The Canberra Raiders’ poor form this season is masking what could be the building blocks of a future premiership run.
Coach Ricky Stuart and many players are under fire from the fan-base and the media due to their poor form, as well as the inability to sign big-name players despite handing out blank cheques.
Stuart is telling anyone who will listen that the temporary pain the club is going through is necessary, and will eventually lead to long-term success for the once mighty club.
It is a tough situation for both the Raiders and their fans.
Unfortunately for the fans, it may be a few years before we can tell whether Stuart has been a success or not.
And for Stuart, it may be he is never given the time he needs to properly assemble a team he believes capable of being success for the long term.
I wrote a few weeks ago, about the parallels between the Raiders, and their NFL cousins, the Oakland Raiders.
Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie is doing the same job Stuart has been brought into three teams in recent years to do – rebuild a team which hasn’t been successful in years.
His recent coaching with Parramatta, and before that the NSW Blues, shows that there may be hope for the Raiders.
After winning State of Origin for the first time in nine years, NSW representatives Greg Bird and Beau Scott both paid tribute to Stuart’s work in his most recent tenure with the Blues.
They may not have won the series under Stuart, but he restored the faith and belief in the playing group that the great Queensland team they were playing could be beaten.
Stuart also recently said he was pleased to see how well Parramatta is going this year.
He stopped short of claiming credit for it, but said he did feel that sacking a number of players from the team while he was coach, was a move which put Parramatta into a position to be successful.
Whether that is the case is debatable, and there are certainly arguments for and against what he did with Parramatta.
Stuart’s comments are intriguing, because while he was at Parramatta he was selling the same message he is now selling to Raiders fans – be patient.
Stuart inherited a team which finished dead last in 2012, and it finished dead last in 2013 under his stewardship, and right now, the Raiders are also a chance for the wooden spoon.
One of the points which has been glossed over because of the poor form of Stuart’s recent teams, is that he inherited teams which performed poorly the year before.
In other words, while Stuart may have been brought in to turn around a team’s fortunes, he had a team which didn’t have the capability to win a lot of games.
One of the points he stressed while at Parramatta was that he felt the playing roster was below NRL standard and success would not come instantly.
Let’s look at another team from Western Sydney, the Penrith Panthers.
Phil Gould and Ivan Cleary were brought in by the Panthers to make the team a powerhouse again, after being in a similar predicament to the Blues, Eels and Raiders for the past decade.
There were probably many, myself included, who scoffed when Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace were signed last year, but look where the Panthers sit after 15 rounds. They are tied for first place with the strongest team of the last ten years, the Manly Sea Eagles.
Of course, they could easily tumble out of the eight at this stage of the season, but their lofty position demonstrates what patience can achieve.
Again, there were many who probably wondered what Gould and Cleary were doing, especially while Michael Jennings languished in the NSW Cup before subsequently being sacked.
Jennings significantly contributed to the Roosters’ premiership last year, but Gould and Cleary both felt that he did not fit what they were trying to build at Penrith and sacked him.
It was a tough move, which at the time probably drew a lot of criticism from the Panthers’ fan-base, but nevertheless the move was made.
Stuart too, will have to make moves like that with the Raiders, just like the one he did at Parramatta.
It is certainly debatable if Stuart can achieve for Canberra, what Gould and Cleary are in the process of achieving with Penrith.
Raiders fans are losing faith and the Canberra front office may not have the courage to retain Stuart for the time he needs.
Ultimately, it will be unfair to judge Stuart’s time manning the Raiders’ longboat until he has had a few years to really clean out the roster and make his own changes.
Whether he is given the time he needs though is another matter.
Ra
Guest
Ricky would make a great development officer at a NSW Cup club. Let's see, Roosters; Sharks; Kangaroos; the Blues; Parramatta, flop, flop, crash; flop; flop and now the poor floppin' Raiders. Common denominator - Ricky Stuart. It's pretty clear Ricky Stuart was a great player but is not a good coach
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
In Campo's defense, he really does love the Raiders. When guys are tired at the end of the game, he is the only one who is still sprinting up when they are on their goal line. Reece hasn't had the best year, but he is a good player in my opinion, and I have to say some of the errors he has made this year are uncharacteristic. As for Milford, well if he is leaving next year and the Raiders are sitting in 14th place, why not try out blokes for next year, I like Milford, but if he isn't going to be there next year, you have to also be thinking about looking to the future. Who do you replace White with? Sure you could start Boyd, but who takes his bench spot?
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
I guess with Parramatta it comes back to the team he inherited, one that finished in last place the year before. The team simply wasn't up to standard, and even Wayne Bennett can't turn a guy into an immortal if he doesn't have the talent to be one. The Eels have played well this year, and the question is whether that is due to Brad Arthur's coaching, or Stuart's roster changes, or both. We won't ever really know but if Stuart is given a chance, we will see how good his coaching ability is.
