‘F--- you’: Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler involved in explosive exchange in GIO Stadium tunnel

In an explosive subplot to Canberra’s controversial round 6 win over Gold Coast, Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler were involved in a heated run-in prior to the Raiders coach’s press conference.

Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler.

High-profile NRL coaches Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler were embroiled in a fiery confrontation inside Canberra’s GIO Stadium that ignited their post-match press conferences.

Several witnesses have confirmed the awkward tunnel run-in that ended with Canberra coach Stuart allegedly saying “f... you” to his Gold Coast counterpart Hasler.

The incident occurred in between the respective coach’s press conferences following the Raiders’ 21-20 golden-point win over the Titans in the dying seconds of their Round 6 encounter.

Hasler attended his mandatory post-game press conference where he labelled referee Kasey Badger’s performance “pretty poor”, pointing to Canberra’s “10 six-again (penalties) to one” as evidence.

Multiple sources in the GIO Stadium tunnel claim that after speaking to the media, Hasler walked down the tunnel under the Mal Meninga Grandstand and waited outside the Raiders’ dressing room to tell Stuart what he had said.

Inside, Stuart was having a beer with club officials when told Hasler, a teammate of his on the 1990 Kangaroo tour, was waiting outside.

In the hall, Hasler told Stuart what he had said to the media, and the comments clearly upset the Raiders coach, who, according to witnesses, said: “F... you, we should have got another 15 ‘six-agains’. I’m going to go hard in there (at his media conference).”

Stuart, pleased with his side’s effort and the performance of Badger, headed into his press conference and took a swipe at Hasler.

Onlookers close to Stuart claim the two coaches exchanged feisty words but sources close to Hasler deny the conversation was “heated.”

Stuart and Hasler have enjoyed a long and solid friendship and both privately hope the events of Sunday night won’t end their 35-year mateship.

Hasler and Stuart were not commenting on Monday when contacted by this masthead.

Onlookers claim Hasler told Stuart about the contents of his media conference “because he was a mate.”

Canberra officials are aware several people overheard the Stuart-Hasler conversation.

At his media conference, Hasler said: “I’ll be the first to say that we were ill-disciplined in parts, but in my opinion, I thought the refereeing performance was pretty poor.

“I think a lopsided penalty count, particularly in the area of 10 six-again [penalties] against the one. It just meant we were battling for field position the whole time. Some of that is our fault but the rest was difficult and that’s why it was heartbreaking.”

“F..k me he’s on another planet mate. If Des thinks they were hard done by Kasey tonight then he’s on a completely different planet,“ Stuart said.

Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler.

“The way they were in her face all night, I felt sorry for Kasey out there. She had to withstand a lot of pressure and she did a really good job tonight.

“The way they cheated by holding over the ball and on the ground, if we want to go back to previous years and hold on to the ball then we’ll start cheating too. We should have received another 10-12 six again calls. The game has been a good spectacle this season without the wrestle in the ruck.

“He coached well, but the way they cheated with hands on the ball [in tackles], the way they cheated on the ground. If we want to go back to last year or the years we’ve had, no worries. We’ll start wrestling and we’ll start cheating too.”

NRL head of football Graham Annesley on Monday conceded the Titans should have been awarded a set restart — and a potential matchwinning penalty — right in front of the posts after confirming Raiders rookie Chevy Stewart rushed out of the line from an offside position and charged down a Kieran Foran field goal attempt.

No call was made and Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty ultimately kicked a field goal to give the Raiders the victory.

Hasler questioned that call at the press conference, saying: “I have some doubts over the offside nature of the charge down. Did they review it? They didn’t review it. Why not?”

The Titans returned to the Gold Coast on Monday afternoon to start preparing for Saturday’s game against Manly, the club Hasler remains locked in legal proceedings against.

Originally published as ‘F--- you’: Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler involved in explosive exchange in GIO Stadium tunnel