Fogarty never has been and never will be the flashy half that gets a ton of try assists. He’s the guy who organises the attack, gets players in position and calls the play. All the things that are easy for the casual observer to miss. I think most of you would agree that our attack has looked pretty good in patches throughout the year, yeah? We’re currently 7th on points for — it’s our defence that is letting us down and that’s not on Fogarty.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’s a superstar or anything, but he’s far from our biggest issue at the moment. If I could wave a magic wand and fix every issue all at once, he likely wouldn’t be in the team, but these things need to be addressed on a priority basis. I think we will also be much improved with a better running 5/8. We desperately need a Cody Walker/Jack Wighton type player as they have all the complementary attributes that Fogarty doesn’t have (strength, speed, agility). Hopefully Turner will be that — I don’t know as I haven’t seen him play but HS said great things about him when we signed him and Warriors fans were sad to lose him.
It’s a shame that Ash has fallen so far as he was a genuine talent in 2016-17 but the combination of having to take on all the responsibility of being the main playmaker in his formative years, having the Hayne Stain in his ear, being mentored by Tyrone Roberts and Garth Brennan… it has all stunted his growth and resulted in what we’re seeing now: wasted talent. I wish him all the best but his future is not with us and is likely in ESL.