Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has revealed Brad Schneider will be handed Jamal Fogarty's position for the opening round.
The Raiders, who open their season against the Cronulla Sharks on Friday, March 11, will be without Fogarty for four months.
The star recruit was supposed to be the Raiders answer to their attacking problems, helping Jack Wighton back to form and the green machine back up the ladder.
It was revealed yesterday however that Fogarty has suffered a knee injury which will rule him out for up to four months, meaning he will miss at least half the season with the opening round only a week away.
Sam Williams and Matt Frawley rotated through the halves last year alongside Wighton following the departure of George Williams, and it was immediately thought they could do the same again.
However, with Schneider impressing in the Raiders trial games, and turning in a good performance against the Manly Sea Eagles in their second contest, Ricky Stuart has told The Canberra Times that Schneider will start.
"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."
Schneider made his NRL debut off the bench last year, but could now have a prolonged shot in first-grade through the first months of the season.
A highly rated talent, the youngster has impressed in junior fixtures throughout his development.