Jamal Fogarty has revived Canberra’s NRL finals hopes, orchestrating a second-straight victory since his return from injury.
The Raiders had looked set for oblivion after losing four in a row, but after a 32-12 victory over South Sydney at GIO Stadium on Sunday night they are right back in contention.
Once again, Fogarty’s boot was instrumental.
The halfback assisted three tries, kicked six goals and tormented the Rabbitohs’ makeshift backline with his towering bombs.
Fogarty’s influence went beyond his kicking game.
Canberra played with new-found confidence in attack with him back in the halves.
Skipper Elliott Whitehead, playing in his 200th game for the club, thought the performance was back to where the Raiders wanted it to be.
“I thought last week we put in a pretty good performance but tonight was pretty much an 80-minute performance that we’ve been working towards,” he said.
Canberra will need to stay on top of their game if they are to qualify for finals footy, with tough tests against Manly, Penrith and the Sydney Roosters to come.
Souths, already without star fullback Latrell Mitchell, lost winger Alex Johnston to a suspected ruptured achilles injury in the first half.
“It’s not looking good for Alex,” said interim coach Ben Hornby.
“It’s disappointing for him. That’s just the way our season’s been going to a certain extent.”
For the second week in a row, hooker Damien Cook was shifted into the centres with Taane Milne pushed to the wing.
Raiders winger Xavier Savage, in one of his best performances of the season, vaulted over diminutive South Sydney fullback Jye Gray to pluck a Fogarty bomb out of the air and score his second try in two weeks.
Coach Ricky Stuart admitted he had considered letting the 22-year-old go last year but he was finally making good on his undeniable talent.
“I picked Xavier in first grade earlier than probably he deserved but he had to learn quickly because I could see the talent in him,” Stuart said.
“Ronnie Massey always taught me as a young coach that you never put a mug in beside one of your boys that you trust.
“Xavier Savage had the trust of his senior players and I kept selecting him.”
Michael Chee Kam also struggled under Fogarty’s kicking, copping a ball to the face after losing sight of a bomb in flight.
Canberra winger Jordan Rapana was on the spot to plant the loose ball in the corner and complete his brace.
Rapana had earlier opened the scoring after Hudson Young broke through the Rabbitohs line with a dart down the short side.
Centre Sebastian Kris and forward Ata Mariota also contributed with tries as the home side treated the Canberra faithful to their biggest win since round five.
Souths played without spark in attack and at times resembled turnstiles in defence.
The loss leaves them four points adrift of the top eight in 14th and likely needing to win all their remaining games to make the finals.
With Johnston out for the season and captain Walker’s fitness also in doubt after limping off with a calf issue, that is looking a near-impossible feat.
