The Gold Coast’s Jamal Fogarty has played 17 NRL games, Brisbane’s Tom Dearden has 14 appearances.
They both stand 177cm tall and both are from rugby league heartlands in the South of Queensland (Fogarty – Beaudesert, Dearden – Toowoomba).
Both are making the most of their chances in 2020, but their paths to first grade are slightly different.
Dearden, just 19-years old, spent his school years on the Gold Coast playing for Palm Beach Currumbin State High School.
Joining the Broncos, Dearden made his debut in 2019, before starting this season behind Brodie Croft at Red Hill.
Forcing his way into the squad, the talented half has played nine games in 2020 and is establishing himself as one of the most exciting young players in the game.
His opposite number is arguably one of the best stories this season.
Jamal Fogarty is 26-years-old and has developed into one of the Titans most valuable players.
After plying his trade in the Intrust Super Cup for Burleigh, Fogarty has taken his game to the next level in 2020, making the Titans halfback jersey his own.
Winning the Petero Civoniceva Medal as the best player in the Intrust Super Cup in 2019, Fogarty has fast become a leader within the Titans team and is currently the Gold Coast captain.
His partnership with Ash Taylor has sparked the Titans attack, with both possessing dangerous kicking games that will need to fire to threaten the Broncos back three.
Fogarty has seven try assists, six line break assists and nine forced drop-outs for the season, while also averaging 278 kick metres and 94 running metres and leads his younger counterpart in all categories (Dearden averaging 188 kick metres, 56 running metres and has one try assist, three line break assists and five forced drop-outs).
Working off two powerful forward packs, the two halfbacks will have a big say in whether the two points stay on the Gold Coast or head north to Brisbane after the clash at Cbus Super Stadium.
