Last Chance Must Stick
Raiders legend Ricky Stuart is surely on his last chance. After coaching his teams to only one finals series in his last 5 seasons at the helm, Stuart has ran out of excuses.
Supercoach Wayne Bennett has weighed in to the debate, claiming it’s now or never for the legendary halfback to succeed behind the clip board. Asked whether there will be more pressure to deliver from the Raiders faithful due to his history at the club as a player, Bennett did not play it down.
''Ricky was idolised as a player here. The good thing is he's been away for a number of years and he's come back and that's the best way to do it. I don't think starting in Canberra straight after his career would have been the right way”
There is a perception that the Raiders are in tatters, especially after the sacking of arguably their two best players. However Bennett was quick to point out that Stuart had an enviable base to work from. He went so far as to suggest that talks of a rebuild, and the years it often takes to get a team winning again, is not a viable excuse.
''I don't think Ricky has to start from scratch, I think David has done a lot of good things here. One thing they do have in Canberra is talent,'' Bennett said.
''There are hugely talented players like Anthony Milford and Jack Wighton. There's some wonderful young players, Edrick Lee. It's exciting times, he's not starting from scratch.
With questionable recruitment efforts while at the helm of both Cronulla & Parramatta, Ricky Stuart has made attempts to turn that public perception around. While his struggle to keep Anthony Milford in the Green jersey has been one of the game’s worst secrets, a big money offer to raw yet talented young winger Edrick Lee at least netted him one catch. But will it be enough? Bennett laments the talent that has walked out on Stuart during his coaching career, suggesting that he needs to be much more pro-active when it comes to retention.
''Wonderful talent [like Milford] will get them back to where they want to go. But you can't keep losing it, it destroys what you're trying to build. That's in the past now, hopefully they can move forward and make sure they don't have that tragic loss of players.''
Pressed whether Bennett believes that the Raiders will be able to hold on to Milford, despite his wishes to move back to Brisbane to be with his sick father, Bennett was less positive. Despite Stuart himself walking out on the Eels for the same reason, Bennett conceded that if he wanted to keep Anthony, he’d have to play hard-ball.
''If I was the [Raiders'] coach I'd be doing everything I can to keep him,'' Bennett said.
''The talent he's got is rare. The Blake Fergusons, Josh Dugans and Milfords are rare.
''You can't get it every day of the week and if you go back to the great Raiders teams of the 1990s, the one thing that stood out is that they had wonderful talent.
NOTE: THIS IS A FICTIONAL ARTICLE DESIGNED TO SHOW HOW EASY IT IS TO TWIST QUOTES.
