Opinion Is Ricky Stuart the most overrated coach ever?

[nick87]

Pangai junior wanted to play under Wayne Bennett and made it clear he wasn’t going to re-sign. Sure Ricky sent him on his way, but from reports at the time he was a bad influence at training and so on, basically acted out to force the club’s hand.

Can’t blame someone with a shitty attitude on Ricky, although I’m sure some will try.

He wanted out because he wasn’t getting the opportunities he and many of us felt he had earned in FG
he saw a bunch of under performing idiots selected in front of him and players at other clubs and who were no where near his talent or his form at lower levels get their chance
And he was made to wait so that we could have Joel Edwards or some other forgettable clown stink it up

We screwed up and TPJ and Vaughan relationships with criminal selection decisions
and their attitudes towards the club was a side effect

 

[Whip Whitaker]

He wanted out because he wasn’t getting the opportunities he and many of us felt he had earned in FG
he saw a bunch of under performing idiots selected in front of him and players at other clubs and who were no where near his talent or his form at lower levels get their chance
And he was made to wait so that we could have Joel Edwards or some other forgettable clown stink it up

We screwed up and TPJ and Vaughan relationships with criminal selection decisions
and their attitudes towards the club was a side effect

Yup agreed. However, I will say that Vaughan wanted dollars that even his most biased followers would question he was worth. Of course, a few games at the Dragons, and he was already living up to the price tag.

 

[Whip Whitaker]

It doesn't.
It's the constant underachievement that makes us think he's a shithouse coach.

After the first three successful years (where he was gifted a great side created by Muz and Gus) he has made the finals twice in his last eleven seasons as coach. 2 out of 11. 18%. Eighteen percent!

Think about it - Stuart coached teams are in the bottom half of the competition 82% of the time. The Cowboys make the Grand Final as often as Sticky makes the top 8; Manly, Storm and the Roosters win Premierships as frequently. If the Dragons don't make the finals for another six years, Mary McGregor's record will be as good.

Add to that the petulant press conferences where he blames everything under the sun for his losses; luck, the weather, the opposition cheating, the refs, the judiciary, the rules, his own players, the player recruitment of previous coaches and even the media. Everyone but himself. While that makes for an amusing (and vaguely cringe-worthy) spectacle, it doesn't resolve the primary issue...

...Sticky is a piss poor coach.

And ironically Ricky brought entertainment back to the NRL. The Raiders haven't lived up to the hype after 2016, but a lot of boring/robotic/structured teams feared a bit of a revolution going on because of that 2016 Raiders team, and sought to bring more true footy back to counter the Raiders.

The Raiders never came again, but other teams got on the bus (pun not intended) with that brand of footy in addition to the tools they already had. The Raiders inadvertently created a monster in the 2017 Melbourne Storm who suddenly added more speed and flair to their existing structures.

 

[nick87]

Yup agreed. However, I will say that Vaughan wanted dollars that even his most biased followers would question he was worth. Of course, a few games at the Dragons, and he was already living up to the price tag.

Vaughan’s level of play at the dragons is absolutely not different to the level he showed at the raiders when I was on here saying he was NSW’s best middle
No one paid attention, but he’s always been a gun. He was worth what he wanted and the raiders should have given it to him... instraad they gave it to Paulo and Boyd, 49 minute, sluggish, lazy middles who quickly departed.

At the time Stuart was coming off the clubs best year in 20 seasons. And was a few ill timed injuries (Hodgson playing on one leg, Croker and Leilua both absolutely shot to bits) away from maybe going to the big dance
So he earned the right to make the decisions about his squad. But they’ve proven now to be clearly the incorrect decisions as it relates to Vaughan and TPJ

 

[Whip Whitaker]

Vaughan’s level of play at the dragons is absolutely not different to the level he showed at the raiders when I was on here saying he was NSW’s best middle
No one paid attention, but he’s always been a gun. He was worth what he wanted and the raiders should have given it to him... instraad they gave it to Paulo and Boyd, 49 minute, sluggish, lazy middles who quickly departed.

