Jamal Fogarty will be the man charged with taking Manly into life after Daly Cherry-Evans, after the Canberra half agreed to a three-year deal at the Sea Eagles.
Fogarty told Raiders coach Ricky Stuart on Tuesday he would leave the club at year’s end, confirming he would not take up an option with the club for 2026.
That has paved the way for Fogarty officially put pen to paper with the Sea Eagles, on a deal that AAP understands to be worth close to $2.1 million over three years.
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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.
Canberra will now be left to bring Ethan Sanders into their halves next year, placing him alongside Ethan Strange in one of the NRL’s youngest pairings.
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.
Trbojevic did not play Origin in 2024 due to a hamstring tear, and suffered a season-ending pectoral tear while playing centre for NSW in 2023.
Trbojevic has conceded playing for the Blues meant putting club footy second, but said he was not ready to turn his back on the representative arena.
“It’s a really hard one,” he said this week.
“You want to play for NSW, it’s a proud thing to do, but then again you don’t want that to take away from Manly.
“(But) I don’t think I’m willing to give that up just yet, I really love playing for NSW.”
The fullback revealed a two-word mantra helped him cope with his latest setback, a three-week knee lay-off from which he returned against the Panthers.
“S*** happens, sometimes,” Trbojevic said of his injuries after Manly’s 26-10 win.
“The quicker you can realise that and move forward (the better).
“You can only really say that you want to be out there playing. When you’re not, it’s disappointing, it’s hard, but life is hard sometimes.
“We’re very lucky we’ve got a lot of people in our corner that help in that area, but it doesn’t get easier.”
