Canberra Raiders star opens up on surprise NRL return
He looks to have reclaimed his wing spot but at one stage it looked like the Test star’s career with Canberra was all over.
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Jordan Rapana insists he would have found a way to be back playing in the NRL by now even if the coronavirus hadn’t struck down Japanese rugby.
Rapana had his best game back for the Raiders in Saturday night’s win over the Wests Tigers, and now appears to have reclaimed his wing spot for Canberra.
It comes after at one stage late last season it appeared the try-scoring machine had possibly played his last game in Canberra colours.
Rapana made clear to Raiders officials when he left he wanted to return later in 2020, with the Japanese Top League competition scheduled to end in May.
But rumours circulated the NRL would not allow him to return mid-season, after leaving for the 15-man code overseas.
However, Rapana insisted he was going to make sure that wasn’t the case, checking that his comeback couldn’t be stopped regardless.
“If this season had gone ahead it would have finished in May. And I had full intentions of (coming back),” he said.
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“We had unfinished business here and I made that known to Ricky. “I was off contract ... and (the NRL) had no right to stop me. If I had an extra year on my deal and left, that makes sense.
“But I was a free agent. I was only on a one-year deal. Whether I go and be a plumber or a sparky, I could come back.
“I always knew I would be able to come back.” The 30-year-old has also already declared he’ll now stay put in the NRL for the rest of his career, desperate to convince Canberra to extend his stay beyond this year.
But the return has not been easy.
He had virtually no pre-season in Japan, only arriving there in December ahead of the competition’s January start following the Raiders’ grand final appearance and his wedding.
He has now got his weight back to 104kg, slightly above what he was playing at last year but pushing close to full fitness.
“Union is a different game and outside backs wouldn’t cover anywhere near the amount of metres as you would in league.
“Different training and a lot more weight based training, I definitely put on a few kilos.
“Those few weeks before the (NRL) season restarted were huge for me.”
The former Kiwi Test star can, however, see an upside believing his extra muscle mass is giving him the chance to bust through even more tackles. He is also comfortable playing on the left wing, slotting in outside Jarrod Croker after playing on the right for the vast majority of his NRL career.
“It’s my preferred side,” he said.
I always played on the left growing up. But when I came to the club Edrick Lee was here so I got thrown on the right.”
Raiders mull old school travel switch after gutsy win
Canberra could abandon their flight plans for home games in Sydney after finding success on the road in Campbelltown on Saturday night.
The Raiders had planned to jet in to Bankstown Airport for their home games in Campbelltown, before catching a bus 30 minutes back to the ground.
The plan was part of an agreement reached with the NRL, given the club had been asked to play their home games in Sydney starting with last week’s loss to Newcastle
However, given Saturday night’s 14-6 win over the Tigers was a designated away game, the club were not provided flights given they ordinarily catch a bus to Sydney in normal circumstances.
“We weren’t allowed to (fly) today,” coach Ricky Stuart said after the win.
“But a couple of players were pretty comfortable with the bus more than the plane and then getting onto the bus.
“I’ll speak to the players and see what they want to do, because I think we’re here again next week.”
The Raiders still have three more games to play at Campbelltown in the next four weeks, with all of them “home” matches against Manly, Melbourne and St George Illawarra.
However, they remain hopeful they will be able to return to Canberra sooner.
The club have been dealt the toughest travel conditions of any team, given they are spending a minimum of five hours in transit every weekend.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Stuart said.
“I’m just hoping we can start playing at home very soon. They did a wonderful job to get on the bus for three hours and play a game like that. “We’ll have to look after them.”
The story Ricky Stuart didn’t want written
By Dean Ritchie
Ricky Stuart didn’t want this story written.
He was desperate to avoid the fanfare, pageantry and headlines.
Maybe, provided his Raiders win on Saturday night, he will be coerced into a quiet celebratory beer the following day.
Stuart wanted his 400-game NRL coaching milestone — which will arrive against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium — to slide through unrecognised and undetected.
He didn’t want to discuss the honour, nor did he want the media to publish any stories.
Stuart’s players didn’t even know about his accomplishment.
Why? Because he didn’t tell them.
Knowing Stuart’s desire to keep it a secret, Raiders CEO Don Furner — a great mate of Stuart dating back to their school days at St Edmunds College — even declined to give us a quote.
All News Corp Australia could ascertain was that Stuart may have a few beers to celebrate on Sunday afternoon in Canberra – only if his side beats Wests Tigers.
Yet 400 games as an NRL coach puts the 53-year-old Stuart in rare air.
He deserves the accolades by becoming just the eighth coach in rugby league history to have secured the 400-match achievement.
And given his appetite for coaching, Stuart will move up the coaching table.
By the end of this season he could have leapfrogged Rob Willey, Bob Fulton, and Warren Ryan into fifth place overall.
Only Craig Bellamy (453 games), Brian Smith (601), Tim Sheens (669) and Wayne Bennett (844) will be ahead of him.
Fulton and Stuart have long been close friends with similar personalities.
Stuart is still seething after the Raiders’ weak and meek performance against Newcastle last weekend which resulted in a 34-18 loss.
He even delivered a class Stuart line in the post-match press conference: “We played like children.”
Maybe that is the reason Stuart doesn’t want any back-slapping - he just wants to focus on winning again.
News Corp Australia mentioned Stuart’s coaching exploits to former Canberra teammate Laurie Daley, who, like Furner, didn’t want to be quoted but hoped the milestone could be acknowledged.
Iron-willed, intense yet caring, Stuart has won an NRL grand final and contested four grand finals. He has coached NSW and Australia to amazing success.
Stuart’s greatest trait is his staunch loyalty to players, friends and family.
Despite enduring some lean times at Cronulla and a controversial one-season tenure at Parramatta, Stuart has a success rate just a touch below 50 per cent. He has rebuilt his beloved Raiders into a premiership heavyweight.
“People who love Ricky really love him,” Paul Gallen wrote about Stuart last year.
“They know what he’s about. They’d go to war for him.
“Ricky cops so much flak for exactly the same reason as Cameron Smith. Tall poppy syndrome People want to bring down winners and Ricky Stuart is a winner. People can say what they want about him – look at his record.”
Stuart’s coaching record comes after he enjoyed a wonderful playing career which included 243 NRL for Canberra and Canterbury along with 14 Origin games for NSW and nine Tests.
Bellamy has the best overall coaching strike rate having won 311 games for a stunning success percentage of 68.7 percent.