Manly will get their first genuine taste of life without Daly Cherry-Evans at the same time and place that Canberra experience life without Jamal Fogarty.
Fogarty’s move from the nation’s capital to the Northern Beaches will have a huge impact on both clubs, who just happen to open their campaigns against each other at Brookvale on Saturday.
New Manly halfback Jamal Fogarty.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
The new Sea Eagles halfback is all too aware of the jersey he’ll be wearing, the shoes he’s filling and the legacy of his predecessor.
“First and foremost, what he’s done for the club, I can’t do any of that,” Fogarty said.
“He’s been a servant here for 15 years, won a comp, played for Australia, Queensland, all that type of stuff.
“I’m not gonna try and play his style because I’m not him. I’m gonna bring my own style and what works for me. Obviously they’re huge shoes to fill, but when I’m just being myself and backing myself, playing my style, that’s all that’s going to matter at the end of the day.
Jamal Fogarty during his Raiders days.Credit: Getty Images
“As long as Seibs [Manly coach Anthony Seibold] and my teammates are happy, then that’s something that I’ll be trying to do each week.”
Fogarty spent four seasons with the Raiders, culminating in the club earning the minor premiership last year. The 32-year-old is thankful he won’t have to wait long to face his former side.
“Obviously very nervous and excited coming up against my old club and a couple of my good mates down there,” he said.
“I think the best part of it, round one, is getting it out of the way nice and early … especially for myself mentally.
“Obviously it’s round one, so let’s get it out of the way. There’s not 10, 12 or 15 weeks of talking, always being asked about it. We also want to play teams before they are at their red-hot best as well.”
Talk to Fogarty’s teammates about how he’s different to Cherry-Evans and a theme quickly emerges.
“He’s probably more structured,” offered Manly centre Reuben Garrick. “He’s probably more in the mould of a typical half, whereas ‘Chez’ had that more ad-lib or unstructured style of play. They’re probably the main differences.
“They’re two great players, and I’m lucky to be able to play outside of halves like that the whole time I’ve been here.”
Seibold has made it clear he was never looking for a like-for-like replacement once Cherry-Evans decided to move on. However, it will be difficult to escape comparisons with how “DCE” performs at his new home at the Roosters.
Jamal Fogarty trains with the Sea Eagles.Credit: Manly Sea Eagles
“It’s just very unrealistic to try and compare my style of football to his,” Fogarty said.
“That doesn’t matter what team he’s gonna go and play, he’s gonna be himself and play his style, and I’m gonna be myself and play my style.
“Obviously it’s going to be very different, especially for the team and the guys that have played with someone like Chez for so long here, that they’ve got to get used to my style.
“But we’ve made some good strides this pre-season so far, and we just need to win a couple of games of footy and, hopefully, we can have a good year.”
Fogarty’s form last season was one of the key reasons the Raiders were presented with the JJ Giltinan Shield as minor premiers. However, the Green Machine blew both their chances in the play-offs. They are experiences the halfback feels he has learnt from.
“If you dwell on things like that, it’s a negative mindset,” he said.
“As football players, we always look back and we watch a whole lot of film and all that and think, I should’ve done this better, I should’ve done that better.
“But at the end of the day, you can’t press rewind and get that moment back again. You’ve just got to learn from it and when those situations pop up next time in a game, hopefully I can own it and then make those adjustments. That would be nice.”
Part of Fogarty’s remit is to help bring through Manly’s promising teenage playmakers Joey Walsh and Onitoni Large. However, the former Titan said they would succeed him well before his three-year contract expires if he is off his game.
“Obviously having two very good 18 to 19-year-olds, they’re gonna keep me hungry to keep improving, to keep evolving as a player,” Fogarty said.
“If I don’t evolve, they’re gonna obviously take over and then I’m in reserve grade. I don’t want to finish that way.”
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