After making his Indigenous All Stars debut last year, many footy fans may have been surprised that Jamal Fogarty didn’t feature in the pre-season match this year, writes sport columnist SIMON ANDERSON.

NEW Raiders half Jamal Fogarty had a stellar 2021 season and earned himself a three-year contract and a move from the Gold Coast to Canberra.

Some were surprised to see that the proud Mununjali man’s name wasn’t listed when the Indigenous All-Stars team was announced last month, but the reason behind Fogarty’s omission will no doubt have Raiders fans excited about their new recruit.

“I had a chat with Ricky Stuart and with the covid stuff, and missing a bit of training, I thought it was in my best interests to put the team first and catch up on a bit of fitness,” said Fogarty, who was caught up in the Raiders covid outbreak shortly after arriving at the club late last year.

“I am in a position where the Raiders are my priority and I would love to represent my culture and where I am from, but I wanted to prioritise the club and look at the bigger picture.

“All-Stars is a one-off game and I would love to play, but my priority this year was to come down to the new club and put them first, and put myself in the best position this year to be healthy and fit.”

It is that club-first attitude that will no doubt endear him to the Raiders faithful, who went through a frustrating season last year after their Grand Final appearance in 2019 and a top-four finish in 2020.

Upon joining the Raiders, Fogarty soon learnt it was the team that was more disappointed than anyone about how last year played out.

“I would say they are kind of holding a grudge against themselves over how badly things panned out for them,” said Fogarty.

“That shows to me that they care, they want to get back and be a top four team.

“Some players really take that personally and that is the best way to approach it – if it really means something to you then you have that emotional attachment to your results and the club and it will only make you want to be better for this season.”

One of the keys to Canberra’s success this year will be the combinations through their spine. All eyes will be on how Fogarty can gel with Jack Wighton in the halves.

The pair played together for the Indigenous All Stars last year, and Fogarty says that experience provided them with a base before he made the move to the Raiders. He’s happy with how they have clicked on the training paddock, and off it.

“Jack and his partner and kids really made our family feel welcome when we moved down from the Gold Coast,” said Fogarty.

“Our girls play OzTag together so we spend plenty of time together at training, but also when we’re watching them play.

“I think the combination is going to be a work in progress.
“We’ve only been training together for the last two or three months and we’re just starting to really knuckle down in that team environment.

“It is important that we understand how we want to play, how to get the best out of each other and how to get the best out of ourselves.

“I don’t think just my combination with Jack is important, also having a relationship with Joshy Hodgson and Tom Starling at hooker and our fullbacks Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Xavier Savage.

“The teams that do really well don’t just have a 7 and 6 that get along, their 7 and 6 get along with everyone in the squad.”

Fogarty comes into a squad that has had many successful halfbacks through its history and understands the pressure that comes from wearing the Raiders’ number 7 jersey.

It is something he is well prepared for, and knows that pressure and expectation comes no matter what jersey you are wearing.

“It is a game where you have to perform each week. You can train the house down for five days during the week, but if you have one bad performance, that is all the fans and commentators will think of,” said Fogarty.

“Everyone is always going to have an opinion, but the opinions that matter the most to me are the coaches and my teammates.

“If I am doing the right thing the opinions of those guys will hopefully be good ones and they’ll want to run out with me every week and I’ll be trying my best to do that for the Raiders this year, that’s for sure.”