HITIQ Locks in NRL Star Jamal Fogarty to Push Safety Tech Into Grassroots Rugby

HITIQ secures Manly Sea Eagles halfback Jamal Fogarty as 2026 brand ambassador

HITIQ Ltd has appointed Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles halfback Jamal Fogarty as Brand Ambassador for the 2026 NRL season through 31 October 2026. Fogarty led the Canberra Raiders to the 2025 NRL Minor Premiership before signing a three-year contract with Manly, where he now fills the No.7 jersey previously held by club legend Daly Cherry-Evans.

The appointment provides HITIQ with high-visibility placement across one of Australia’s most-watched sporting competitions through an elite athlete with proven on-field success. Fogarty’s profile spans both elite NRL competition and grassroots rugby league advocacy, positioning him to promote the company’s PROTEQT™ head impact monitoring platform across multiple audience segments.

Fogarty has represented both the Indigenous All Stars and the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII throughout his career. Born in Beaudesert, Queensland, he is a member of the Mununjali clan of the Yugambeh people and came through junior rugby league in regional Queensland — credentials that strengthen HITIQ’s messaging around community sport safety.

What the ambassador agreement delivers for HITIQ

The commercial agreement establishes the following deliverables through the 2026 NRL season:

• Minimum three social media promotional posts featuring HITIQ and PROTEQT™
• One professional media shoot with HITIQ for marketing content
• Participation in PR and media activities supporting athlete safety messaging
• Named brand ambassador status on HITIQ digital platforms
• Comprehensive briefing materials provided to Fogarty on PROTEQT™ capabilities

In consideration for these services, HITIQ has agreed to issue Fogarty 250,000 Ordinary Fully Paid Shares in the company. HITIQ retains full usage rights to all content produced under the agreement for marketing and promotional purposes, providing ongoing asset value beyond the ambassador term.

The agreement has been structured in accordance with NRL Third Party Agreement Standard Terms, with all required club and NRL Salary Cap Auditor approvals obtained prior to execution. This ensures compliance with the league’s salary cap framework and third-party payment regulations.

The share-based compensation structure aligns Fogarty’s financial interests with HITIQ’s share price performance, creating a direct incentive for authentic promotion of the platform throughout the season.

Why brand ambassadors matter for sports technology companies

Sports technology products face a unique commercialisation challenge: they require trust from athletes, clubs, and sporting organisations before adoption occurs. Unlike consumer electronics or software, sports safety devices carry physical and reputational stakes — clubs need assurance that products work as claimed, and parents need confidence that technology is safe for junior athletes.

Elite athlete endorsements address this trust barrier directly. When a professional athlete validates a sports technology product, it signals to clubs, parents, and governing bodies that the product has been tested at the highest level of competition. This accelerates adoption conversations with sporting organisations and junior leagues, particularly where safety claims are involved.

Ambassador programs also create content pipelines for social media marketing at lower cost than traditional advertising. A single professional photoshoot or video production session can generate months of promotional content across multiple platforms, amplified by the athlete’s own social media following.

For HITIQ specifically, the NRL’s audience reach provides direct exposure to the company’s target market: parents of junior athletes, community clubs, and sports administrators responsible for athlete welfare programs. Access to this audience is critical as HITIQ seeks to move PROTEQT™ beyond elite sport into grassroots and junior rugby league, where parental trust and club-level adoption are the primary commercial barriers.

Fogarty’s grassroots connection strengthens community messaging

Fogarty’s background in regional Queensland junior rugby league provides authentic connection to HITIQ’s grassroots expansion strategy. His pathway through community sport — from Beaudesert juniors to elite NRL competition — positions him as a credible advocate for making head impact monitoring technology accessible beyond professional clubs.

His Indigenous heritage and representative honours (Indigenous All Stars, Prime Minister’s XIII) extend HITIQ’s reach into broader community audiences, particularly in regional areas where rugby league participation rates are highest but access to sports technology remains limited.

Jamal Fogarty, HITIQ Brand Ambassador

“I grew up playing junior footy in regional Queensland and I know how much those clubs and those kids love the game. The thing is, the risk of head knocks doesn’t start in the NRL — it starts at grassroots level, and that’s where I want to help make a difference.”

This framing positions Fogarty as an authentic advocate for athlete safety at community level, not merely a paid celebrity endorsement. The messaging focuses on democratising access to elite-level safety technology for junior athletes — a commercial strategy that addresses both market opportunity and regulatory pressure around concussion management in youth sport.

How this fits HITIQ’s 2026 commercial strategy

The Fogarty appointment forms part of HITIQ’s broader push to commercialise PROTEQT™ across the rugby league ecosystem. Fogarty joins an existing network of athlete advocates who promote the platform across different sporting codes and competition levels.

The ambassador agreement provides ongoing brand visibility through the 2026 NRL season, with scope to extend beyond the initial 31 October 2026 term. This timeline aligns with the NRL’s regular season and finals series, maximising exposure during peak viewership periods.

Earl Eddings, Executive Chair, HITIQ

“Jamal Fogarty embodies exactly what HITIQ stands for. He’s an elite NRL halfback who genuinely cares about making sport safer for the next generation coming through. His roots in grassroots Queensland rugby league, combined with his profile at the highest level of the game, make him a powerful voice for athlete safety across the entire rugby league community.”

For investors, the appointment signals HITIQ is investing in market awareness during a critical commercialisation phase for PROTEQT™. The share-based compensation structure (250,000 shares) avoids immediate cash outflow while aligning the ambassador’s interests with long-term share price performance.

The agreement’s extension optionality allows HITIQ to continue the relationship beyond October 2026 if the partnership delivers measurable commercial outcomes, providing flexibility to maintain brand visibility without contractual lock-in beyond the initial season.

PROTEQT™ platform overview

PROTEQT™, co-developed with Shock Doctor, is an instrumented mouthguard that delivers real-time head impact data through an integrated analytics platform. The system is designed for concussion management and athlete safety monitoring across sport, clinical, and research applications. The platform combines hardware (smart mouthguard) with cloud-based analytics to provide coaches, medical staff, and sporting organisations with objective data on head impact events during training and competition.

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