George
Guest
The guy has patience, that's for sure. Maybe he's a nark too, he won't concede to popular opinion. Almost everyone thinks Campo needs to be out of the team, yet he's the captain. Similarly, Reece Robinson has been making schoolboy errors for ages and been acting as though his opponents have the ebola virus, so he keeps his distance. Ricky finally drops him but brings him back and leaves our most potent attacking weapon to freeze on the sideline. Cornish is being hailed as our saviour (the poor bugger), so he goes back to reserves. If these decisions were made by my wife, I'd expect them, but not sure how long I can take it. Brett White is not denting the line, his strong days are over. On the other hand, Shannon Boyd is killing it for the few minutes he's allowed on the field. Surely something good will happen soon, please.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
I think Nick Tedeschi has got it right: "How Good is Ricky Stuart? The Canberra coach deserves full marks for both persistence and scrotum size for calling on Raiders fans to be patient, declaring he will turn the club into a power in the next “four to seven years”. That is like being the worst toilet cleaner in the history of any McDonalds anywhere and walking in confidently for a job as Apple CEO. It is pretty reasonable to argue that Raiders fans have had just about enough of their coach who has failed to live up to his price tag and promises, their board who may be the most conservative organisation this side of the Australia First Party and their players who don’t really seem to care. If there is one stakeholder in the NRL who deserves to be impatient, it is Raiders fans. A little tip to those Raiders fans who expect Ricky to change things for the better: he won’t and I’ll bet my stellar reputation on it. "
jay C
Guest
It is ridiculous to credit him with this year's origin It is 2 years layer and a vertu different team
Bill
Guest
"His recent coaching with Parramatta, and before that the NSW Blues, shows that there may be hope for the Raiders" That was brilliant! Thanks for the giggle.
AJL
Guest
So far, the evidence is against Stuart working out. I wonder if, given how everything fell to excrement at Parramatta, he's more than a tad gun-shy about moving players along.
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Haha thanks Max, not sure I'm quite qualified to run a Rugby League team, maybe one day when I win the lottery!
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Plenty of teams rush up on the outside. It is all about getting players who want to rush up together, and players who prefer to stay back together. Manly's right side defense of Jamie Lyon and David Williams or Peta Hiku always rush up, while their left side of Steve Matai and Jorge Tafua stay home. There is no one player on the Raiders who is playing poorly, as a team they are, and 14th is probably flattering to the way they have played in some games this season.
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Indeed he is. However, in his defense, the Raiders have had pretty much the same squad for years, under three different coaches, and despite some success in the finals, it has mostly been bad times for the club. I can't give you the answer, but I think it is a bit easy to simply point to Stuart as the sole problem at the Raiders.
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Fair point, I truly wonder whether he will be given the chance to do the job though. One season at the bottom is probably all Raiders fans can take at the moment.
arthur rightus
Guest
Spot on Benedict. The excuses made for this bloke are incredible. He is the biggest coaching myth on the planet. How a coach that consistently produces zero improvement in team performance can be credited with that same teams improvement AFTER HE LEAVES is beyond me.
turbodewd
Guest
Conor, Jack Wighton rushing up in defence, failing to effect a tackle, causing an overlap - thats not poor form. Its crap tactics. Ricky needs to tell him to stop it. Similarly Campo isnt in poor form...his legs dont work. He must be benched. Shillo put in good meters in his last game. Reece Robinson isnt the best defender at FB, but hes quite handy with the ball.
MAX
Guest
If I were a director of the Canberra RLFC Board I would invite Conor Hickey to address the Board in open format, no holds barred. Conor is a Goer. With respect, The Directors appear to be intelligent high achievers in their fields but with unknown experience at the coalface of Rugby League . This may render them liable to or vulnerable to accepting advice which though presented honestly is too expensive and with very limited chance of success and even more expensive to rectify. IMO Canberra is 3 to 4 players and a coach short of top4 . Ricky will deliver seasons of pain and careers of players unfruitful.
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Well I mean I am not the best judge of that. They finished what 14 or 15th last year, and despite showing a bit of promise earlier in the season, completely collapsed toward the end. Perhaps David Furner was simply getting the best out of them. I think though, that even when the Raiders have made the finals in previous years, it has always been on the back of a strong run, and not season long dominance. Their poor form this year may simply be a reflection of the talent they have, or as you say, poor coaching. As for Origin, well Campese played once and was dropped, Papalii is still in the Qld side when healthy, Shillo has been dropped and White hasn't played origin since moving to Canberra as far as I can recall.
Aunty Loris
Guest
Love, is the head coach responsible for driving, motivating, teaching, encouraging, training and structuring the players and game plan?
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
That's an interesting point you raise, because statiscally speaking there is a 50/50 chance the Blues or Qld win. The draw is possible I suppose but essentially it is 50/50. However, Queensland have been so good over the past 8 years you sort of have to throw stats out the window. And let's face it, if Qld didn't lose Cronk, things probably would have been wildly different. I think to say though that Stuart didn't help NSW is unfair. The team clearly turned around under his stewardship, and as I pointed to in the article, Bird and Scott both seemed to think he was helpful, although Laurie Daley certainly has to be given most of the credit, surely there is room for Stuart to receive some praise too.
Conor Hickey
Roar Pro
Yeah Al Davis was a bit of a nutjob. Completely erratic, made crazy moves, and would often sign players to simply ludicrous contracts. Canberra is not that bad, but there has been plenty of criticism leveled at their management, they signed Stuart without looking at any other coaches. If Stuart works out then they are heroes, if not, well that changes everything.
AJL
Guest
Looking at the Oakland analogy, it seems to me that their rebuild could only start when the owner died. It took a complete change at the top to create any hope of improvement. The Canberra Raiders are in the same boat. Problem is, we have an entire board, who owe their positions to being John McIntyre's mates, who are the problem. I've seen little evidence of a plan from Stuart, other than throwing money at players. Players who are simply not good enough like Campese and White are still in first grade, and the likes of Josh McCrone have even been re-signed.