Ricky Stuart’s wife Kaylie reveals his emotional ride in lead-up to game
Kaylie Stuart, the loyal wife of Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, has provided an inside perspective of her husband’s emotional state in the lead-up to tonight’s big game.
Canberra Star
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Among the diehard fans cheering on the Green Machine at ANZ Stadium tonight will be someone who has demonstrated unwavering support for Raiders coach Ricky Stuart for more than two decades — his wife Kaylie.
Ms Stuart said she is “feeling very confident” her husband can get the win and although she hopes it’s not a nailbiter, she suspects it “probably will be”.
“Canberra are the fan favourites for sure,” she said.
If anyone can guess how the Raiders coach would be feeling leading up to the do-or-die game, it’s Ms Stuart.
“Earlier this week he was pretty calm,” Ms Stuart said.
“Last week was probably the most nervous I’ve seen him, just before the game against Souths.
“But he was still quietly confident, he told me at the beginning of the year they would make the grand final.”
But she suspects he’d be feeling a bit more edgy now as the clock ticks down to kick off.
“I haven’t seen him since the Dally Ms on Wednesday night but to make it to the grand final and have such a great season, he would be feeling confident but probably not calm.”
She and Jed, 18, hopped on a bus carrying other family members at Raiders headquarters in Bruce on Sunday morning.
Jed is tipping the Raiders to win with a score of 24-18.
He feels the Raiders may have “the edge” over the Roosters who may be complacent after beating the Raiders twice in the regular season.
As a diehard Raiders fan herself, Ms Stuart’s excitement level for tonight’s game is “out of the park”.
“I was more nervous last week before the South’s game so to actually get into the grand final, this week’s more a sense of relief that we’re there.
“I’m just really excited and happy to see the whole of Canberra embracing it and everyone is just enjoying it.
“I’m extremely proud of Rick, he certainly puts his heart and soul into it 100 per cent and we were so happy to get back to Canberra which was always his dream.
“And of course his one and only goal was to get to the grand final and of course win it, but to get there is massive.”
Ms Stuart said it had been a hard slog for Stuart and the team to make it to the big dance.
“We’ve had a lot of bad years with not much success and that’s really hard,” she said.
“Of course every year you want to make the grand final but we’ve had a lot of years where we haven’t even made the finals and it’s really tough because those years you work just as hard.
“Rick puts in just as much work so when you see it finally pay off and him get to be living his dream, really it makes it all worth it.”
Ms Stuart has been to all the Raiders grand finals but they were all before the couple got together in 1995.
“My family were mad St George fans when I was growing up but as soon as Canberra came into the competition we embraced Canberra,” she said.
“We used to sleep out in Civic to get our grand final tickets and then go up on the bus.”
This week Kaylie has been focusing on “keeping calm” and ensuring their daughter Emma, who has autism, was settled back in Canberra so she could travel to Sydney for the game.
Emma is thriving in her new independent living unit thanks to her new best friend Cosmo, a golden retriever from Smart Pups.
The not-for-profit charity provides assistance dogs to people with special needs to improve their independence, emotional wellbeing and quality of life.
Providing independent living for people with autism is a long-term strategy of the Ricky Stuart Foundation.
“If she wasn’t there I probably wouldn’t be able to go,” she said.
“It’s comforting knowing she is quite comfortable and settled there and we’ll go celebrate with her when we get back.”
She said Stuart and his staff had done well to reignite interest in the club over the last few years.
“What he instils in his players and himself is all about the history of the club and they do so much work in the community which gets Canberra on board,” she said.
“I think they have a mutual respect, the Canberra community love them now and the boys love getting out in the community and helping Canberra.
“This week was fantastic, I was in Woden yesterday and all the balloons in all the shops and people buying up their green things, it was great to see.”