Kieran Foran has quickly emerged as a sexy recruit for the Aotearoa Warriors as the club feel as though they need a big name to stay relevant in not only the NRL but the sporting landscape around here. Let me get this out right off the top, Foran will improve any NRL side, he's just that sort of quality player but the spanner in the mix is the price tag that will come with Foran.

Ask local media and the Warriors need another star player to take them to the promised land which I think is reflected by at least one of the owners. The thought of a halves pairing of Shaun Johnson and Foran is enough to make Warriors fans giddy, weak at the knees and it's highly likely that Foran's arrival at Mt Smart will offer the club a financial boost in terms of memberships, merchandise and ticket sales.

However, grabbing Foran will mean that the Warriors are particularly hamstrung in terms of the flexibility with their salary cap. Even if the Warriors unload a few players to make way for Foran, it's hard to see them being able to chase a player to cover a hole or ensuring that they can pay their young guns market value. That's an often overlooked factor and one that I think is important for the Warriors as besides their obvious desire to win a championship, the Warriors have a duty to rugby league in Aotearoa to provide an opportunity for young talent.

We keep hearing about this treasure chest that the Warriors have, but I'm not sure how wise it would be to splash it all on one player. 

What happens when it's time to re-sign Konrad Hurrell and the Warriors can only offer him X because they're paying Foran a substantial amount of their salary cap? The majority of the Warriors roster is off contract at the end of this season or at the end of 2016 and with the core of the Warriors, the likes of Simon Mannering, Shaun Johnson, Sam Tomkins, Manu Vatuvei, Jacob Lillyman and now Ryan Hoffman all on decent money, the Warriors would risk loosing a few youngsters in signing Foran.

The financial side of this should be combined with the fact that we have two players in Thomas Leuluai and Chad Townsend who haven't done a whole lot wrong. But it's murky water because neither of these two have made a great case for their futures in the 6 jersey, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Townsend simply hasn't been given an elongated opportunity alongside Johnson and was yanked during last season which was confusing. 

I still think the best line up for the Warriors has Nathan Friend starting at dummy half with Leuluai coming off the bench (whether he comes on for Friend or as a small forward, I don't mind) with Townsend at six. But we haven't seen this combination for any great length of time so it's impossible to judge whether it's any good or not. You would hope, I mean you would assume, but it's not safe to assume anything with the Warriors, but yeah you'd hope that Townsend or Leuluai has been told that they are likely to partner Johnson in the halves and that they would spend the pre-season in each other's pockets. 

For me the key is Johnson because he's bloody good and he's shown the sort of improvement that we hope many players show, but they rarely do. I don't feel like Johnson needs someone to take the heat off him because I think he's keen to step up and run the show. The less Johnson is restricted to playing on the right or left, the better. Let's see Johnson roam where ever he see's fit and let's see Townsend (I'm going with him over Leuluai) just do a solid job in support. 

It's not as if Townsend has to do a whole lot. On either side of the field he'll have a centre who is a beast, he'll have a hole running edge back rower and he may have Sam Tomkins lurking around. Townsend can pass and kick, so he should be able to do his thing with Johnson in full control.

However, constant noise about Kieran Foran must suck for Townsend. Which is why I want things to be clear, which I'm sure is what coach Andrew McFadden is all about. I've got faith that McFadden has a plan and if it were me, I'd be saying to Townsend "you're going to partner Johnson and to do it well, we need you to just do this, that and some of this".

Foran's a great player, but how about we actually see what the Warriors already have and see how they go over the course of a season. There's been far too much chopping and changing which means we haven't really seen what the current crew can offer, let's see what a solid spine with a dominating Shaun Johnson can do.