Jamal Fogarty leaving Canberra Raiders to sign $2 million NRL deal with Manly Sea Eagles

Raiders half-back Jamal Fogarty is set to sign with Manly after telling Canberra coach Ricky Stuart he was leaving the club.

With Daly Cherry-Evans in the hunt for a new club and adamant he would not stay at Manly, the Sea Eagles have moved to ensure they have a quality halves pairing in 2026.

The deal to lure the 31-year-old is reportedly worth $2.1 million over three seasons.

Manly had offered Cherry-Evans a two-year extension worth $1.5 million after he announced on a TV show he was leaving the club before they had made a formal offer.

Fogarty told the Raiders coach on Tuesday he would leave the club at year’s end, confirming he would not take up an option with the club for 2026.

“I will go in for another experienced half because it’s such a big position. It’s such a lot of pressure to have on you,” Stuart told SEN on Thursday.

“I’ve got another young half there, Ethan Sanders, I’ve got another young half here in Adam Cook and Ethan Strange, it’s a big job.

“I will be looking for another player that has the ability to play a couple of positions or play halfback that can help those boys transition and develop in their early parts of their career playing NRL.”

Fogarty iced the 40-28 win over the Dolphins on Sunday after throwing a huge dummy and gliding through for the Raiders’ last try.

Canberra sit third on the NRL ladder.

Stuart said last week he could understand why Fogarty would take the Sea Eagles’ deal but would “love to have him”.

“If that (deal) is real - three years at $700,000 - Jamal should take it - I’d love to keep him but we can’t match that,” Stuart told SEN.

“Jamal is 32 at the end of the year and if he can get three years and that’s real, Jamal’s got to take that as all along I’ve said he has to look after his young family but I would love to have Jamal here for another two years.

Fogarty’s exit from Canberra comes after Stuart publicly called out his management last week, unhappy they would not meet to discuss a two-year offer.

For Fogarty, the task will be significant at Brookvale.

Cherry-Evans’ 337 games as Manly’s halfback is the most of any playmaker at any NRL club, making for the biggest transition in the game’s history.

He and Luke Brooks will partner in the halves for at least the next two seasons, with youngsters Joey Walsh and Onitoni Large viewed as future talents.

The Sea Eagles had toyed with the idea of moving superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic to five-eighth if they did not land Fogarty, but that will no longer be required.

Trbojevic had said earlier this week he was open to a move to the No.6 jersey, but has previously indicated his preference to remain at No.1.

His presence and impact at the back was felt in his return from injury against Penrith last week, where two tries came with him simply being a decoy.

Pectoral, shoulder, hamstring and other injuries have combined to restrict Trbojevic to only 67 of a possible 129 appearances for Manly since the beginning of the 2020 season.

But the fullback does want to feature in State of Origin for NSW this year, and has two games left to stake his claim after Manly’s Magic Round bye.

With AAP