BY DAN

In something we flagged as a likelihood in the pre-season, the Daily Telegraph is reporting that Ricky Stuart is set to sign an extension as coach of the Canberra Raiders. While that was predictable, the length of this likely deal is frankly astounding. If this reporting is correct, Stuart will coach the Raiders until the end of 2029.

Stick has overseen a period of success not replicated in any other period for the Raiders outside of their golden era. Now in his eleventh year with the club, he’s supervised a side that has returned to relevance, making a grand final, two other preliminary finals, and three other finals appearances. The club has found a voice in the league under his stewardship, re-established itself as an organisation that has a plan to succeed. He’s even set it up with an envious pipeline of talent to support growth over the coming years. This is something that we should be grateful for.

He’s done this largely through a coaching style that is a contradiction as much as a method. It’s been both flexible and inflexible. Some years Canberra keep pace with change (and even occasionally lead it), at other times they’ve felt behind the times. Stuart has both modernised the Raiders football approach and been a symbol of its more ‘old-fashioned’ approaches. One would question his approach but never his commitment. He’s been at the heart of everything the Milk have managed, gruffly driving the success the club has had through a myopic belief and an emotional attachment to the club that overshadows, for better or worse, all other avenues available to the club.

For most an extension would have brought out the same contradictory feelings Stuart does. Happiness at what he’s achieved, frustration that he’s not achieved more. Wherever you stood with Stuart, chances are him signing on for more time wouldn’t have surprised you. It’s probable you feel the same way about him coaching today, as yesterday, as you will tomorrow. Stuart’s been a part of this side for so long that it felt inevitable another extension would come.

Four years however, I did not see coming. One would think that’s the end of his coaching career, and a period of time he wanted to see if he could turn the current crop of talent into premiership winners. By then the Papalii and Tapine generation will either be done or near to it, the Young/Horsburgh era will be at the end of their primes, and the Strange/Stewart/Sanders group will probably begin to touch the edges of their potential. An optimist would think that is enough time and talent for a premiership.

This is a critical juncture for the club. The length of this deal speaks of the trust that the Raiders board, organisation and the community more broadly has in Stuart to deliver that. The players that are here have largely come because of Stuart. The organisation is structured around his personality, rugby league brain and emotional force. So you can see the club is essentially pushing its chips into the middle and going all-in that what is currently driving the success they’ve had will be enough to take this talent to the next level and deliver what we’ve all wanted since 1994.

It doubles down on our assertion of his centrality to the organisation. This deal guarantees his position longer than any player at the club. It’s a risk. The best part 16 years of one voice for the club, on top of the 10 he was critical as a player. We’ve established that he has become synonymous with the Raiders; not just a key part of the organisation but its heart and soul. By the end of this deal the possible that he’s more than that, and then the risk of what comes after is real. The post-Stuart rebuild will be fascinating. Who is this club without Ricky?

One might say contracts don’t matter in rugby league and that’s a fair position to take. A million coaches have signed massive deals only to fail to see them out. The one exception to this seems to be Canberra. If this deal is finalised and announced then I would expect that Stuart is with the club through the rest of the decade, for better or worse. The club is trusting him to turn what is promised into reality.

Here’s hoping his time ends with a premiership.

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