39 Facts About Ricky Stuart

1.

Ricky John Stuart was born on 7 January 1967 and is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and a former rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

2.

Ricky Stuart was the head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team, having replaced Craig Bellamy following a fifth consecutive failure in the 2010 series.

3.

At club level, Ricky Stuart was the half-back of the "Green Machine", the Canberra Raiders team that won three premierships in 1989,1990 and 1994 and were runners-up in 1991 who were coached by Tim Sheens.

4.

Ricky Stuart had originally played rugby league as a child, but he took up rugby union while attending St Edmund's College.

5.

Ricky Stuart then switched codes to league and joined the Canberra Raiders team in 1988, winning the club's player of the year award that season.

6.

Ricky Stuart was a key member of the club's most successful period in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, playing halfback inside a backline including legendary talents Laurie Daley, Mal Meninga and Gary Belcher.

7.

Ricky Stuart would go on to win three premierships with the Canberra Raiders.

8.

Ricky Stuart was named man-of-the-match in the second game of the 1990 State of Origin series.

9.

Ricky Stuart won the Clive Churchill Medal in the Raiders' 1990 grand final victory.

10.

Ricky Stuart debuted in the first test of the 1990 Kangaroo tour against Great Britain in London in October 1990, playing five-eighth outside Allan Langer.

11.

Ricky Stuart replaced Langer at halfback in the next test.

12.

In 1992 and 1993, Ricky Stuart was again named the Raiders' player of the year and in 1993 Ricky Stuart won the Dally M Medal for the Winfield Cup's Player of the Year.

13.

Ricky Stuart went on the 1994 Kangaroo Tour and his first test of the tour was the 2nd test.

14.

Ricky Stuart retired from first grade after playing 243 games for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders in 1989 to 2000 after failing to recover from a recurring knee injury.

15.

Ricky Stuart began his first grade coaching career in 2002 with the Sydney Roosters, taking over from Graham Murray and winning the premiership in his first year as coach.

16.

The 2004 Ricky Stuart-coached Roosters side was beaten in the Grand Final, but the team struggled in 2005 and 2006.

17.

Ricky Stuart's contract was terminated and he left the Roosters two weeks before the end of the 2006 season.

18.

On 19 July 2010, Ricky Stuart resigned as Cronulla-Sutherland coach six weeks before the end of the 2010 season.

19.

Ricky Stuart said that he decided to leave Cronulla after he felt that he no longer had the support of his players.

20.

Ricky Stuart went on to say "I just feel I can't get that extra bit out of them at the moment, Talking to the players at halftime and after the game, I could probably sense with them that this was the only decision".

21.

Ricky Stuart leaving the club ended yet another tenure prematurely and at loggerheads with club executives, members and players, with Cronulla appointing Shane Flanagan as his replacement.

22.

Ricky Stuart signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Parramatta Eels, beginning in 2013.

23.

The Eels had in recent years been perennial underachievers, with Ricky Stuart set the unenviable task of resurrecting the team after the team finished last in 2012.

24.

On 11 September 2013, Ricky Stuart announced that he was quitting the Parramatta Eels to join the Canberra Raiders as head coach on a three-year contract to continue his coaching career.

25.

Ricky Stuart took up the head coach position of the Canberra Raiders on a three-year deal in 2014.

26.

Ricky Stuart was later fined $10,000 by the NRL for his post match comments.

27.

In 2016, Ricky Stuart coached Canberra to a second-placed finish at the end of the regular season.

28.

In July 2018 after a match against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in which a refereeing mistake led to a try lost the raiders the game, Ricky Stuart demanded that the NRL overhaul the bunker system responsible to reviewing potential tries.

29.

Ricky Stuart was a weak gutted dog as a kid and he hasn't changed now.

30.

On 9 August 2022, Ricky Stuart was fined $25,000 and suspended for one match from the NRL over his comments towards Salmon.

31.

In 2005, Ricky Stuart was appointed coach of the New South Wales.

32.

On 17 November 2010, Ricky Stuart was appointed as the state's first full-time coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team for two years.

33.

Ricky Stuart coached the Blues for the 2011 series, which was lost to the Maroons by two games to one.

34.

Ricky Stuart continued in the NSW head coaching role for the 2012 series, which was lost by two games to one.

35.

Shortly after signing on as Parramatta Eels coach for the 2013 season onwards, Ricky Stuart resigned from his role as NSW coach.

36.

Ricky Stuart enjoyed success with the Kangaroos: winning the Anzac Tests of 2006 and 2007, as well as the 2006 Tri-Nations.

37.

Ricky Stuart is reported to have verbally abused both officials in front of a number of witnesses, calling Klein a cheat, and of being physically and aggressively intimidating.

38.

Ricky Stuart is married to his wife Kaylie and they have three children - daughter Emma and two sons Jackson and Jed.

39.

Ricky Stuart was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, for "significant service to rugby league, and to the community".