Jed Stuart bursting out of dad Ricky’s shadow after being selected in Aussie Sevens team

Jed Stuart has made such an impression on Australian Rugby that Sevens boss Tim Walsh didn’t even know he was the son of a rather famous former Wallaby and Kangaroo - and current NRL coach.

WEEKEND TELEGRAPHS SPECIAL. NOVEMBER 19, 2021.ÊPLEASE CONTACT WEEKEND PIC EDITOR JEFF DARMANIN BEFORE PUBLISHING. Pictured at Centennial Park today is Jed Stuart, the teenage son of Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, who has been selected in the Australian Rugby Sevens squad to travel to Dubai on Monday. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Jed Stuart will have no problem stepping out of the shadow of his famous father Ricky.

At an Australian Rugby Sevens competition earlier this year, national coach Tim Walsh spotted the 193cm forward leaping high and dominating his more experienced rivals.

“Someone said to me, ‘That’s Ricky Stuart’s son’,’’ Walsh said.

Jed Stuart is making a name in his own right.

“And I said, no it’s not, Jed’s six-foot-four — there’s no way it can be.

“Ricky was a halfback. I had no idea there was this family connection.

“I respect Ricky absolutely, but I didn’t even know he was Jed’s father.

“So to that point, Jed has got here completely on his own ability and the way he played.”

Jed has found his own way to the green and gold of Australian Rugby.

The 20-year-old is on a plane to Dubai on Sunday after being chosen in a 14-man squad to represent the Australian men’s sevens team.

The 20-year-old is heading over to Dubai as part of the Aussie Sevens squad..

It is the first step on the way to a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Jed’s selection comes 34 years after Stuart represented the Wallabies, before switching codes to win premierships with Canberra, State of Origin series victories with NSW and Test matches for Australia.

Jed’s debut on the world stage with the men’s sevens team means that he is also on a path towards next year’s Commonwealth Games.

“I’m always looking for things to get over Dad, so that might be it,’’ Jed said with a smile.

“It’s obviously in the back of my mind, I’d love to be a part of those teams, but honestly I just want to experience this tournament in Dubai.

“I have to do the hard yards and prove myself before anything else.”

Ricky Stuart with a young Jed.

A young Ricky Stuart in his Queanbeyan Blues uniform.

A rugby league junior until he was 15, Jed only began playing rugby union, with his best mate and older brother, Jackson, 22, when Stuart moved from coaching Parramatta to Canberra in 2014.

Like Stuart, the two brothers played at St Edmunds College before joining the Queanbeyan Whites where Jed played as a flanker or second-rower — a vastly different role to his father.

Jed was training with the ACT Brumbies when he and teammate Corey Toole received the call that they‘d been chosen in sevens 14-man squad for Dubai.

Walsh said the development-contracted pair have slotted in “seamlessly” over a week-long training camp in Sydney.

Outstanding in the air on restarts, Jed also boasts an impressive running game and offload, according to Walsh.

“The speed of the game and the intensity is probably a third quicker and more physical than a normal game,” Walsh said.

“You just get to showcase all your skills and there’s nowhere to hide in sevens.

Dad Ricky was once a Wallaby and Kangaroo - now a successful NRL coach.

“You look at the history of sevens, there’s a plethora of players that have gone onto play heaps of Super Rugby, but also Wallabies.

“When I was playing sevens in 2001 and 2002, Matt Giteau was on the tour with me. He went from that tour straight to the Wallabies.

“Guys like Jed, we hope in 20 years time, he’s a Hall of Famer, he’s got an Olympic medal and a Rugby World Cup.’’