At the time Stuart was coming off the clubs best year in 20 seasons. And was a few ill timed injuries (Hodgson playing on one leg, Croker and Leilua both absolutely shot to bits) away from maybe going to the big dance
So he earned the right to make the decisions about his squad. But they’ve proven now to be clearly the incorrect decisions as it relates to Vaughan and TPJ

I live in Canberra and watch a lot of their games. So I agree to extent, but I do see improvement at the Dragons. Probably because props seem to get better with age, and that he has a bit of fire in his belly after leaving the Raiders who were pretty close to his heart. No doubt he was good in Canberra. Had a good knack of scoring a try too.

 

[GreenMachine121]

Tpj and Vaughn must have had other issues as every time I have seen them for broncos and stgeorge respectively they have gone pretty decent , signing Paulo was pretty dumb in hindsight but I would say that Boyd let playing for Australia go to his head ... didn’t play anywhere near his potential after that .
Raiders could hav done a lot better than Edwards but our administration seem to love buying one dimensional players

If only Robbie Farah hadn’t convinced Tedesco to reneg on his contract ( Farah left tigers for Souths not longer after the dog merkin )

 

[GreenMachine121]

In saying that it’s extremely hard to get elite players to play in Canberra or for Ricky Stuart .... I know captain obviously but yeah

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

In saying that it’s extremely hard to get elite players to play in Canberra or for Ricky Stuart .... I know captain obviously but yeah

Even the players, the majority of which are as thick as a Quran know he is an overrated hack.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

If Edrick Lee could catch the goofy prick the raiders would of made that GF in 16

 

[skeepe]

He wanted out because he wasn’t getting the opportunities he and many of us felt he had earned in FG
he saw a bunch of under performing idiots selected in front of him and players at other clubs and who were no where near his talent or his form at lower levels get their chance
And he was made to wait so that we could have Joel Edwards or some other forgettable clown stink it up

We screwed up and TPJ and Vaughan relationships with criminal selection decisions
and their attitudes towards the club was a side effect

Ah right. Didn’t know that part of the story. Makes sense.

I get a feeling Ricky doesn’t like having his authority questioned.

That said, if Vaughan and TPJ had a problem there were better ways to handle it.

 

[some11]

It doesn't.
It's the constant underachievement that makes us think he's a shithouse coach.

After the first three successful years (where he was gifted a great side created by Muz and Gus) he has made the finals twice in his last eleven seasons as coach. 2 out of 11. 18%. Eighteen percent!

Think about it - Stuart coached teams are in the bottom half of the competition 82% of the time. The Cowboys make the Grand Final as often as Sticky makes the top 8; Manly, Storm and the Roosters win Premierships as frequently. If the Dragons don't make the finals for another six years, Mary McGregor's record will be as good.

Add to that the petulant press conferences where he blames everything under the sun for his losses; luck, the weather, the opposition cheating, the refs, the judiciary, the rules, his own players, the player recruitment of previous coaches and even the media. Everyone but himself. While that makes for an amusing (and vaguely cringe-worthy) spectacle, it doesn't resolve the primary issue...

...Sticky is a piss poor coach.

Even as a non-Raiders fan this pisses me off. And they extended his contract!

He's as arrogant as they come too

https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/02/02....-im-here-for-another-two-years-ricky-stuart/

Ricky Stuart has heard the voices of discontent predicting he and Parramatta mentor Brad Arthur are the two head coaches most likely to be axed in 2019 if their teams don't make the NRL finals.

And he's honest in his self assessment.

"Why wouldn't I be?" the Canberra coach told NRL.com of the commentary pressing against him. "I haven't made the eight in the last two years."

--

"I'm sorry to disappoint anybody but I'm here for another two years," Stuart said.

"It's a situation in that it is what it is. There have been a lot of things happen to this squad that I haven't been able to control. But there's also been things I can control.

"I'm very happy with the roster I have now. The past couple of seasons there have been a lot of uncontrollables but that happens at this elite level.

"I'm not oblivious to that kind of talk that I'm under pressure.

"But it also doesn't scare me in the slightest. I can't work any harder to make this club as successful as I can. I can't do any more than my best. So time will tell."

Time has told - and you're a f**king shit coach!

