Seventh heaven for Canberra Raiders halfback Brad Schneider

Schneider will start in the No.7 jersey against the Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium next Friday after the Raiders were hit by a massive injury blow on the eve of the NRL season.

Canberra recruit Jamal Fogarty will undergo surgery on his left knee on Thursday and he's set to miss four months recovering from the meniscus injury.

Fogarty felt something go in his knee during the warm-up before the Raiders' second trial last week, but he was able to play the game unimpeded.

It felt sore at training on Monday and scans revealed some significant damage, which was confirmed when Fogarty saw the specialist on Wednesday.

Stuart had three playmaker options to slot in alongside star five-eighth Jack Wighton - Schneider, Sam Williams and Matt Frawley.

But the Raiders premiership winning halfback has already made his choice.

"I'm going to play Brad Schneider, he'll come in and play halfback," Stuart said.

"And I'm more than confident that he'll do a great job. His debut was on the bench, he got a couple of minutes, but to me this will be his real debut.

"I'm very excited for him. I had some time with him this afternoon and I'm very excited for him.

"He's worked very, very hard over the last 2-3 years and it's been difficult for him because of COVID he hasn't had any football - a lot of his development has been through training.

"But we promise these young guys when we recruit that we'll develop them and give them an opportunity to make a debut at the NRL level - and that's what I'm doing."

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Stuart was gutted for Fogarty, who had come in and looked to have done exactly what was needed of him - free up Wighton to return to his running best.

Fogarty was still building his combinations with the former Dally M Medallist and there were promising signs in the trial win over Manly.

But the injury blow will rule him out until the second half of the season and his focus will be on being ready to return potentially from round 15 onwards.

"He's going in for an operation [Thursday]. It's just really disappointing for Jamal," Stuart said.

"He's worked really hard in the off-season, he's had great impact on the team and it's disappointing.

"But we've got to be optimistic and we've just got to look at getting him into his rehab and getting him back for the second half of the season."

NRL ROUND ONE

March 11: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium, 6pm.