Victorious Stuart remains tight-lipped over Eels future
Parramatta coach Ricky Stuart had the chance to end speculation about his future - but didn't. So while he lamented the speculation as being "unfair" on the Eels, it will continue.
But it could be over as early as next week. With speculation about a move to Canberra intensifying, Stuart said he would address the issue of his future after his club's season ends - on Sunday against Newcastle.
With the Eels' 26-22 win over St George Illawarra placing further pressure on Dragons coach Steve Price, Stuart largely dodged the issue of his own future, saying: "There's a lot of speculation about it. The club, the players more so ... every day there's something in the paper, and I don't want any more speculation about me. I'd rather be here tonight talking about the win. It's something that we haven't been able to talk about much lately.
"I'd like to have some positive press for a change. I'd prefer to talk about the win."But asked if he could end the speculation about his future, Stuart said: "I'll talk about it after the season's done. I want a week there where we can go and move into Newcastle with a preparation where we don't have to be worrying about what's in the papers. I mean, it's unfair on the players. I don't want to talk about it, because I want the players to be able to read about a good win, the team spirit they showed, the camaraderie that's still in the group.
"That's more important than anything else at the moment."
The Eels certainly showed fight, especially without their key fullback Jarryd Hayne and having lost their last match 64-4 against Melbourne. "We were pretty embarrassed walking in here, and we needed to leave better," Stuart said.
"That was important. Individually, we all knew, from the coach right through to the players, that we wanted to correct last week's performance, because we were embarrassed. We got our pride dented last week and it was important that we tried to show that there is some pride in the team. It's been a very tough year. It's hard going, but that puts a little bit of joy in your life."
Price's team has now lost six matches in a row - a record stretch for the merger."We're a proud footy club," Price said. "I expected better, the playing group expected better. We came here with a plan. We had great preparation - it's hard at the moment. We've got a lot of young guys who've been thrust into first grade who most probably weren't quite ready at that time, but they're going to reap dividends down the track, especially next year.
"We're learning a valuable lesson at the moment. It is hard."
The Dragons' loss to the wooden spooners was even more surprising given they led 12-0 after 15 minutes.
"It wasn't good enough," Price said. "They were clearly the better team. It's not one of our better performances. We're in a tough spot at the moment, we're in a bit of a flat spot ... it is hard to take at the moment."
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