After his Canberra Raiders succumbed to yet another fairly embarrassing loss last Saturday, Ricky Stuart delivered what has been described by many as a rant about the need to build his squad and bring in State of Origin level players.
The comments were immediately leapt on by the rugby league media and the predictable wave of criticism descended.
Whether Stuart was right about the need to add quality players to the Raiders squad, or the devastating effect that being forced to fire Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson had on the team, is hardly the point.
Stuart was always going to get bombarded with scorn because everybody hates Ricky.
It is truly remarkable how one-sided this fight is. It is genuinely hard to find any Ricky Stuart supporters outside of the Raiders hierarchy. At least one writer for a major newspaper refers to Ricky as the game’s greatest fraud.
Any story on The Roar, or others, even remotely about the Raiders attracts a torrent of disparaging comments about Stuart regardless of its content. Anyone foolish enough to support Stuart can expect similar treatment.
The simple question is why? Why does one mediocre coach attract hatred while half a dozen others get largely ignored?
Let us be clear, Ricky Stuart has a very poor record in recent times. His last good season has long since faded from memory and he has presided over back-to-back terrible seasons with different clubs.
So it is fair that he attracts criticism. But the tone and volume of the personal attacks Stuart receives seem out of kilter with his coaching record.
The first knock on Stuart is generally that he is overrated as a coach. But why is that a reason to hate him? People say he profited from Graham Murray’s work at the Roosters, yet no one hates Trent Robinson for taking another pre-loaded Roosters team to the title.
Ricky also gets charged with his team’s failures to recruit big name stars. Somehow because players like Israel Folau, James Tamou and Kevin Proctor decided to stay with their current teams this makes Stuart personally responsible for failing to attract stars.
Yet it seems unlikely that when Daly Cherry-Evans rejects the Broncos to stay at the Sea Eagles that Wayne Bennett will be blamed. This claim is particularly silly when it comes to blaming him for the Raiders’ current woes when the club hasn’t recruited a current Origin player in years.
Eels fans seem most confused about Stuart. On the one hand they are outraged that he cut and run on the club, yet on the other hand they think he’s vastly overrated as a coach and they’re happy to be rid of him? Which is it? It can’t be both.
Furthermore it’s not like Stuart really took the team backwards. The club went from last to last – he didn’t so much win the spoon as retain it. Plus he conducted a player cleanout that the feckless Eels board had previously been unwilling to undertake.
Virtually none of the players Ricky let go are now first grade regulars and their departures opened up opportunities for the players who have been such great contributors for the club this year.
The Ricky detractors also cite statistics about how many points his recent teams have conceded or how long it’s been since he won back-to-back games. Again, let us be clear that Stuart’s record in recent years is very poor and there are certainly serious concerns. However, there is a good reason people like to cite his record from 2009 onwards.
The 2008 Sharks season gets helpfully ignored by Stuart’s detractors. And why wouldn’t it be? After all Ricky took a team whose best players were a 32-year-old Brett Kimmorley and Paul Gallen, before he truly became the terminator, to one game shy of the grand final.
That team was a gritty defensive unit with an eight and three record in games decided by eight points or less. They succeeded despite their best attacking weapons – staid winger Luke Covell and never-to-be seen-again fullback Brett Kearney. This is why all of the detractors count his record from 2009 onwards.
The reality is that the remarkably skewed commentary when it comes to Stuart’s supposed failings actually undercuts some very real concerns. Much like when Doug Bollinger claimed he was going to give “100,000 per cent” in an upcoming Test match, the hyperbole around Stuart actually undermines what are legitimate concerns about his coaching. It is very hard to take critics seriously when they surround their complaints with vitriol and personal attacks.
