Fogarty ready to take the lead and 'let Ethan be Ethan'

Canberra’s new playmaker pairing of Jamal Fogarty and Ethan Strange passed their first test on Thursday night, steering the Raiders to an upset victory over Newcastle and giving Green Machine fans every reason to believe there is life after Jack Wighton.

Nineteen-year-old Strange, starting at five-eighth alongside Fogarty in only the second game of his NRL career, did all that was asked of him against the team that ended Canberra’s 2023 campaign.

“It’s only going to get better, win or lose tonight. I think people will see out there that we’ve got someone to work with,” Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said of the former NSW Under 19s pivot.

Fogarty kicked 23 times for a staggering 800 metres, including a cross-field bomb for Zac Hosking’s opening try of the game, and a long-range clearing kick that led to Knights winger Greg Marzhew being tackled in-goal midway through the second half to keep the Raiders on the ascendancy.

“He’s a great kicker of the footy. He just doesn’t get the recognition,” Stuart said of Fogarty.

“When all his foot-soldiers complete – I think we were at 85% (first half) and 95% (second half) – you’re going to get more opportunity to kick. And when you give a good kicker the opportunity to kick, you’re going to be in good field position.”

Apart from losing Wighton to the Rabbitohs in the off-season, the Raiders had to cover the absence of injured captain Elliott Whitehead (calf) and suspended pair Corey Horsburgh and Sebastian Kris against a Knights team that beat them 30-28 in a finals classic last year.

But Fogarty, elevated to the vice-captaincy in his third season in Canberra, said he felt no extra pressure to perform and enjoyed the experience of playing in front of the Newcastle faithful

“That’s just my role. Part of my role in the team is steering us around and owning the kicking game, and obviously to take a bit of pressure of Ethan,” Fogarty told NRL.com.

“I don’t think I need to take any more responsibility or anything like that, it’s just part of my role being the half. I’ve got to communicate, I’ve got to steer us around, and at times I probably feel like I talk too much but Sticky says you can never talk too much.

“We’ve got such a good senior leadership here, so I can lean on ‘Taps’, I can lean on ‘Papa’, ‘Raps’, Hudson, Elliott obviously. Elliott’s our captain but he’s got good foot-soldiers around him, and I think that showed tonight as well.

“I think Newcastle is becoming one of my favourite places to play. The crowd, the fans, just the way they understand football and how passionate they are...it’s a great environment, but we knew it was going to be tough because of that as well.

“The way they finished last year, and it was a big off-season for them, and a very big one for us. It’s probably the toughest one that we’ve had.

“Stick just wanted us to be real gritty, real patient and play the style that we’ve been working on in the pre-season, and I felt as though we did that.”

Fogarty hoped Raiders fans will be patient with Strange throughout the season and allow him time to develop as a regular NRL player.

“Ethan played the way we wanted him to tonight,” Fogarty said of his new halves partner.

“Obviously he’s going to get better as the season goes on, and he’s going to get more and more comfortable, more and more confident, and I just hope that everyone lets Ethan be Ethan.

“He’s never going to be Jack Wighton. Give the kid 50 or 60 games, and he’s going to be a good player for the club moving forward, so tonight was a step in the right direction and we’ll put it to bed, look forward to Wests Tigers and try to back it up next week. That’s our challenge.

“He’s a strong defender, and he’s a big boy for a 19-year-old kid – he stands over me pretty easily, which isn’t hard – but he doesn’t shy away from the physical stuff and he’s going to bring that to our squad moving forward.”

Canberra prop Joseph Tapine, one of six former Newcastle players in the winning Raiders team, said Strange had grown in confidence throughout the team’s pre-season preparation.

“Watching him through pre-season, his confidence, and he’s matured really quickly,” Tapine said.

“At the start of pre-season, he was pretty quiet, but now he’s leading half the pack with Jamal, so I’m really proud of him and it’s only up from here.”