From the moment that the Canberra Raiders committed so much money over so many years to a Ricky Stuart revolution, this moment was coming.
As the Canberra Raiders capitulated at home to the New Zealand Warriors in front of job over 7,000 fans on Sunday afternoon you hot the feeling that the green machine was now stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Ricky Stuart is simply on too much money for the club to sack him. The payout the club would be required to give Stuart if they fire him would be impossible to justify.
That the club offered Stuart a massive, long term deal after his failure at the Parramatta Eels, and the Cronulla Sharks before that, was mind blowing. The clubs board and CEO should be held accountable for handing out a contract that has set the club up for failure over the next few years.
While the Raiders playing roster does have it’s issues, and there is a need to clear a few players out, this still isn’t a team that should be playing so poorly. The last time I saw a team look like they had completely given up was last year when the Parramatta Eels just turned their toes up and showed no interest in being part of the contest.
The good thing for the Raiders is that they have a great junior development system to draw players from. The Raiders have proven they can produce top class players themselves over the years and they have a better strike rate than a lot of other clubs in this area.
You need a good coach to develop these youngsters in to winners, and I don’t think you can make any case for Ricky Stuart being a good coach any more.
