Ricky Stuart blows up over refereeing in Raiders’ loss to Manly Sea Eagles

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart will come under the NRL’s microscope after his weekend outburst over refereeing, and Brent Read writes it will prove a test case for new gag rules.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has become the first test case for the NRL’s new gag orders after head office confirmed they had launched a review into his comments in the aftermath to the Raiders’ loss to Manly.

Speaking after his side was on the wrong end of a lopsided scoreline at 4Pines Park, a frustrated Stuart arrived at the press conference armed with statistics that brought into question the flurry of penalties, six-again rulings and sin-binning that went against his side.

Ricky Stuart blew up over the Raiders’ Round 3 loss. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images.

He also claimed that he no longer understood the rules when he was quizzed over a decision to deny a Raiders try for an obstruction in the first half, suggesting he had wasted two days in Sydney after being part of a coaches think-tank in the offseason with the NRL.

It is understood one of the key outcomes out of that meeting, which also involved seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett and Penrith boss Ivan Cleary, was that more onus would fall on the defender to avoid the contact.

Stuart no doubt had that resolution at the front of his mind when he addressed the media following Sunday night’s game, having watched the Kris try be denied when Horsburgh was ruled to have obstructed Daly Cherry-Evans.

The NRL reviewed the game on Monday and walked away comfortable with the handling of the match, including the key decision to disallow the Sebastian Kris try for an obstruction and the sin-binning of Corey Horsburgh.

The NRL must now decide whether Stuart crossed the line with his comments after the game, cognisant that any decision will have ramifications for the rest of the season given it will herald the first time the gag order has been put to the test.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo wrote to club bosses in the preseason warning them that they were going to clamp down on comments about the officiating.

Abdo said the NRL would more strictly enforce the public comment rules in relation to match officials. There is no question Stuart pushed the envelope with his comments after the game, but he was not critical of referee Grant Atkins.

He also intimated that his side had been refereed differently at the weekend compared to the opening two weeks of the season.

“Something has changed this week and I’ve got a great idea of how,” Stuart said.

“I feel for the players.”

I DON’T KNOW THE RULES ANY MORE: STUART’S EXTRAORDINARY OUTBURST

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has made the stunning admission that he no longer knows the NRL rules after the Raiders went down 40-12 to Manly at 4 Pines Park on Sunday night.

Speaking after the match, Stuart, who has a history of volatile press conferences, was measured and calm but it was clear that he took umbrage with referee Grant Atkins’s performance.

Canberra’s goal line defence had been unyielding through the first quarter of the match despite his side giving away a half dozen repeat sets and a number of penalties that led to a miserly 25 per cent possession rate before the dam walls broke and Manly piled on 30 unanswered points in less than 20 minutes.

“I don’t think there’s a football team in the competition that is going to defend those statistics and win,” Stuart said.

Ricky Stuart on the sidelines in Las Vegas. Picture: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

“Not a lot of possession, well you keep having six agains against you, you’re not going to get the ball.

“I’m not allowed to talk about the ref but I hope Andrew Abdo has an answer for us all.

“When you look at it statistically, we had to make 220 or 200 and something tackles in the first half to 70. You can’t be ahead on the scoreboard with that.

“When you look at the average play the ball speed, it was just brought to me then, was it something like 3.54 for one team and 3.55 for the other team. So, where’s the inconsistency in the play the balls there. How come we get, I think it was six to one in six against and then the six against that go against my poor buggers, I see those tackles every week by certain teams, nothing’s done.

“You tell me, I’m not allowed to.

Stuart singled out a pair of turnaround moments a minute apart involving front rower Corey Horsburgh.

First up Horsburgh was called for obstruction to deny teammate Seb Kris a try against the run of play and then again drew the attention of Atkins when he was sin binned for a professional foul defending his own line.

“You got those statistics and you got one player taken off (sin binned), what do you think of the decision when we had our try disallowed?

“After 20 minutes of having no football, and we get a set in round halfway and we score a wonderful try?

“I mean, it’s really difficult coaching when you don’t know rules, you don’t know interpretations, because I’ve got no idea.

“I wasted two days mate, coming up here, I wasted two days.”