 

[GreenMachine121]

Even as a non-Raiders fan this pisses me off. And they extended his contract!

He's as arrogant as they come too

https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/02/02....-im-here-for-another-two-years-ricky-stuart/

Ricky Stuart has heard the voices of discontent predicting he and Parramatta mentor Brad Arthur are the two head coaches most likely to be axed in 2019 if their teams don't make the NRL finals.

And he's honest in his self assessment.

"Why wouldn't I be?" the Canberra coach told NRL.com of the commentary pressing against him. "I haven't made the eight in the last two years."

--

"I'm sorry to disappoint anybody but I'm here for another two years," Stuart said.

"It's a situation in that it is what it is. There have been a lot of things happen to this squad that I haven't been able to control. But there's also been things I can control.

"I'm very happy with the roster I have now. The past couple of seasons there have been a lot of uncontrollables but that happens at this elite level.

"I'm not oblivious to that kind of talk that I'm under pressure.

"But it also doesn't scare me in the slightest. I can't work any harder to make this club as successful as I can. I can't do any more than my best. So time will tell."

Time has told - and you're a f**king shit coach!

If that’s his best he needs to get a lot f**king better ....
selections
Tactics
Game management
Far out he is clueless sometimes

 

[nick87]

Ah right. Didn’t know that part of the story. Makes sense.

I get a feeling Ricky doesn’t like having his authority questioned.

That said, if Vaughan and TPJ had a problem there were better ways to handle it.

TPJ handled it relative well, he got a bit lazy and disengaged but that’s to be expected when you are made to feel like you don’t have a future

Vaughan, less so... if the rumours are even half true he went right off the rails.

I guess I just wonder how different things might be had we given these players the chance to pillars of our pack, as their talent demanded.
And worse, ive got fears were about to do the same with another. Lui is a perfectly decent FGer, but even with all his experience there is no way he’s a major upgrade on Guler.

We lost TPJ because we picked replacement level squad fillers like Joel Edwards over developing a kid who could become a superstar
And here we are again, with Lui and Guler

There is 100 Lui’s, you can go into off season and find a solid #4-5 FG middle, guys with Guler’s upside are rare, and if don’t use him, we’ll lose him

 

[Spot On]

Joel Edwards

Lol

 

[AJB1102]

If Edrick Lee could catch the goofy prick the raiders would of made that GF in 16

Funnily enough Ed left Raiders and has been able to catch, defend and improve his kick returns since.

 

[Noisy Parker]

I don’t think he’s overrated. His results speak for themselves, he’s just a shit coach.

 

[nick87]

Joel Edwards

Lol

Thats one of the knights fans “future origin all-stars” you’re disrespecting there.
SMDH

 

[typicalfan]

Guler in the Canterbury Cup looks like he is ready for first grade and would be a definite upgrade on Lui.

He runs like Vaughan.

 

[mongoose]

Losing TPJ and Vaughan sucks but every team lets good players get away, it's just how it is. Just look at the Cowboys and Ponga. I am more worried about the current players we have making the same old dumb mistakes every year or our non existent line speed in defence. Does Stuart not watch opposition teams rushing off the line to stop easy metres and quick play the balls? The Raiders will do it for a few sets at the start of each half then fall back into just standing and waiting for the attack to come to them. We are by far the worst team in the comp when it comes to this. We are also terrible at wrapping up the ball carrier to stop offloads.

 

[Whip Whitaker]

Losing TPJ and Vaughan sucks but every team lets good players get away, it's just how it is. Just look at the Cowboys and Ponga. I am more worried about the current players we have making the same old dumb mistakes every year or our non existent line speed in defence. Does Stuart not watch opposition teams rushing off the line to stop easy metres and quick play the balls? The Raiders will do it for a few sets at the start of each half then fall back into just standing and waiting for the attack to come to them. We are by far the worst team in the comp when it comes to this. We are also terrible at wrapping up the ball carrier to stop offloads.

I am unhappy the Cowboys lost Ponga, but it is not every day you have an 18 year old talent that other teams are throwing millions at. Hindsight says Newcastle got a bargain. Back then, they were paying massive overs for a kid who had two first grade games on the wing.