Emotional scenes erupted at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse on Wednesday night, as Kieran Foran was awarded the Ken Stephen Man of the Year Medal at the 2025 Dally M awards.
The retiring Gold Coast Titans superstar, 35, was recognised for his work away from the footy field, being a passionate advocate for youth mental health.
The five-eighth is an ambassador for the Top Blokes Foundation, and has launched a campaign with the not-for-profit called Logan’s Legacy, which is named in memory of his wife Karina’s son, Logan, who tragically passed away just a month after his 20th birthday in 2023.
Logan’s Legacy helps to fund new mental health prevention and intervention initiatives. Learn more about the campaign here.
Foran, meanwhile, regularly visits hospitals and has fostered a strong bond with the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation. He also mentors youth players and supports those with disabilities alongside his work with Top Blokes.
The 35-year-old has previously been open on his own struggles with mental health, revealing earlier this September to the Daily Mail that it was his partner Karina who saved him, after he attempted to take his own life.
Emotional scenes erupted at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse on Wednesday night, as Kieran Foran was awarded the Ken Stephen Man of the Year Medal at the 2025 Dally M awards (Pictured: Foran and his wife Karina)
Foran, who will retire at the end of the season, was honoured for his work away from the footy field as a passionate advocate for youth mental health
During the awards evening, Foran took to the stage where he delivered a speech where he paid tribute to Logan, who would have turned 22 on Wednesday, before thanking Karina and all those who have helped him during his life and footy career.
As he made the address to the room, cameras cut to his wife Karina, who cut an emotional figure as her husband candidly opened up on some of the challenges his family has faced in the past.
‘I’d like to particularly recognise my wife Karina. I know today is especially hard for you. Logan’s birthday, he would have been 22 today,’ the Gold Coast star said.
‘Your love, strength and belief to keep going in tough times like these has been and will continue to be a guiding light.
‘Due to the challenges we’ve faced as a family, an area very close to my heart is mental health.
‘I know I’m in a privileged position to have a voice and I found that being open about my own journey, not just the successes, but in particular the struggles, has helped others to realise they are not alone.’
Foran is one of the most inspiring players to have graced the sport. Over the years, the footy star has also struggled with injuries and revealed to the Daily Mail earlier this year that he has undergone a whopping 17 surgeries during his career.
Noting his own struggles with mental health, the 35-year-old used the platform to deliver a stirring message.
The 35-year-old delivered a stirring acceptance speech that had members of the audience holding back tears
Karina cut an emotional figure as she watched her husband deliver his acceptance speech
Foran will hang up his boots at the end of the season, having made 318 NRL appearances for six clubs, during his 17-year career in the top flight
‘As important as it’s been to share my own story, listening to the stories of others has been incredibly empowering and uplifting,’ he said.
‘I know the courage it takes first-hand to reach out and say I’m not OK and it’s those deep, raw and real conversations that remind me why connection truly counts.
‘If being vulnerable about my journey has helped just one person to make a choice, to keep moving forward and to keep throwing themselves into the uncomfortable, then my struggles have not been in vain.
‘So I am honoured to receive the Ken Stephen Medal this evening. This game has given me so much and it is a privilege to give back whatever I can.’
Fox Sports presenter and 2023 Dally M Halfback of the Year, Shaun Johnson, was left speechless by Foran’s words, as he appeared on screen to present the show’s next segment with Mark Nawaqanitawase.
Speaking earlier this year to AAP, Foran opened up on the toll that losing Logan in 2024 had on him and his partner.
‘I’m incredibly dedicated and passionate about helping people through dark stages of their life,’ he told AAP this week.
‘We as human beings are going to face testing times that can be too much for us, having lived it myself through my own journey.
Foran heaped praise on his wife Karina earlier this year stating: ‘She gives me purpose and is a constant sounding board.’
‘To lose Logan changed our lives, none more so than Karina. My commitment is to help educate young guys who are struggling, to not make that fatal decision.
‘They don’t understand what they are leaving behind and the destruction it leaves on everyone and how sorely they are missed.’
Karina and Foran, who won a premiership with Manly in 2011, met in 2016 while Foran had put a pause on his rugby league career to rehabilitate a shoulder injury.
‘She means everything to me,’ the five-eighth told the Daily Mail earlier this year.
‘Karina has been the steady soul I needed. She met me at a dark time in my life, and I was warts-and-all about where I wanted to be [in terms of personal growth].
‘She gives me purpose and is a constant sounding board.’
Foran announced in July that he would be retiring from professional rugby league, closing the curtain on one of the greatest and well-respected careers in the game.
Last year, he joined the 300-game milestone club, and that being a part of the illustrious 55-man club, was something he was ‘grateful for’.
He explained that Karina was the ‘steady soul I needed’ and had helped him through a ‘dark time’ in his life
‘It’s just staying in the fight. If this could be an example or message to anyone out there, it’s that good things can come if you stay in the fight,’ he said after announcing his retirement.
‘I’d got to 26 or 27 or 28 and my body just fell apart. Just through sheer wear and tear and not looking after it the way I should have in the early stages of my career.
‘I would say to the missus: “Is it worth me keeping going if I’m not playing the footy I want to play? Is my body going to get back to where I need it to?”’
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