Is Ricky Stuart a great coach? Probably not. Is he even a good coach? Maybe not even that. But that this should make him the most loathed man in rugby league still seems strange
Follow Lachlan on twitter @mrsports83
mushi
Guest
I don't know - Ricky the person doesn't seem suited to being the figure head of a team. his post WC out burst should have seen him banned for a considerable time. Approaching an official away from the field in anger is just one of the lowest acts
mushi
Guest
I think we do get more crapped of as a society over all if you include the legal system. It isn't like Ricky needs to front ICAC for his fraudulent coaching efforts.
steveng
Guest
You are wrong and the opposite happened Sharks 12 - Raiders 22, it was an abysmal game in which the Sharks were really bad and made so many elementary mistakes that they should have been beaten by twice as much.
steveng
Guest
How true George, Ricky is a top bloke and could have had as you said domestic troubles that no one would ever have known. I'm sure that now he's at the Raiders he will point that side to bigger and better things over the years because the Raiders as it looks don't have the money to commit to big time players and want to home grow them or maybe Ricky can persuade the Raiders board to get T. Carney a job at the Raiders under the condition that Ricky looks after him and Carney is under Ricky's supervision 24/7 lol it could be a go as Carney would be perfect at the Raiders and would be what the raiders need to improve.
Tha Funkapotamus
Guest
Ar u Ricky Stuart? Cos you got his arrogance bro
Train Without A Station
Guest
Re-read my comment and try again champ. You have not addressed it at all. And for what it's worth, Bennett is overrated too. His greatest skill was getting players to stay at Brisbane for less. Deserves plenty of credit for his time at Brisbane though. He then rode the hype to St George and initially delivered. Problem was he started to read his own press and copped the cash to go to Newcastle and that's where it came undone. When you're greatest skill and convincing players to stay for less, how can you do that when you look like a mercenary yourself?
Gary Magpie
Roar Guru
Again, I'm not a Ricky fan, but don't think he has been hyped much at all. In fact, he has been bagged out for years in the media - perhaps deservingly. My comment was just highlighting that the current round of criticism is not unbiased commentary. He is being targeted. And this tactic is becoming more common in the NRL - more specifically between the Sydney factions.
Geoff the optimist from Bruce Stadium
Guest
I can name four players that have improved under Stuart - Croker, Vaughan, Fensom and Buttriss. Is that due to the players themselves or the influence of the coach? Probably a bit of both. Croker and Vaughan in particular have ben outstanding in a disappointing team. Croker is showing maturity beyond his years and Ricky could do worse than make him permanent captain. Two players have definitely gone backwards in Campese and McCrone. Whether that is due to Stuart's influence is debatable. Campese can hardly run so I don't think you can blame Stuart for that. Ricky tried to turn McCrone into a hooker and Wighton into a five eigth with little success. Personally I would have liked to have seen Cornish partner either Campese or McCrone much earlier in the season. But maybe Cornish wasn't ready for first grade. The halves set the direction of the team and there just haven't been enough consistent performances from those players used in these positions this season. Its also been said many times before that the loss of Ferguson and Dugan last year was huge. They simply haven't been replaced as yet. Dugan took years to develop as a footballer with the Raiders and Ferguson joined after being disillusioned with the Sharks. At least Ricky has experimented with a few players this season with Rapana at full back, Baptiste as hooker, and Branko Lee and Jeremy Hawkins in the backs. He also tried a few positional changes which didn't work. Despite what the doomsayers are suggesting I think there is enough talent in the squad for the Raiders to perform a lot better next season.
THE CHAMP
Guest
Ricky stuart is poison. When was the last time he scored back to back wins as a coach? Its getting close to 90 odd games i think
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Baz, I respect your view and the opportunity to paint a rosy picture, but you are living in dream world. I cannot afford to do that as FACTS dictate my livelihood and if I wear rose coloured glasses then I will have no food on my plate. I communicate everyday with some of the smartest guys in the industry NRL and wagering and they make a living from being smart and getting it right. I am talking about NRL recruitment Managers, ex coaches, analysts and traders who frame markets for some of our big bookies. To a man every one of them rate Ricky as a minus and consider him one of the worst coaches in the game. Baz, they all cannot be wrong. Let me define for you what I mean by “consistently go backwards”. Ricky’s last 2 seasons at the Roosters and the Sharks resulted in a 25% win rate. Since then he has actually gone worse. Ricky Stuart is now 18-68 (26%) since 2009 and 23% over the last four seasons while he has made the finals just once since 2004. Baz, I have several parameters how I rate coaches like defence structure, energy, tactics etc, but clearly the biggest is how many players the coach has improved under the coach. At the Raiders I cannot name one, but plenty have gone backwards.
