Will Ricky save the day for the Raiders?

He inherited that champion team from Muzz and it's a travesty that all he could get was 1 win from his time there, still laughing at his choice of Finch over Wing what a joke.

The Raiders will be very interesting with Stuart at the helm. He trains his teams hard and I expect Fensom and some of the other Canberra forwards to thrive under that, but his intensity has every chance that it will bring Campo down sooner than later. The Raiders squad needs nurturing and maturing and Ricky will need to work very hard on his man management skills for that to happen. I find Ricky to be a decent coach but overrated at the same time. Here is a rundown on his club coaching career (Rep coaching is very different) Roosters - Inherited a strong roster that had been a tough side over a period of time. He won the 2002 title in his first year and got the Roosters to the 03 and 04 Grand Final but it went downhill after. Factors being Fittler retiring (AKA the Broncos nowadays), Ricketson retiring, Mini's injury and burn out suffered by the players under his intense regime. Sacked at the end of 2006 Sharks - inherited a rag tag roster with ordinary backs but strong forwards. After an 11th place in 2007 he got them to equal first in 2008 which was quite an effort when you compare the roster of the 2008 Sharks to Melbourne and Manly who finished ahead of them by points difference, season ended with a shattering 28-0 loss to Melbourne in the preliminary final. 2009 was a disaster in every sense of the word with off field crisis at every corner. Stuart can't be blamed for that but some poor recruitment during the offseason can be blamed on him and Cronulla finished second last. Quit during 2010 after losing 13 straight games, Flanagan came in steadily improved the club. Eels - Inherited the worst team in the competition, Jack Gibson could've risen from the dead and coached Parra last year and they still would've finished at the bottom. Did bring in some new and promising players and cleared out the deadwood who weren't doing any good.

The reason he did so poorly at the eels was due to the fact he inherited one of the worst teams in the history of the Nrl. Minus hindmarsh there work horse add Ben Roberts and an injury prone superstar and you will see that not many coaches could of done better. You need good players to build around, he bought some good talent to the club and they will be better.for it. Parra fans should thanks him. Brad author is a parra boy so he is proud and passionate and understands what the players want and the fans. He was great at manly with defence being his main focus at the club. He would of learned well from Toovey and bellamy. Back to sticky. He's a raiders man and will do a lot better there than at parra. In 08 the sharks were equal with manly and Melbourne. That in itself is an achievement. Melbourne later found out to be over the cap and manly laying the 40-0 on them. To be equal with those teams with the squad he had was great. Origin proves he can coach. He brought us so close. Only a rebound try and an obstrution try denied us. But they are all good players. Time will tell... Injuries.will play a big role. That and some luck.

I have been a harsh critic of Ricky's and I think justified but with the exception of Parra, he normally starts off ok with teams and I am expecting the Raiders to go well at home this year. I like what he has dome moving Campo to 7 as he was always 1st receiver anyway and this has allowed the gun kid Jack Wighton to come in and play 6 where he has experience. Jack Wighton is in the top 2 players in the team IMO and he should be in the spine. Shame the Raiders have lost their 2 props.

I'm not even going to bother reading this article but I will give the author credit for delivering an article where it's headline will attract a response......Albeit a load of tripe.

Al, In my initial comment I wrote his name but I didn't feel the need to include such a name as of yet. He was up my sleeve to use if disputed otherwise.

The year in 2014, it is an even number. The Raiders will make a late charge into the finals and then be eliminated. The season will be judged as a surprising success for a mostly young team. It is an entirely different story on the odd years, where they will be in the running for the wooden spoon until a late charge at the end and the season is considered a success for a young team.

Sir Alex Ferguson

Well i would structure it like this - play everyone once - 15 games. Play half of the league again for another 7 games. thats 22. And ensure those 7 games are against nearby teams, i.e Bris should play NQld twice a year no matter what because rivalries bring crowds. Similarly Parra should play Cbury twice per year.

Until very recently, Melbourne suffered from the same lack of coverage. Last season, they started to get it on Gem only for the very first time. Result - the Storm's memberships and average gates went up. Nine has a lot to answer for with its poor coverage, lack lustre attitude and complete failure to promote the sport for which it purchases the rights.

As a parra fan and a Canberra follower I seriously hope that Stuart does better than he did at parra

Ricky's not that bad. Shillo had a bad season last year and really needs to step up this season. I think the key to the Raiders this year will be Campese going all the way to September. A fully fit Campo, Cornish, Milford and Butris/Mcrone dummy half is as good as any spine in the comp.

Since freddy retired Stuart has got a side to the finals once, and there's been a lot of bottom 4 finishes in there as well. I see Canberra being top 4 or bottom four with the latter most likely. On Canberra in general it's pretty tough if u don't get fta coverage. U can't really increase the supporter base or sponsorships if the majority never see the team play. A bit ridiculous really that bris recieve the same grant as clubs like canb, Melb and the sharks.

3 Grand Finals, 1 Premiership and took a very average Sharks outfit to equal first in 2008. I don't think he is close to the best coach in the comp. But he is far from the worst. Raiders will be a better side under Stuart than Furner. And that's all Raiders fans should really worry about. A little luck with injuries and I think a trip to Canberra in 2014 will once again be a tough assignment for travelling teams. That has not been the case of late.

Success is simply a must this year for the Machine. 2013 was easily the worst year I've had to endure as a fan, and I've been doing it since 85. A good start to the season will provide some badly needed momentum, though it is going to be real tough with only 1 home game in the first four. I'm really hoping that Stick can instill a sense of discipline into the squad, something that Furner was never capable of. No more 30-40 point blow outs please.

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are."

A famous coach once said, "first you build the team, and then you build the torture chamber for the underperformers".

Agree that the CEO shoul be fighting for fairer coverage. They need afternoon matches. Saturday arvo games should help, but between may and August I don't know why anyone would want to go to a night time game in Canberra. An players seem to go stir crazy down there (at least the egocentric ones who crave big city lights). The one thing Canberra do well is produce players but the league is structured to provide no reward for that. CEO needs to stand up for his club and make the nrl admit that they need Canberra to be stable and successful

Perfect response