, I came back to Manly four and a half months ago after retiring,” Foran said. “Got offered an opportunity to come in as an assistant coach at the club under Anthony, and all I’ve focused on is trying to work as hard as I can to be the best assistant coach for the team under Anthony. I received a call late last night from Scott and Jason, and at the end of the day, it’s not in my nature to say no. There hasn’t been a challenge that I haven’t walked towards in my life or in my professional career.”
Foran addressed potential doubts about his readiness. “I know there will be plenty of people out there who say that there is no chance that I am ready to take control of this footy team, but at the end of the day, I believe in myself. I know what I stand for as a person, my values, my standards, and if the club have asked me because they believe I’m the best person to step into that role, then I’m going to take it on. I don’t know if you’re ever ready for anything, to be honest. You can prepare your whole life for something and still not be ready. I played 318 games, and at the end of the day, I still walked into a final at the end of my Test career and didn’t know which way it was going to go. My thought process is that you walk towards the opportunities that are presented to you. At the end of the day, I love this club, have been asked to step in as an interim coach, and I’ll do that.”
Foran admitted to being shocked by both Seibold’s sacking, which he learned of while live on air, and his own appointment. His immediate reaction was to seek confirmation, asking, “Are you sure, are you comfortable in this decision?” He expressed gratitude for the belief shown in him by the club’s leadership and affirmed his sole focus: “preparing the team for Thursday night’s game.”
He added, “We have worked extremely hard through the pre-season. The guys have trained incredibly hard, been whole-hearted in everything they have done. It has been a disappointing start to the year, obviously, we haven’t got a victory, but there is a footy side and a team there that care deeply about the jersey they are playing in and the people they are representing. That will be the key focus heading forward, is how do we get that to come to fruition?”
Long-Term Coaching Search Underway
Manly’s attention will soon shift to appointing a permanent successor to Seibold. CEO Jason King indicated that the process would not be rushed. “It’s very early days at the moment,” King stated. “We are just talking about an interim appointment and believe in Kieran. We think he is the right person for the job, had a terrific career and been a real warrior on the field. He has a great deal of respect not only in our club but more broadly across the game. We couldn’t be more thrilled after conversation last night that he has accepted the appointment, and conversations with a lot of staff members, football department, and senior players today is that they can’t wait to get out there and work closely with Kieran and go to work for him.”
Regarding the long-term strategy, King added, “In terms of longer-term arrangement, it’s very early days. Once we have had time for this to settle in, we are focused on supporting Kieran as best we possibly can, then think about what’s an appropriate process to go through to think more broadly beyond 2026.” He also noted that the club would consider a “Manly person” for the full-time role.
Foran, if successful in his interim tenure, could be a contender. However, other names are also being floated, including Matt Ballin, who reportedly has the blessing of Michael Maguire to leave his role at the Brisbane Broncos should he be approached. “It’s too early to say,” King commented. “That will be a consideration at the right point in time when we start thinking about a permanent appointment. One of the strengths that Kieran brings to this role is that we are really fortunate to have someone of Kieran’s ilk in the building already is a deep connection to the club.”
King reminisced about his playing days with Foran, stating, “I was fortunate to play with Kieran for a part of my career. He always came across as a character of really high standards not only of himself but of his teammates. It’s great to have Kieran involved; he has a strong connection, he is a life member of the club, has played nearly 200 matches for the club. To have him, we think is important now and will generate that great connection with the playing group that he already has and build on that. In terms of what we do going forward is matters for the board, and I’m sure that will be a factor that will be considered.”
Chairman Scott Penn echoed this sentiment, suggesting Foran’s appointment aligns with the club’s historical identity. “Obviously, there is history there,” Penn said. “We are in our 80th year; we have played in 20 grand finals. Not all of those 20 grand finals were Manly people, but the 8 premierships we won have been. It’s not mandatory, but there is certainly history. I think we have a very proud history, know what our values are, and we expect success. We haven’t delivered that over the last ten years. We need to make sure we do that. Kieran’s appointment is definitely a path to that. Bringing Kieran back to the club is about we want his DNA here in the club long-term. Regardless of what the future holds, he is going to be around. We are going to wrap our arms around him, give him all the support he needs, and we will see where we go.”
Addressing Speculation and Club Finances
The timing of Seibold’s dismissal also raised questions about the club’s pursuit of Hull KR coach Willie Peters, who is rumoured to have signed with the PNG Chiefs. Penn dismissed concerns about external pressures, stating, “We aren’t concerned. We know that we have a fantastic squad here. We know that Kieran has an opportunity to do something special. That’s what we are backing right now. We will go through an orderly process to see who is available in an orderly timeframe. We aren’t under any pressure, but once again, this is about the greater good of the club and who is the best [candidate]. We are hoping Kieran is that person.”
Penn also defended the decision not to sack Seibold last year, reiterating his desire to see improvement. “I don’t think so,” he stated. “I think the fact is that we are demonstrating in the first three games challenges we had in the back half of the season last year, and we were expecting an improvement. It’s as simple as that. We couldn’t guarantee that was going to happen.”
Addressing speculation about the Penn family’s ownership, Scott Penn firmly stated the club is not for sale. He highlighted the financial commitment to junior pathways, despite the leagues club’s inability to contribute for 15 years. “We invest two and a half to three million dollars per year in our junior pathways, that, as a private club, we have to fund. We don’t have an obligation. We have a licence for an NRL team. We don’t have an obligation for junior pathways or the junior league, but as a family and an ownership group, we believe in that, so we still contribute.”
