Halfback Jamal Fogarty is making his demands known early, reminding Canberra’s youthful spine they will need to blend both brawn and brains if they want to be taken seriously as an NRL premiership threat in 2024.
The Raiders stumbled their way into the top eight last season and their squad, particularly in the key positions, is in a state of flux.
Fogarty, who was named Elliott Whitehead’s deputy as vice captain on Friday, is the only spine player assured of a starting berth to kick off round one.
Danny Levi, Tom Starling and Zac Woolford are all competing for a spot at hooker, while young five-eighths Ethan Strange and Kaeo Weeks will battle it out to partner Fogarty.
The fullback role is also up in the air with three possible contenders - Seb Kris, Xavier Savage and Chevy Stewart - all fighting to wear the No.1 jersey.
But regardless of who fits in, Fogarty has warned he wants last year’s nail-biting wins and oh-so-near losses to become a thing of the past.
“I think we just have to be consistent with what we’re doing,” Fogarty said.
“Last season we were bottom four in attack and bottom four in defence and we still scraped into the top eight.
“It shows we’re a gritty team but the more consistent we are, we can hopefully be higher up the ladder.
“I’ve had a lot of time with Kaeo and Ethan and we’re starting to understand how we play.
“I’m pretty sure if one of those guys misses out there might be a utility role for them.”
Fogarty will assume goalkicking duties following Jarrod Croker’s retirement.
When Whitehead is off the field Fogarty will deal with the officials and said coach Ricky Stuart was encouraging him to make his presence known.
“That’s the halfback’s job, if you’re not going to talk then I don’t know why you’re playing in that position,” Fogarty said.
“Sticky (Stuart) is always telling me I need to talk more but that’s what he wants me to do; take control.
“Being that senior half now I've got to be a little bit more dominant and show my experience.”
