Sticky start with Canberra Raiders for Ricky Stuart ends up with massive NRL milestone

In amongst all that only the coronavirus has been able to put on hold the now traditional pre-game drinks with a great mate who's also another great coach.

That's a long way of getting to Raiders coach Ricky Stuart's 400^th game as an NRL coach. But that's fair enough, given it's taken a long time getting there.

Thirty-two years in fact. Starting with a Green Machine playing career back in 1988 that saw the boots hung up 243 games later at the Canterbury Bulldogs.

He traded the Bulldogs jersey for an assistant's clipboard, before getting the top gig at the Sydney Roosters. NRL premiership ticked off in his first year as a senior coach in 2002.

Then gigs with the NSW Blues, Kangaroos, Cronulla Sharks and Parramatta before finding his way back to where it all began.

A grand final appearance later and the job's half done in Canberra, with Stuart resurrecting the Green Machine as a premiership contender.

The Raiders players love a milestone and will be especially up for it against the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown on Saturday. Not just for "Sticky". But looking to lick some wounds from last week as well.

It doesn't bode well for the Tigers, who haven't enjoyed the Stuart-led Canberra. Just three wins in 11 attempts.

But it almost all came unstuck from a Canberra perspective before it all began. The Tigers wish it did.

Having been on a Wallabies tour in 1987, Stuart signed with the Raiders for the following season.

Then Raiders club secretary John McIntyre recalled the signing high jinks - designed to help ease in Stuart's arrival with the squad, but it almost eased him out.

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"When I spoke to [the Sydney press I said] that we'd signed Ricky to play lock, because his father played lock and played most positions around the spine," McIntyre said.

"Ricky rang me up and said, 'I'm not going to sign that contract, I'm not playing lock'.

"And I said to him, 'Listen, we've got Chris O'Sullivan, Ivan Henjak, Kevvie Walters and another couple of halfbacks coming through. We've only got one lock, Dean Lance, and I'd rather be fighting Dean Lance than fighting those other four'."

So Stuart was a Raider. Not just any Raider though. The halfback that guided the team to three premierships, played for the Blues and starred for Australia.

Two hundred and three Raiders games later and he shifted to the Bulldogs, with McIntyre's words in his ears: "Don't worry, you'll come back to the Raiders a better coach".

Which he has. But it all started when he guided the Roosters to a premiership in his first season. With "Freddy" Fittler as his five-eighth.

Fittler was 30 and in his last few seasons. Three years. Three grand finals. One win. Two losses.

"I was at the back end of my career and I've got to say he got the best out of me. I thought we had a really good working relationship," Fittler said.

"Everyone talks about his passion. He loves winning and he's happy to do whatever it takes to win.

"In the meantime, he understands footy clubs and footy, understands players and basically drives everyone mad in the meantime."

During his playing days he formed a great friendship with Meninga. That friendship turning into great showmanship when the two were coaching Origin.

Big Mal with the Cane Toads. Sticky the Cockroaches. The pair's competitive spirits only separated by the width of the Tweed.

"There was real strong rivalry," Meninga recalled with a laugh.

"But at the end of the day it was part of the drama and the banter that goes on with Origin too. We were fully aware of that. Pissed ourselves as great mates and adversaries.

"Both media machines above the border and below the border were in full tilt. There were some nice media battles going on, but at the end of the day it didn't affect our mateship.

"But that's how competitive he is and that's how competitive I am. We're struck from the same brush at times."

Competitive is to Stuart what unprecedented is to the coronavirus. Passionate and mateship too.

One of those mates is Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy. The pair met when Stuart first joined the Raiders.

Bellamy had a few years on the young, talented Stuart. But the age gap didn't stop them clicking.

Now that mateship is still going strong. They usually catch up for a pre-game beer whenever their teams meet. Provided there's no COVID-19 pandemic getting in the way.

"When he came to play we pretty much clicked straight away to be honest. We had a lot of things in common on how we grew up, what sort of families we grew up with," Bellamy said.

"There was a lot of similarities there to be quite honest. I'm not sure whether that was the reason.

"Obviously footy was important to us, families were important to us, we used to have a couple of beers and a game of golf as well."

NRL ROUND FIVE

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium, 7.35pm. Live on Fox League.

Raiders team: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Bailey Simonsson 3. Jarrod Croker (C) 4. Curtis Scott 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. George Williams 8. Josh Papalii 9. Josh Hodgson (C) 10. Dunamis Lui 11. Joe Tapine 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Corey Horsburgh 14. Siliva Havili 15. Emre Guler 16. Sia Soliola 17. Jordan Rapana 18. Tom Starling 19. Matt Frawley 20. Ryan Sutton 21. Michael Oldfield.

Wests Tigers team: 1. Adam Doueihi 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Joey Leilua 4. Moses Mbye 5. Tommy Talau 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Luke Brooks 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Harry Grant 10. Zane Musgrove 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Chris Lawrence 13. Alex Twal 14. Thomas Mikaele 15. Russell Packer 16. Michael Chee-Kam 17. Alex Seyfarth 18. Benji Marshall 19. Luke Garner 20. Billy Walters 21. Corey Thompson.