Canberra Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty reveals the driving force behind him

Fogarty revealed Stuart had been "into" him to unleash the wicked, spiralling torpedoes that had Sydney Roosters fullback Tedesco looking for the foetal position on Sunday night.

There's been a notable progression in the Raiders halfback's kicking game this season as he's slowly built the confidence to expand his repertoire in games.

That culminated with a kicking masterclass in the 20-18 win over the Roosters at Sydney Football Stadium at the weekend.

Stuart said Fogarty had one of the best kicking games in the NRL, but didn't receive the credit he deserved.

The Raiders scored two tries off the back of Fogarty's kicks, with firstly Jack Wighton and then Sebastian Kris outjumping Tedesco for the ball.

Fogarty scored two tries off his own kicks against Wests Tigers - regathering his grubbers after they'd hit the uprights.

The 29-year-old revealed the driving force Stuart had been in giving him the confidence to gradually unleash his kicking game throughout the season.

"'Sticky's' into me, mate, to be honest," Fogarty told The Canberra Times.

"Every training session he's telling me to put up big bombs and big spirals and when I don't he probably gets a little bit mad.

"But to have a coach that's promoting that kind of stuff - I've always been a kid that's had a football and trying to put up bombs and spirals and all that kind of stuff, so it's good to see a coach give me a bit of confidence and freedom to be able to do that."

It's been a progression off the back of two or three kicking sessions every week since he arrived at the club in the lead-up to the 2022 NRL season.

He also praised Raiders kicking coach Andrew Bishop for his hours of work, while deflecting the praise to his fellow halves - like Jack Wighton and Matt Frawley - the Raiders hookers for their passes and the outside backs for catching and returning the balls.

"To have a good support crew like that, that are willing to chip in and play their part for us to be able to get the reps in - it's good to see we're getting the results in the games," Fogarty said.

"As a group we put a fair bit into our kick-catch - probably two or three sessions a week.

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"Making sure we're getting our defensive catches in, but also our attacking catches as well.

"That's something we've worked really hard on and it's good to see we're getting results."

While Fogarty admitted they'd let themselves down conceding tries either side of half-time, he was full of praise for the effort to remain in the fight until the 80^th minute.

They'd shot out to an 18-point lead only for the Roosters to reel them in.

But Fogarty said their desire and discipline were two areas they must take into their clash against the Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

The Green Machine completed at 82 per cent, and gave up just three penalties and four six-agains against the Roosters.

"Probably just trying to back up [Sunday night's] effort - all the want and the desire efforts that Sticky always talks about," Fogarty said.

"I thought we had that. We were gritty, we were very disciplined, we didn't give away too many penalties, too many six-agains.

"I think that's the way moving forward for us. If we can be disciplined and tackle together then we're going to be a dangerous team moving forward."

NRL ROUND 18

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium, 3pm.

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