RICKY Stuart doesn’t like to be wrong. Hates it.
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Getting the famously stubborn coach to admit as much is as hard as a two-dollar steak but on this occasion maybe...just maybe, he would concede that he was wrong. The fact it was he that proved himself wrong whilst also delivering a great big dose of truth might help.
It was round 23, 2014, a typically chilly August day in Canberra, leaving this reporter cursing GIO Stadium’s outdoor media boxes, and the Dragons were looking to break one of rugby league’s most infamous hoodoos.
The end result was a 34-16 win to the Dragons with South Tuggeranong’s finest Josh Dugan scoring the crucial go-ahead try on his first return to Canberra since being sacked by the Raiders along with rooftop drinking buddy Blake Ferguson a year earlier.
The Raiders were running 15th in Stuart's first year in charge since shifting from Parramatta in less than ideal circumstances. Stuart wears his heart on his sleeve, it’s what people both love and hate about him, and his performance in the post-match presser was one of the great sprays.
It was dismissed at the time as a whinge but, two years on, the words he spoke that day were nothing short of prophetic.
“I don't give a stuff what people say about me, I'm here to do a job and the way I do it is we have to slowly, slowly build,” Stuart fumed.
“Today international players and Origin players beat us. Until I get Origin players or International players in here it ain’t going to change.
“I've got kids in there who are absolutely hurting and killing themselves at the moment with regards to not being able to win. I’m not trying to make excuses. I’m telling it exactly how it is. It’s not effort, it’s not work at training, it’s not commitment.
“They love this club as much as I do and their fans do. I will gradually recruit players and gradually grow our own for this club. We will be a force again one day. I've got players in there who will one day play Origin.”
The Raiders side that day featured Jordan Rapana in just his second game back in the NRL after a five-year hiatus while Josh Papalli was just five games into his Origin career. Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee and Paul Vaughan were in just their second season as regular first-graders. Shannon Boyd was in his first.
They’ve all now played rep footy or are on the cusp of it. Ricky was right, he grew his own. So where did he get it wrong? Most people focused that day on his claim that until he could bring Origin of Test players to Canberra, the club would be trapped in mediocrity. They expected a big-money play for a big name.
With that in mind, the recruitment of Wests Tigers discard Blake Austin, Iosia Soliola after five years out of the NRL, a talented but supposedly lazy Joey Leilua and an unheralded five-Test pom named Josh Hodgson hardly inspired confidence. Look at them now. The addition of Aiden Sezar, Junior Paulo and Joseph Tapine suggests we might have to get used to the viking clap over the next few seasons.
Turns out Ricky was wrong and maybe he knew. Instead of throwing big money at Origin or Test incumbents, he looked for young players with a point to prove and built a team he knew he could motivate and get the best out of.
Now people are pointing to that lack of Origin or International players – and some key injuries – as the reason why the Raiders can’t win the title in 2016. He’s proven himself wrong before, perhaps Ricky’s about to do the same to the rest of us.