Ricky Stuart is the master motivator, careful with every word he chooses and it was no different last Saturday after Canberra’s 28-20 upset win over Melbourne.
With the first suggestion that the Raiders had suddenly catapulted themselves into premiership calculations, Stuart was quick to be on the defensive, swift to start the mind games.
“No one expects us to win, no one expects us to beat Parramatta,” he said.
Of course, that could not be further from the truth. After all, Stuart-coached teams have made the finals seven times and on every occasion have progressed through to the third week.
Parramatta, on the other hand, has not won a semi-finals match since 2009.
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But still, even as the markets shorten and the noise grows louder that Canberra could be the competition’s finals dark horse, Stuart will have his players believing something very different.
“Ricky Stuart has his team taking it personal, they have that mentality of it’s us versus the world,” Corey Parker said on Fox League last week.
“They bind together and really rally for each other. They pull you down into the trenches.”
It is not as if Stuart himself will be short of motivation this week either, with a chance to have the last laugh as fallout from his Eels exit still lingers, almost a decade later.
Parker spoke of Stuart’s team “taking it personal” and according to The Australian’s Brent Read, there is certainly reason for added motivation from the Raiders on Friday night.
“You say there is some bad blood on the Parramatta side,” Read said on ‘NRL 360’.
“We all know Ricky can carry a grudge at times, I am sure he would love to knock Parramatta out of the finals.”
More than anything though, the “bad blood” Read referenced may be more relevant to Parramatta’s fanbase given the circumstances in which Stuart exited the club back in 2013.
Most contentious was Stuart’s infamous overhead projector culling session, in which 12 Eels players became the victims of Parramatta’s largest cleanout in club history.
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The problem is none of them really saw it coming, with the 30 players who attended the team meeting divided into three groups — Yes, No and Maybe.
Seven players were told they were not in Stuart’s plans for the next season while five were told they faced the same fate if they did not lift their standards in the second half of the 2013 season.
Reports at the time claimed players left the meeting with red eyes, with co-captain Reni Maitua among the 12 to be named and shamed in front of their teammates.
Cheyse Blair was another, having been dropped to NSW Cup and then suffered a season-ending injury before being dealt the biggest blow of them all, telling News Corp at the time the news was “shattering”.
“Then came the overhead projector,’’ Blair said.
“And everything changed… and when you have no idea it’s coming — shattering. To see my name up there with the whole club watching on — players, staff, everyone — I just couldn’t believe it.
“Afterwards, I was supposed to meet the physio but, yeah, I couldn’t. I know some of the other blokes hung around to talk about it all. How it was done. But I just wanted to go home.
“At the time, I was actually happy to be injured . . . I didn’t know how the other guys would be able to go back and play for a coach who didn’t want them.
“I remember later that same afternoon, one of the Eels staff members rang to check on each of us and I know a lot of the boys were really upset.”
Eels chief executive Ken Edwards defended the move at the time, hitting back at critics who labelled it “heartless” and adamant a change needed to be made at the club.
“We brought them together in a very caring way to talk to them about the future of the club,” he told News Corp.
“Certainly those I discussed it with knew we had to make changes and it had come to that point where we couldn’t wait any longer.
“We thought we did it in an environment where they were all together and we could talk to them together. We spoke to them specifically about the need to support one another in tough times, those that were leaving and those that were staying. We spoke openly about how tough it was.”
Stuart had been tasked with rebuilding the struggling Eels but left with two years on his deal, having taken out back-to-back wooden spoons.
Superstar fullback Jarryd Hayne sad at the time that he sensed something was up with Stuart before he confirmed he would be leaving for family reasons.
“Personally, I saw it coming,” Hayne told News Corp at the time.
“The way Ricky was acting over the last two or three weeks, I felt something was up. A decision like that – I always knew it was on his mind. He’s made it, it’s on his shoulders I guess.”
Less than 24 hours after he had announced his exit, Stuart was addressing fans, sponsors, past and present players, coaches and management at Parramatta’s presentation night.
He was heckled by some in attendance but Stuart was defiant in the face of criticism.
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“I’ve been assassinated over the last day and I’ll be assassinated again tomorrow,” Stuart said at the time.
“But they are small-minded people. They don’t understand the big decision I’ve had to make.”
“It’s been very hard, it’s been very difficult, it’s a very big decision. I’ve had a lot of criticism today. It’s not easy to take.
“I’ve had my character judged. I made a decision that’s best for my career and my family and I’ll wear all the criticism.”
And Stuart wore the criticism, he wore the boos and then the chants of ‘Ricky, Ricky, Ricky’ that consumed Pirtek Stadium as Parramatta exacted revenge with a 36-6 win in 2016.
“It was a volatile time at the club, they had finished with the wooden spoon the year before he got there, they finished with the wooden spoon the year he was there,” Paul Kent said on ‘NRL 360’.
“And then he turned up on presentation night and told them all he was going back to Canberra, and they all booed him. I remember talking to him at the time and I was surprised he was going to the presentation, given it was pretty much out he wanted to go. He said he wanted to front everyone and explain.
“Which happened, an official told him he was unimpressed with what he had done and he told the official what he thought of him.”
Even in the face of intense “criticism” and character assassinations, Stuart stood tall at the Parramatta presentation night to “front everyone and explain” himself, as Kent put it.
“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve had to make this decision and I’m proud of the fact I’ve got the courage to do it,” Stuart said at the time.
“I’ll continue to get the criticism, but I will stand strong and I’ll cop the criticism and I’ll cop the punishment whilst everyone knows it’s the best decision for myself and my family.”
Stuart distanced himself from suggestions of any remaining animosity when speaking to 2GB earlier this week, declaring it is a “grudge match for a lot of other people outside myself”.
“I’ve got nothing to have a grudge on,” he said, adding: “I got to Canberra and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity. I love being here”.
At the time, Stuart said the ruthless cleanout was needed for Parramatta to take a step forward and as controversial as it may have been at the time, Kent agreed it was the right move.
“Ricky, for all the lacerations he took for the way he told all those players they weren’t going to be a part of Parramatta’s future, he actually helped Brad Arthur,” Kent said.
“Because instead of taking three this year, three the next and three the year after and slowly weeding them out, it was done in one big go, 10 of them out of the club which allowed Parramatta to start again.
“The salary cap was in all sorts of trouble, and it was in all sorts of trouble after he left when the board were found to be cheating it. They were penalised, but Brad Arthur has done a brilliant job rebuilding Parramatta.”
Now, Parramatta is in its best position yet to contest for a title, before the imminent departures of Reed Mahoney and Isaiah Papalii to the Bulldogs and Tigers respectively.
Ricky’s Raiders though have a chance to spoil it and continue their charge towards an unlikely premiership.
