The Canberra Raiders will play at least the first half of the 2022 NRL season without star recruit Jamal Fogarty.
The half, who has moved from the Gold Coast Titans over the off-season, has injured his knee during last week's trial against the Manly Sea Eagles on the Central Coast.
The Raiders haven't revealed the extent of the injury, but confirmed it was to his knee, and would likely require surgery.
"Jamal Fogarty will miss the start of the 2022 season after scans revealed an injury to his knee following last week's trial against the Sea Eagles," read a club statement.
"The injury will most likely require surgery and comes with a recovery time of around four months.
"The Raiders players who were on the club's COVID isolation list have all returned to full training."
Scans revealed a knee injury suffered by Jamal Fogarty will likely require surgery & 4 month recovery. No injury details beyond “knee”, 4 months a less commonly seen timeframe (meniscus repair?)
Details would provide further context on expected recovery time/return to performance— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 2, 2022
With just a single week remaining before the start of the season, it means Fogarty may not return before Round 15, which is past the halfway point of the season.
Canberra struggled enormously during the 2021 NRL season on attack, with Jack Wighton having to stand up in his role, playing alongside either Sam Williams or Matt Frawley during the second half of the season once George Williams had left the club to head back to England.
Fogarty was supposed to be Canberra's answer to Williams leaving and to return the Canberra halves to a position of strength.
The Raiders will kick their season off on Friday, March 11 against the Cronulla Sharks in the nation's capital.