Penn assured supporters of the club’s financial stability. “The club still breaks even or better, so we are in a strong financial position, but the reality is in the last 12 months we had a number of medical retirements, all told about a million dollars. These things happen at times, but we have looked around the club to say, ‘Well, how do we just around the edges are there areas of opportunities to save some cost to offset that’. We are certainly financially strong. We spend to the football cap, we spend to the salary cap. We are not looking to sell.”
The Path to a New ‘Golden Era’
Penn expressed the critical importance of making the right coaching appointment to usher in a new era of success. “Critical [to get the next appointment right],” he asserted. “We have to get results. We feel like we have the right resources to do that. We have the best junior talent coming through that we have had since ‘Foz’ and Cherry [Daly Cherry-Evans], [Jamie] Buhrer, and [Jared] Waerea-Hargreaves. That was back in about 2009, our last golden period of juniors coming through the system. That fostered in a 2011 grand final win, 2013, and then obviously with such a talented team, we hit some salary cap challenges because we had so much talent on the park. That was the reality of that situation, so we couldn’t keep them all, but we now have a great nursery in our juniors, and they are starting to come through. We probably have four, five or six 19-year-olds who will play NRL.”
When asked if he was part of the club’s problem, Penn responded emphatically, “No.” He elaborated, “You can point fingers and say that, but our focus has always been on the greater good of this club. The reality is that as owners and stewards of the club, we are demanding success, and if we aren’t getting it, we need to find someone else. As a family, we are entrepreneurs. We back people; we can’t do it all because we have multiple businesses. But, we back people, and we trust people. We set a plan and say, ‘This is where we want to go,’ and we back them. We say, ‘Do you have all the resources you need to execute that plan?’ And we allow them to get on with it. We don’t interfere. In 20 years, we have never told the coach to pick anyone. That’s their job, but then they live and die by those results. If they aren’t performing or not giving us what we need as a club, then we have to make some tough decisions.”
Foran Identifies Key On-Field Issues
Turning to the on-field performance, Kieran Foran pinpointed the need for complete 80-minute efforts as the team’s most pressing concern. “We need to look at putting together a complete 80-minute performance,” Foran stated. “We showed so far in the first three games of the season that we have been good in patches. We showed that on Thursday night against the Roosters. We were good for 40 minutes, and then faded away poorly in the second half. We did the same in Round 1 against the Raiders and were disappointing against the Knights. We have to put together a complete performance for 80 minutes. We have to work out why we aren’t doing that and fix it quickly because we need to turn the results around fast.”
Despite the early struggles, Foran expressed confidence in the squad’s potential. “For sure [we are good enough to play finals]. I have been so impressed with the squad since I came back to the club. It’s an elite squad. I think arguably we have one of the best footballers in the country at fullback; Tolutau Koula is one of the best centres in the competition. We have plenty of strike in the side; it’s about, as I said, we have to work out why we aren’t putting together full 80-minute performances.”
Foran admitted that the transition to head coach has always been on his career radar. “I’ve always seen myself as a coach,” he revealed. “Even when I played, I was a captain, a leader; I was invested in the tactical side of the game. I am a student of rugby league; I have shown that throughout my footy career. I have always believed that post my playing career, I wanted to stay involved in rugby league and coach. I have said all along I wasn’t in a rush to become a head coach. I wanted to start my journey as an assistant coach and started that journey under Manly, but as I touched on at the start around the challenges that have been put in front of me, nothing has been straightforward in my life. I have had to fight and scrap for every inch that I have got, and I certainly haven’t walked away from challenges just because of the fear of what might be out there. I have always taken it head-on. If I failed, I failed. That’s where I sit today. At the end of the day, I know I’m four and a half months into a coaching journey, but if the club believes I’m the right man to step into an interim role, then I’m going to do it.”
He concluded with a heartfelt message: “I love this club. I won a premiership here. I have bled for the jersey in maroon and white, and at the end of the day, if I can instil a bit of belief and passion into this playing group, then hopefully we can see some results.”
The Daly Cherry-Evans Saga and Club Morale
Scott Penn addressed the impact of Daly Cherry-Evans’ departure at the end of the 2025 season, admitting it was handled poorly. “It was certainly very distracting,” he conceded. “Everyone acknowledges that it could have been handled better, but once the decision was made, we just tried to get on with it, but there is no doubt it was distracting throughout the season.”
Jason King provided insight into the current team morale, stating that the focus is on positivity, not on avoiding the wooden spoon. “It’s not something we think about on a regular basis,” King said. “We are well aware of our history and very proud of our history. Everyone in this building will be doing as best as we possibly can to have a successful season. Our mind is not thinking towards negative things like the wooden spoon, but more thinking about how to be a strong football club and a strong team that delivers on the field, and Kieran will play a big role in that.”
The press conference concluded with Penn’s assessment of Anthony Seibold’s professionalism during the termination process. “It’s always difficult,” Penn said. “He was very professional when we met late yesterday. I guess whenever you’re called to a meeting with the chairman and CEO, that’s not a good meeting. He was very professional. We have always had a very good working relationship, and there is mutual respect there. I think we all wish it was different, but in terms of the results, we just haven’t had the results we were expecting, and so you just need to make a call. As a club, we couldn’t afford to be in three weeks’ time zero and six, so we just had to make a call quickly.”