Steve b
Guest
Yes brainwave thats all you must have done!
steveng
Guest
So what you're saying is that Ricky irrespective of the low standard of players that he has at the Raiders was supposed to come into the Raiders like some sort of a magician and turn them around because Ricky Stuart is coaching them. Ricky can bash his head against all walls in the dressing rooms turn black and blue [which I'm sure he does week in week out at the Raiders] but he still can't do nothing if the players don't have the wile and determination or the ability to compete in todays NRL. Ricky has been coached by the best at the Raiders and he has the experience of that to pass onto his players especially at the Raiders, he's one of the Raiders legends and all his days at the Raiders were the best the Raiders have ever produced and some of the best NRL years of all time when Ricky, Maninga, Daley, Lazarus [the PUP that's another story] were playing and the NRL was measured by their standards. All these experiences and abilities as a player surely guides him in the right direction as a coach and fore mostly to turn this poor Raiders side around, but, all this is going to take time and his past cannot be considered or knocked because have a look at his last club the Sharks, have a look at where they are today [wooden spooners] have a look at the Knights with the greatest coach of all time, Bennett, what he's been with the Knights for 2 years, what has he achieved, but no one even says boo or utters a word about Wayne's performance, he's going back to the Broncos, let's see how he fairs there, and mind you he's got about 1000% more talent at the Broncos then Ricky has at the Raiders.
Train Without A Station
Guest
If it just came down to players putting in effort why would there be coaches? It's the coaches job to motivate players to put in for them. Nobody expects Ricky Stuart to win a premiership there. But the fact is that in this salary cap age no team can be so inferior that they cannot be motivated and coached to being competitive. If they were 8th or 9th people would consider it a reasonable result. The only way Ricky can coach is to come in, clear the place out and try to build the exact roster he needs. If you can only work with certain players to even achieve mediocrity, let alone success, just maybe you are not a good coach.
Train Without A Station
Guest
Not really. In one I refer to the constant boost he has gotten from the media last decade and the other I ask if it was ok for them to pump up his career with no merit why they cannot criticise him with reason?
Adam
Guest
So Ricky wants to bring in state of origin level players? Why can't he develop players to reach the level. Guess he's not actually a very good coach
steveng
Guest
Ricky can only work with what he's got at the Raiders and that is one thing that none of you consider and some always come onto this forum bashing Ricky for being arrogant, abusive etc etc. How can any coach turn a side around when the players don't put the effort in? I'm sure that Ricky at his age could do a better job on the field then some of the Raiders do week in and week out and that is why he is such a hard tasker, the guy is a champion player with champion standards. Another perfect example of blaming the coach instead of the players is the West Tigers who after last nights performance can't blame their coach for the bashing that they have gotten from the Dog's, they didn't tackle they were abysmally penetrated in the centres and their error rate was awful. Ricky will do better next year if the Raiders give him the players that can work with I'm sure.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Don't forget, Ricky writes for the Tele.
Lachlan Bickley
Roar Guru
Hi Folks, Thanks everyone for reading and commenting. I appreciate anyone taking the time to respond even those of you who disagree with me. I would say that the verdict is in and Ricky remains polarising but i'm not sure he got enough supportive comments to even say that much. Personally i remain deeply sceptical about the next few years in Canberra and i share many of the concerns folks have raised here. But i firmly believe that Stuart is unfairly or even just unecessarily targeted and i look forward to seeing what he can do with a squad that he develops on his own. Cheers Lachlan
Tricky Ricky
Guest
Karma, he accidently ran over and killed a man when he was about 20 yrs old.
The Barry
Guest
History has shown that hayne is a better fullback than a 5/8.