{"id":167419,"date":"2025-09-25T05:14:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/167419\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T05:14:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:14:24","slug":"nrl-2025-titans-hard-to-say-no-foran-kini-declare-kiwi-availability-for-pacific-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/167419\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2025: Titans, &#8216;Hard to say no&#8217;: Foran, Kini declare Kiwi availability for Pacific Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kieran Foran may have called time on his NRL career after 17 seasons, but he has admitted it&#8217;ll be very hard to say no to representing his country one more time.<\/p>\n<p>In the mix for New Zealand&#8217;s Pacific Championships squad when they face emerging powerhouses Tonga and Samoa next month, the 31-Test star won&#8217;t shy away from a Kiwis swansong should he get the chance to pull on the black and white jersey one last time.<\/p>\n<p>Especially after that famous 30-0 victory against the Kangaroos in 2023 which happened to be the last time he wore the Kiwi colours, missing last season&#8217;s campaign due to ankle surgery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If the opportunity presents itself and they feel I can really add value in that side, then, I&#8217;ll jump at it,&#8221; Foran told NRL.com.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some of the best moments of my career have been playing for the Kiwis and if I was given an opportunity to do that one last time, I would fully immerse myself in it and go after it like no other, because I would have nothing to leave in the tank.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;(Winning the Pacific Championships final in 2023) was phenomenal, I dreamt of winning a game like that against the Kangaroos as a kid.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People forget when I first came into that international space, I was on the receiving end of quite a number of heavy losses against the Kangaroos and we really struggled to be dominant over them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a battle ever since I came into that space, but it&#8217;s been something I&#8217;ve been really determined to help build.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The body&#8217;s feeling good enough to certainly squeeze out a few more games \u2026 but we&#8217;ll just wait and see how the back-end of the season goes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure if Stacey needs me, he&#8217;ll reach out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>      &#13;<br \/>\n        599&#8243;, &#8220;&gt;809&#8221;, &#8220;&gt;959&#8243;]&#8221;<br \/>\n          data-eqio-prefix=&#8221;video-post-screen&#8221;<br \/>\n          ref=&#8221;root&#8221;<br \/>\n        &gt;<\/p>\n<p>            &#13;<br \/>\n              &#13;<br \/>\n                  Up Next&#13;<br \/>\n              &#13;<br \/>\n              &#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"card-content__topic o-topic u-color-white u-display-flex u-flex-wrap-yes u-font-weight-500\" v-if=\"isTvContent\">&#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<br \/>\n                \/&#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;\n              <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n              &#13;<br \/>\n              &#13;<br \/>\n              &#13;<\/p>\n<p>            &#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                    Replay&#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                    Play Next&#13;<br \/>\n                  &#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;\n              <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>        &#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"video-player__title\">A debut to remember: Kini<\/p>\n<p>Next generation excitement machine Keano Kini is also eager to receive a call from the Kiwis coach, confirming his availability for selection despite missing a majority of the season due to a serious neck injury.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m available&#8230; I&#8217;m just waiting to hear from Stacey but hopefully I can play for my country,&#8221; he told the Titans awards night last Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst <a href=\"https:\/\/www.titans.com.au\/news\/2025\/09\/24\/unfinished-business-tino-commits-to-kangaroos-for-historic-ashes-series\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tino Fa&#8217;asuamaleaui has opted to remain a Kangaroo<\/a> and will head to England for a reignited Ashes Tour, fellow front rower Moeaki Fotuaika will put his hand up for his country, eyeing off a blockbuster battle against a star-studded Samoa at Suncorp Stadium<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d love to play for Tonga. If the opportunity comes up, I&#8217;ll be more than happy to put my hand up,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Especially playing up against Samoa and New Zealand&#8230; I&#8217;m really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good to see both Pacific nations (Tonga and Samoa) emerging. Obviously [Samoa] have Payne (Haas) playing for them now and it&#8217;ll be great to play them at Suncorp where there is obviously a large population of Pasifika and Polynesian people.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kieran Foran may have called time on his NRL career after 17 seasons, but he has admitted it&#8217;ll&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-167419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}