Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty has opened up on his separation from former team the Gold Coast Titans, claiming he has ‘no regrets’ about the way things unfolded during his time with the club.
Fogarty was excellent for the Green Machine in his eighth game back from a long-term injury lay off, setting up a try with the game in the balance and combining well with the other members of the Raiders’ spine in attack.
But the 28-year-old insisted he has no ill-will towards his former employers and has also urged the Titans fans to show faith in young half Toby Sexton as he develops.
“When I signed with the Titans they told me (on) day one Toby was going to be their halfback moving forward, it was just going to be a matter of when.
“Once they told me Toby was ready to take over it was (a matter of) ‘where is the best option for me to keep playing?’
“Moving forward I hope all the supporters give Toby a bit of time and a bit of love and credit. He’s had two years (affected by Covid).
“He’s come straight out of school, hasn’t played any footy – obviously it was going to be tough for him to play a full season at halfback. He’s going to be a 10 or 12-year player for the club and play 200 games for them.”
While Fogarty has called for patience in regards to his Titans replacement, he’s also been surprised at just how quickly a solid working relationship has formed with Raiders team-mate Jack Wighton.
“People on the outside don’t realise we’ve played just five games together,” Fogarty said.
“He was in Origin camp, he came back for the captain’s run after I’d trained all week with Matt Frawley, so we were learning on the run. Another time he had covid and it was similar.
“The last few weeks we’ve been able to have a full week of preparation and are finding a groove. We’re heading in the right direction at the right time of the season.”
Though analysts have suggested Fogarty was moved on incorrectly due to a poorly-balanced salary cap and poor recruitment decisions at the Titans, Fogarty had nothing negative to say.
“There are no regrets,” he said after the game.
“I’m not bitter towards the club or any of the players. I’m just grateful to Ricky Stuart and the Canberra boys for giving me the opportunity to keep playing NRL because it took me so long to get here.”
The Raiders halves will get another chance to strengthen their combination this weekend against the ladder-leading Panthers, who will be without starting halve Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai for the contest.
