Jamal Fogarty has spoken of his immense pride after being selected to represent the Indigenous All Stars for a second time, earning a spot in the squad set to face the Māori All Stars this weekend.
The former Canberra Raiders halfback is in the midst of a gruelling pre-season with his new NRL club, Manly, but will briefly switch his focus to representing his People.
“I played for the All Stars in 2021, and it’s been the highlight of my career so far, so to be able to do it again is awesome,” said Fogarty.
As a proud Indigenous man, I’m super excited to be back in that arena representing my culture and my family.
Jamal Fogarty
That first match for Fogarty resulted in a 10-all draw in Townsville. He admits he was a bit starstruck playing alongside the likes of Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Andrew Fifita and others.
“I was really shy and nervous because I'd only played one year of NRL. Now I've been playing for a few years I'm even more excited to get back into camp.”
The 32-year-old Queenslander is from Beaudesert, a small country town about an hour southwest of Brisbane. And while playing footy as has taken Jamal to the Gold Coast, Canberra and now Sydney’s Northern Beaches, he remains very strongly connected to his roots.
“I grew up there [Beaudesert] and spent my whole life there until I moved away for football.
“I am obviously very proud to represent who we are, the Mununjali people, our culture and where we are from.”
Fogarty is mindful that he’ll also be representing his new club for the first time when he pulls on the Indigenous jersey in the Waikato.
“All though it’s All Stars, it's pretty cool knowing I’ll be representing Manly for the first time, but to get that jersey back on is something special.
“I just want to play well, do myself and my family proud, but also the club here at Manly as well.”
The Indigenous All Stars play the Māori All Stars at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton on Sunday 15th February.
Indigenous All Stars
Josh Addo-Carr, Jayden Campbell, Tallis Duncan, Jamal Fogarty, Trai Fuller, Nicholas Hynes, Alofiana Khan-Pereira, Josh Kerr, Kaiden Lahrs, Shaquai Mitchell, Oliver Pascoe, Joshua Patston, Hohepa Puru, Jesse Ramien, Ethan Roberts, Blake Steep, Braydon Trindall, Connor Watson, Jack Wighton, Brent Woolf. Coach: Ronald Griffiths
Match: Sea Eagles v Raiders
Round 1 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
away Team
Raiders
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Fogarty's first NRL match for the Sea Eagles will be against the Raiders in Round 1 of the 2026 Telstra NRL season at 4 Pines Park on Saturday 7th March.
