Itās almost 10 years to the day since
Ricky Stuart punted then caretaker Brad Arthur from Parramattaās coaching staff when he took over the struggling Eels.
All these years on from Stuartās tumultuous one-year reign, the now Canberra coach will take on the bloke he once brushed in
Friday nightās NRL elimination final, also marking the first ever playoff between the two clubs.
The Eels faithful will forever remember Stuart walking out on them with two years left on his contract after claiming the wooden spoon in 2013.
For that, Stuart can always expect a hostile reception every time he returns to Parramatta.
The abuse heās copped over the years has at times been relentless, yet you never hear him complain, although sometimes heās been known to give back as good as he gets.
It promises to be no different at CommBank Stadium this week
It remains to be seen whether Stuart will take his familiar seat on the sideline and run the gauntlet for whatās sure to be a fiery greeting or watch the game from the safety of the coaching box.
But to mark the occasion, hereās a look back at Stuartās strife-torn time at the Eels.
From that infamous whiteboard player culling session, to an ugly post season blow up at the presentation night, and how the Raiders got under the Eelsā guard to sign Stuart, but kept it secret until after the season.
That ultimately ended in a sliding doors moment for Arthur to come back and forge his own head coaching career.
For the Stuart haters, weāve also uncovered a stunning statistic that will shock many in the countdown to this sudden death shootout, showing Stuartās strike rate in finals matches is even better than the likes of Craig Bellamy, Trent Robinson, Ivan Cleary and Wayne Bennett.
THE DAY STUART SENT ARTHUR PACKING
Despite having one year left on his contract after taking over as caretaker following Stephen Kearneyās sacking near the end of 2012, Arthur said at the time: āI have spoken to Ricky and he has indicated that I wonāt be part of his NRL coaching staff.
āI wonāt be an assistant coach and I want to be involved in the NRL, so I guess Iāve got to see whatās out there.ā
In the end Arthur took a job at Manly under Geoff Toovey, while Stuart brought in Dean Pay and Matt Parish as his assistants.
The Eels ended up finishing last after also claiming the wooden spoon the previous year.
Stuartās stint was unfortunately best remembered for that
infamous āwhiteboardā incident that marked the Eelsā biggest player clean-out in history.
All up, 12 players were told their futures were uncertain including the likes of Reni Maitua, Ben Smith, Matt Keating and Willie Tonga.
At the time it was portrayed as a heartless way to cull unwanted players when the squad was called to a meeting only to find certain names written on the board who would not be required the following season, while others were also put on notice.
From Stuartās perspective, he had been sent in to overhaul a roster that was horribly underperforming.
He also thought he had the full backing of the clubās hierarchy to make the tough calls necessary.
It was only after he started hearing stories of how he was being knifed in the back that Stuart could see the writing on the wall for himself.
Fortunately for him, thatās when the Raiders came knocking.
HOW RAIDERS GOT UNDER THE EELSā GUARD
That season Canberra was going through a turbulent period of their own.
Chief executive Don Furner had been forced to sack his brother and club legend Dave as head coach with only three rounds to play following a player mutiny.
Stuart was the only coach the Raiders approached to take over.
But given Furner was also Stuartās best mate from their school days, he left himself out of the discussion until it was sorted.
Ultimately it was left to director Terry Weber to get the deal done.
Stuart ultimately copped a lot of criticism for not being up front to the Eels players and fans until after the season.
But it was clear to all that he just wasnāt the right fit at the club, and he desperately wanted to return to Canberra for family reasons as well as to coach the club he loved as a player.
If Stuart had stayed at Parramatta chances are his coaching career would have ended long before now, because that type of environment was just not conducive to his emotional personality.
But with support and trust at the Raiders, Stuart has gone on to become Canberraās longest serving coach after recently passing the great Tim Sheens, while raising millions for the Ricky Stuart Foundation set up in honour of his daughter Emma to help with autism respite care.
He has also proven to be not just a coach at the Raiders, but a club saviour in many ways by putting Canberra back on the rugby league map, after many at head office thought they no longer held any relevance.
RICKYāS FINALS RECORD BEST OF THE MODERN ERA
Fox Sports Stats show that during the State of Origin era which kicked off in 1980, Stuartās finals strike is the best of any coach (with at least five appearances), at 68.2 per cent with 15 wins from 22 matches.
To put that in perspective Bellamy is next with 64 per cent (30 from 47), Robinson 59.1 per cent (13 from 22), Cleary 55 per cent (11 from 20), Des Hasler 53.3 per cent (16 from 30), while Bennett is 51.4 per cent (38 from 74).
Arthurās finals record stands at 22.2 per cent with two wins from nine appearances.
And while Arthur is yet to make it past week two of the finals, Stuart has made it at least until the third week preliminary final on every occasion heās entered the play-offs.
THE PRESENTATION BLOW UP
Stuartās stormy Parramatta stint all came to a fiery end at the presentation night.
Following his decision to quit, Stuart was warned not to attend through fear it could blow up, but he wanted to make one final appearance.
He copped some nasty looks on the way in, but all seemed to be going okay until he was approached by an official who Stuart believed had been badmouthing him behind his back.
So when approached with what Stuart took as a false show of goodwill, he gave it to the official straight to his face.
āGet f***ed you c***ā was the conversation in a nutshell.
With that he stayed just long enough to deliver his speech before heading out the door and back home to Canberra, where he never plans to leave.
Stuart is often criticised for his emotional and at times over the top reactions.
But the one thing you always know is where you stand with him because if he doesnāt like you, you will be the first to know.
For better or worse, thatās who he is, and he makes no apologies for it.
Itās just a shame Eels fans never really got to know the bloke the Raiders absolutely adore.
