Ricky Stuart laughs off Canberra’s slow starts
Jasper Bruce |
An amused Ricky Stuart is at a loss to explain Canberra’s recent Jekyll-and-Hyde performances as the Raiders prepare for wet and wild conditions against St George Illawarra.
Since their round-19 bye, the ladder-leading Raiders have made a habit of going tit for tat before the break, only to blow their opponents away in the second half.
Canberra have won the second half of their past two games by a combined total of 54-0, but lost the first halves of those clashes against Parramatta and Newcastle by 34-30.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” said a laughing Stuart when asked to explain the dramatic second-half turnarounds.
“You’ve got to take what it is. There’s times there when we have got to good leads and been run down, and then we’ve run down leads. We’re certainly very versatile.”
Famously one of the NRL’s most passionate figures, Stuart was hopeful for less of an emotional rollercoaster in Wollongong on Saturday night.
“But it’s not going to be,” he said.
“You look at last night’s game (Melbourne’s tight win over 15th-placed Parramatta). Everyone thinks certain teams are just going to roll through other teams. It’s not the case.
“There’s teams performing out there that are still playing for pride.”
The Raiders are aiming for only the fourth 10-game winning streak in their 44-year history against the 12th-placed Dragons.
South-easterly winds of up to 35km/h and a 95 per cent chance of rain have been predicted at the Dragons’ coastal home ground in Wollongong.
“There’s going to be one very, very difficult half of football if it’s actually occurs the way it’s predicted,” Stuart said.
“Kicking game is important but against those types of winds, there’s a lot more comes into it. You’ve got to have a pretty healthy set of six in regards to getting your team into position to get to a kick.”
The Raiders have centre Seb Kris back from concussion and could welcome second-rower Matty Nicholson in for next week’s clash with Manly.
Stuart has been impressed by the Englishman’s progress after an ankle injury interrupted a great first season in the NRL.
“I was only just talking to him this morning, I was giving him a compliment in regards to how well he was looking out there running yesterday,” Stuart said.
Nicholson’s recovery would create a selection dilemma given Simi Sasagi and Zac Hosking’s excellent form in recent weeks.
“You don’t like having to tell players that they’re not in the 17 but it’s my job to pick the best team for that weekend,” Stuart said.
AAP
