Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty is playing down his Queensland homecoming this Saturday when Canberra heads north to face the No.7's former team, the Titans.
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It will be the first time Fogarty returns to the Gold Coast and plays against the Titans since he was released by the club after last season to explore options elsewhere, despite having two years remaining on his contract.
The 28-year-old has had a rocky start in the capital since arriving on a three-year deal. There was plenty of excitement pre-season about what Fogarty would bring to the halves alongside Jack Wighton, replacing English playmaker George Williams. But a shock knee injury suffered during a kicking drill before a trial match saw his Green Machine debut delayed until round 12.
That meant he was sidelined for the Titans' visit to Canberra in round three where the Raiders won by two-points in a thriller.
Fogarty is refusing to get swept up in any sentimental storylines about facing the club he signed with when he was 17 though.
"I probably wouldn't say it's a big game. It's obviously going to be good to go back home and see heaps of family up there," Fogarty said.
"But we just need to focus on ourselves. What we've seen in the last two weeks is when we focus on ourselves, we play our best footy, and when we worry about the opposition and the outcome, we're pretty terrible."
Fogarty played his best game yet in Canberra's Saturday victory over the Warriors.
The halfback had two try assists, he showcased his deceptive speed punching through the Warriors defence in a handful of linebreaks, and tallied a total of 107 running metres, with no missed tackles. He also nailed a season-high five out of six conversion attempts.
His kicking game complemented Wighton and the halves duo will look to build that momentum into the six remaining regular season games if they are to snatch a spot in the top-eight for finals.
Fogarty said only now - 19 rounds in - is he finally feeling his chemistry with Wighton and the rest of the spine really shine.
"We started slow," the half said. "Not having Jacko [through suspension] and he was in Origin camp a couple of times too, so all week I'd train with Frawls [Matt Frawley] and then Jacko would come back. So that cohesion wasn't really there.
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"To be honest, this was the first full week that I've had with Jacko leading into a game.
"Two back-to-back performances where we're slowly heading in the right direction, I think it's good signs for us especially at this time of the year. We just need to keep winning games.
"The more confident that me, Jacko and Xavier [Savage] get with Tommy [Starling] and Zac [Woolford] doing a great job - and our big boys have been outstanding - once we're all in sync, it's going to be good for us moving forward."
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