There’s something going on up north of the Bridge.
On Thursday morning, a crane lifted the Colonel’s face off the KFC at Manly Vale, and replaced it with an image of … Kieran Foran?
Kieran Foran has taken over the northern beaches, with his name and face at KFC Manly Vale and 4Pines Park. Getty
And on Thursday night, the Sea Eagles will play the Rabbitohs at the renamed Foz Pines Park.
Manly are winning again, vibes are high. First there was Angeball, and then later came Bazball.
Now, ‘Fozball’ has well and truly reached pandemic levels. There’s a viral energy around it that has been driven, in part, by local social media content creators and podcasters.
“Fozball feels like a way of life now for Manly fans,” die-hard Manly fan and content creator Ella Kasmar told Nine.com.au.
“It’s not one specific thing. It’s not just the way we play. It’s the hope that’s been instilled in this club, it’s the positive vibes, and it’s our performance on the field.
“Foz cares so much about the club, and that’s being instilled into the players and fans, and it’s showing in their performance.”
When a team in any sport has a turnaround like Manly’s over the past two months or so, of course fans are going to mobilise, get hyped, and jump on the momentum train.
But according to Hello Sport podcast host Tom Birmingham, one thing Fozball is not is a hype train, because hype trains eventually derail and Fozball is a concept and therefore cannot.
Vibes are high among Sea Eagles players in the Fozball era. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) Getty
“The start to the season was so f — ed that you found a proud people on the Peninsula who aren’t used to being as bad as it felt like we were,” he told Nine.com.au.
“We were floating in the ocean looking for something to grab onto, and then Kieran Foran comes in.”
And it’s not just fans that have jumped on the Foz train. When has a brand as iconic and corporate like Kentucky Fried – sorry, Kieran Foran Chicken – ever leaned into such a niche promotion?
But that in and of itself is probably why the Fozball movement is as successful as it has been.
It’s largely driven by new media like Kasmar and podcasts like Hello Sport. The emergence of this type of organic, local coverage has given fans a new way to engage with players, each other, and the game more broadly.
“The Fozball movement didn’t start on the back pages of any newspaper – it was fan-driven,” Hello Sport co-host Eddy Simpson said.
Indeed all three credited the NRL Soapbox on Instagram as the one who minted the phrase.
“The beauty of the new world we live in from a media perspective is anyone can partake, be a part of, or find themselves at the centre of these weird, funny movements,” Simpson continued.
“So it’s been great to see it. Manly are obviously one of the great teams of all time, and we will win the comp.”
If there was one thing that irked Simpson the most about Fozball, is the term itself and its links to Ange Postecoglou and the England cricket team.
“Bazball amounted to absolutely nothing and Angeball amounted to a sacking, and Fozball has amounted to glorious, glorious wins,” he said.
“So there’s a huge difference.”