Halfback Jamal Fogarty will finally make his Canberra Raiders debut after being named in the club’s side to take on the Eels at GIO Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Fogarty came to the club as a prized off-season recruit, but sustained a serious knee injury in the trial game against Manly that saw him miss the first 11 rounds of the season.
The former Titan will become Raider #384 as he lines up alongside Jack Wighton in the halves for his first game in the lime green, while Brad Schneider has dropped to the reserves list.
Canberra Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker has also been named to return from a shoulder injury and will line up at centre, with Seb Kris moving to the bench.
Xavier Savage has been named at fullback after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was ruled out for 6 weeks with a hamstring injury he sustained last week. Savage played fullback in the second half of last week’s victory over Souths and performed well, running for 147 metres and using his blistering pace to score a great try.
Ryan Sutton returns on the bench, with Harry Rushton dropping to the reserves, while Corey Harawira-Naera remains out of the 17.
Meanwhile, the Eels have replaced Hayze Perham on the wing with Waqa Blake, although Maika Sivo has been named on the extended bench as her returns from injury and could be a late inclusion.
Parramatta are coming off a dramatic two-point win over Manly last weekend and are currently 6th on the ladder.
This round also marks Indigenous round in the NRL with the Raiders having five indigenous players representing the club this year. Xavier Savage (Indigenous, Torres Strait), Jack Wighton (Indigenous), Jamal Fogarty (Indigenous), Adam Elliott (Indigenous) and Sebastian Kris (Torres Strait).
Raiders and Eels team lists
Raiders | Eels | |
Xavier Savage | 1 | Clinton Gutherson |
Nick Cotric | 2 | Waqa Blake |
Jarrod Croker | 3 | Will Penisini |
Matthew Timoko | 4 | Tom Opacic |
Jordan Rapana | 5 | Bailey Simonsson |
Jack Wighton | 6 | Dylan Brown |
Jamal Fogarty | 7 | Mitchell Moses |
Josh Papalii | 8 | Reagan Campbell-Gillard |
Zac Woolford | 9 | Reed Mahoney |
Joe Tapine | 10 | Junior Paulo |
Hudson Young | 11 | Shaun Lane |
Elliott Whitehead | 12 | Marata Niukore |
Adam Elliott | 13 | Isaiah Papali’i |
BENCH | BENCH | |
Tom Starling | 14 | Makahesi Makatoa |
Ryan Sutton | 15 | Ryan Matterson |
Sebastian Kris | 16 | Oregon Kaufusi |
Corey Horsburgh | 17 | Nathan Brown |
RESERVES | RESERVES | |
Brad Schneider | 18 | Bryce Cartwright |
Harry Rushton | 19 | Jake Arthur |
James Schiller | 20 | Mitch Rein |
Corey Harawira-Naera | 21 | Hayze Perham |
Trey Mooney | 22 | Sean Russell |
Emre Guler | 23 | Ky Rodwell |
Matt Frawley | 24 | Maika Sivo |