‘I may as well just lie’: Ricky Stuart erupts over Jarrod Croker questions

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has let rip in a furious tirade after he was again questioned over rest veteran Jarrod Croker ahead of his 300th game.

Ricky Stuart has erupted in his post-match presser. Photo: Fox Sports

One of the big talking points heading into round 14 of the NRL premiership has been something that was never going to happen.

The Canberra Raiders claimed a wild 20-19 thriller over the Wests Tigers in Campbelltown but the biggest conversation starter was the decision to rest Jarrod Croker ahead of his 300th game.

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The 32-year-old Croker has been a loyal and reliable servant and Raiders coach Ricky Stuart stunned the NRL when he announced last week that the veteran centre would not play in round 14 in order to play his 300th match in front of his home crowd.

Stuart was upfront in last week’s press conference and Croker said at the time: “I appreciate the fact that I’m able to do it at home in a couple of weeks time.”

And yet everyone has had an opinion on the issue, including Raiders legend Mal Meninga and league great Cooper Cronk, while Stuart has had to field questions on the issue throughout the week.

So after the last-gasp win over the Tigers, Stuart had had enough.

When a reporter asked if the Raiders missed Croker’s composure as a man about to play his 300th game, Stuart erupted.

“When did we miss him mate?” Stuart said. “It was 18-0 with 67 gone.”

The reporter replied: “And then they scored three tries and it got a bit hectic there …”

Stuart said: “You reckon Jarrod would have stopped those three?

“When you’re a leader — and I’m only one of the leaders of this club — and it was a risk (not playing Croker). But in leadership, you’ve got to take a risk.

“These muppets who have been bagging me, they’re all the guys who’ll be reading the textbooks and talk about courageous leadership, man management and they’ll go out and talk at corporate functions, but they can’t go out and execute it.

“They’re not the people I want on my football team. They’re not the people I want in the trenches with me.

Ricky Stuart has slammed questions over resting Croker. Photo: Fox Sports

“There wasn’t a player there tonight that didn’t want Jarrod to have his 300th game at home. I didn’t plan this last week.

“What I did was the right thing by all our Canberra fans not to go out and buy tickets and come here, to save their hard earned money because I wanted to make sure they knew I was resting Jarrod this week.

“I could have kept Jarrod in the team all week, they would’ve bought their tickets and the poor buggers would have had to come here after work to see Jarrod play his 300th. But no, I did the right thing. I was open and honest, which, I was probably wrong to be open and honest. I may as well just lie.

“It really s**tted me off that these so called experts who have never man managed, who have never been leaders in regards to making tough decisions … and that was a big risk tonight and I knew I was going to cop it, cop it from every one of you in here tonight if we had have got beaten. But I was prepared to take the risk.

“That’s leadership. Not these other muppets that pretend they know.”

Stuart said Croker’s 300th, just the second for a player after Jason Croker, a distant relation of Jarrod who played 318 games for the Green Machine.

“Jase, one of my best mates, where’d he have to play? Brisbane,” Stuart said.

“He had to play in Brisbane — so be it.

“I’ve made a decision I want Jarrod to play his 300th at home. It’ll be a great event for the club. We get nothing, the Raiders get nothing. We’re battlers, we’re brawlers, you can see that tonight. And we’re good at it and we’re happy to be proud of it.

“But we’ll have a great event this week and Jarrod Croker deserves everything he gets next weekend.”

Croker is the ultimate team man. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

It’s hard to argue.

Stuart himself has shared how much he cares for his captain.

Having earned his place back in the Raiders side, Stuart revealed earlier in the season he’d asked Croker to retire because: “I was feeling the pain that he was under when we were doing all the tough work at training and he couldn’t do it.”

Rugby league legend Greg Alexander said on Fox Sports that there was no right or wrong answer.

“No one’s got the right to be sticking their nose in to a decision that Canberra have made, whether it’s Ricky in consultation with Jarrod Croker or not,” Alexander said.

“If that’s the decision, get on with it.”

Regardless of what you believe, the next game the Raiders will play will be 6pm Friday June 9 at GIO Stadium in Canberra, which should be Jarrod Croker’s 300th game.