Ricky Stuart's stupidity cost him dearly
December 8th 2008 07:40
In the aftermath of Australia's Rugby League World Cup Final loss to New Zealand, there was always going to be one key casualty who would pay the ultimate price for an unexpected failure.
At the end of 2005, Wayne Bennett was the scapegoat for the Kangaroos Tri-nations final loss to the Kiwis which ultimately cost him his position as head coach.
In 2006, Bennett was replaced by current Sharks coach Ricky Stuart, who was handed the job of regaining the Kangaroos world no.1 crown after it had been taken by New Zealand, courtesy of a 24 nil whitewash in the Tri-nations final the year before.
Stuart did exactly that.
He restored the Kangaroos league dominance when he helped wrestle world supremacy away from the Kiwis, by winning the 2006 Tri-nations tournament here in Australia.
Since that result, Stuart enjoyed a golden period coaching the Kangaroos, which culminated in a record breaking 58 nil win over New Zealand late last year - the biggest winning margin against their Tran Tasman rivals.
In the lead up to this years world cup, Stuart's Kangaroos were so dominant, most fans thought the tournament would be one of the biggest one sided contests ever to be called a world cup.
Many critics of the game even had problems with the ten team tournament being called a world cup, judging from the recent results heavily favouring an Australian victory.
Indeed Stuart kept those thoughts well and truly alive at the beginning of this years world cup, with his no mercy attitude installing the Kangaroos with a killer instinct that plunged heavyweight rivals, New Zealand and England, to crushing defeats in the group stages.
In the semi-final against Fiji, the Kangaroos scored 16 points in the opening nine minutes to effectively end the game as a contest and secure their inevitable place on League's biggest stage.
Prior to the start of the world cup final, Stuart's record coaching Australia was sublime - 12 wins and just the one loss against Great Britain in 2006.
As brilliant as it was however, Stuart only needed to lose his second game at Suncorp Stadium in front of a record test crowd, to see the position of Australian head coach disappear before him.
The Kangaroos were humbled 34-20 by the Kiwis, ending a sequence consisting of six consecutive world cups wins for Australia.
Although the limelight was firmly placed on fullback Billy Slater for his blunder close to the Kangaroos tryline, the pressure was always going to be on Stuart for the loss - pressure that really got the best of him.
Rather than come to terms with New Zealand's deserved world cup victory, Stuart was reported to be so disturbed by the defeat, that he verbally attacked ARL CEO Geoff Carr, claiming that tournament organizers and match officials conspired against the Kangaroos in the final.
He also verbally abused English world cup final referee Ashley Klein and director of Referee's Stuart Cummings, calling them cheats and citing them as the reasons why the Kangaroos lost the world cup.
One now believes that if Stuart just swallowed his thoughts, he would still be Kangaroos head coach.
But in the aftermath of his comments, Stuart has been forced to quit the most honourable coaching position in Australian rugby league, really out of his own doing.
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Comment by Chris Champion
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What would sport be without boilovers, hey? If only the boilovers always happened to the other mob.
Comment by Anonymous
Thanks for the support mate and it seems the league world cup won you over a fair bit. New Zealand played brilliantly in the final and deserved the championship.
Although Australia usually dominate the one off test matches, rugby league is a great game to watch particularly on a a dry surface like Suncorp Stadium. Credit must be given to the ground staff for keeping the ground dry despite the storms that plagued Brisbane. Good on em.
Comment by Chris Champion
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Funny how Orble logs you off when you switch to your own posts innit
I had thought - from the point of view of the ignorant - of league as a fairly dour battle for incremental territorial advantage. Maybe it once was, or maybe I just happened to watch a few league games on rain-soaked pitches (when of course any code becomes a dour battle).
This World Cup showed me what a fast, inventive game it can be. The biggest conversion factor was the first PNG game I watched. The passion and flair - and they had such a bloody great time doing it.
And yes, sport being what it is, it's great to see the underdog win.