How is it that Jamal Fogarty's name has not been mentioned more in State of Origin discussions?
Maybe it's a case of 'out of sight, out of mind' in the Nation's capital, but no halfback anywhere in the NRL has been able to hold a candle to the form of the former Gold Coast Titan throughout the first half of 2025.
If you aren't convinced, you only need to look at the last two games the Raiders have played as a case study, and one of the strongest exhibits of an individual's form you're ever likely to see, no matter the sport.
In Round 13, the Raiders took on a severely understrength Sydney Roosters outfit who were missing a host of talent, and walked away with a narrow two-point win.
Fogarty was a late withdrawal from that game after suffering a minor injury during the captain's run, and, in missing his first game of the year, it showed.
While Raiders fans were treated to a glimpse into their future as Ethan Sanders - the highly touted halfback they stole from the Parramatta Eels ahead of 2025 - made his debut, there was also an acknowledgement post-game that he may be a little way off becoming a first-choice number seven.
That won't change the fact he is highly rated, and maybe alongside Brisbane Broncos youngster Coby Black, the most highly-regarded young half in the game yet to make it big at first-grade level.
But the game exposed the true reason the Raiders are set to chase an experienced halfback to replace Fogarty next season when he joins the Manly Sea Eagles.
Ethan Strange has been superb at five-eighth and will almost certainly stay there, but as a halfback leading the show, and in a combination of two very young players, it simply won't work.
And yes, the Raiders won that game against the Roosters, but it was an all-time stinker of a game.
Both teams dropped the ball plenty, the Raiders' attack was as bad as it has been all year, and while there were bright spots from Strange and Sanders, they simply aren't ready yet.
That will change with time, most certainly. There was enough there to suggest the Raiders have made a superb investment by bringing the Parramatta junior to the capital territory.
But any doubts around what Fogarty provides the Raiders were blown to smithereens the following week when he returned and piloted a clinical attacking performance over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The 36-12 win was a demolition job for much of the game, and Fogarty, as he has been for most of his tenure in Canberra, was simply brilliant ahead of the club's first bye for 2025.
But that shouldn't come as any great surprise.
Fogarty has been brilliant all year.
In 13 games, he has 12 try assists, 2 tries of his own, 13 forced drop-outs, is kicking for over 450 metres per game, and for a half, is also defending superbly.
But it's more than the statistics.
It's the way he organises the Raiders' attack, plays with a cool head under pressure, and more often than not, pulls the right string to get his team onto the front foot.
It's not just Fogarty, of course.
A halfback is only as good as his forward pack, but Fogarty has made the most of the platform laid out by the likes of Joseph Tapine, Corey Horsburgh and Hudson Young this year, among others.
It's why, despite a horror draw through the first half of the campaign, the Raiders have won 11 of their 14 games, still have two byes in hand, and are sitting second on the premiership ladder.
Now they go into the second half of the season with only a single game against a current top-eight opposition, a month where they won't leave Canberra between home games and byes, and a chance to really pave their own destiny.
But if they have to do it without Fogarty for any length of time, or indeed during the finals, it simply won't work.
The Raiders need their general in the number seven to keep what was an unlikely shot at the premiership pre-season rolling. Right now, it's almost impossible to discredit what the green machine has been able to do.
There is little to no doubt that almost every club would struggle without their first-choice halfback. Some have managed to go okay previously, but when the whips are cracking in September, Fogarty will be the difference between boom or bust for the Raiders in his final games with the club.
If he is in form, the Raiders are a real premiership threat.
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