Kieran Foran. Photo / Getty
Kieran Foran was supposed to be the man who would save Parramatta, but as far as 2016 is concerned, it seems they're without saving.
The star recruit has been plunged into a drama-filled scenario in his opening stint at the club, with the NRL handing down a raft of punishments to the Eels for allegedly rorting the salary cap.
But the importance of football was overshadowed when Parramatta granted the playmaker an indefinite leave of absence to deal with personal issues.
The 25-year-old had reportedly been struggling with a relationship breakdown with former-partner Rebecca Pope, the mother of his children Emerson, 2, and Jordan, born just weeks ago.
He was reportedly admitted to St Vincent's hospital after overdosing on prescription medication before being granted leave.
Unfortunately for the Kiwi star, that's not all he's had to deal with.
Reports surfaced a couple of weeks ago Foran and his team were chasing Manly - his former club - for $140,000 he was owed in unpaid third party agreements. This news becoming public was never supposed to happen.
Speaking on Triple M's The Grill Team on Thursday morning, Channel 7 rugby league reporter Josh Massoud said Foran had tried to keep the news from becoming common knowledge for months, but when it came out, he was "devastated".
"Something happened two weekends ago just before Kieran Foran had his breakdown that really pushed him to the edge," Massoud said.
"That was the simultaneous stories in both Sunday papers (The Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald) about him chasing $140,000 in unpaid third party agreements from Manly."
When co-host Matthew Johns asked if his management would have pushed the news, Massoud was adamant that was not the case.
"No way in the world, and I'll tell you why. Last September I found out about this ... I rang his management - they begged me not to write it because they said it would jeopardise Manly paying it out.
"A number then flashed up on my phone ... it was Kieran Foran himself. He made it clear to me it wasn't in his best interests for me to write it, and I didn't write it.
"I didn't write it but I got a sense of how much he didn't want it out there."
When asked who was behind the leak, Massoud unequivocally said he believed it originated from someone within the Parramatta ranks.
"I'd have someone from Parramatta at $1.01 because you've always got to look at the motivation of leaks," he said.
"Parramatta had a motivation, they're under the gun for this type of third party stuff, they wanted to deflect attention somewhere else.
"Whoever did that didn't think of the ramifications it would have on their most important player.
"I'm telling you he was absolutely devastated when that came out."
In more unwanted controversy for the likeable half, Channel 9 reported he is launching legal action against KIIS radio for defamatory statements, and is demanding an apology on the Kyle and Jackie O Show when they go to air on Friday morning.
Jackie O recently questioned whether Foran's newborn son Jordan was actually his.
However KIIS 1065 said the radio stars were "mortified" their comments were upsetting it had not seen any legal letter regarding the comments.
"Jackie and the KIIS team are mortified that anything said has caused hurt to Kieran Foran and his family at such a difficult time. We apologise unreservedly for this and wish them all the best."
It is unknown when Foran will return to NRL action, but if he does make a comeback to the field, there is a possibility he and his teammates won't be competing for points.
While the Eels were stripped of 12 points, fined $1.25 million and had five board members deregistered, those five have decided to take legal action against their punishment in the Supreme Court.
The NRL reportedly told Parramatta if chairman Steve Sharp, chief executive John Boulous, football operations manager Daniel Anderson and directors Tom Issa and Peter Serrao continue with their court proceedings, then even if the club manages to get back under the salary cap before they play the Rabbitohs on Friday May 13, the team still faces the prospect of competing for nothing.