Canberra Raiders star Corey Horsburgh on repairing Ricky Stuart relationship, injury woes, Vegas weight transformation

Raiders firebrand and former Maroons rep Corey Horsburgh has opened up on a tough 2024 which saw his relationship with coach Ricky Stuart plummet, while also revealing his injury battles and weight loss ahead of Vegas.

Corey Horsburgh. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Raiders firebrand Corey Horsburgh has revealed how he repaired his relationship with Ricky Stuart and declared he is glad a potential move to the Broncos collapsed.

A slimmed down Horsburgh will relaunch his NRL career in a starting showdown with Warriors weapons James Fisher-Harris and Mitch Barnett in Las Vegas on Sunday (AEST).

After making his Origin debut for Queensland in a dream 2023 season, Horsburgh’s rise came to a grinding halt when injuries, suspension and a feud with Stuart saw him make just five NRL appearances last year.

Horsburgh, 27, fell into such a spiral he briefly hit the NRL’s open market and toured Brisbane’s headquarters as he weighed up a return to his home state.

But the Broncos move collapsed when Brisbane sacked coach Kevin Walters and Horsburgh managed to mend his relationship with Stuart.

He has bounced back so strongly that Stuart has gone all in on ‘Red’ in Vegas and named Horsburgh to start ahead of 306-game veteran Josh Papalii in the Allegiant Stadium season-opener.

Corey Horsburgh has experienced highs and lows in his 88-game NRL career. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

With 88 NRL games next to his name, Horsburgh is becoming a senior player in Canberra but insists he hasn’t lost his fiery mentality.

“I love coming up against a good pack and the Warriors always seem to have a strong pack,” he said.

“The field is a bit smaller so it’s going to be a very physical game.

“I think I’ve mellowed a bit, that comes with age, but I don’t think I’ll ever lose that fiery side.

“It doesn’t take much for me to fire up.”

RICKY’S RAGE

Horsburgh made his NRL debut for the Raiders in 2019 under Stuart after being recruited from North Queensland.

He was in and out of the team for a few years before establishing himself as a regular first grader in 2022.

Corey Horsburgh debuted for the Raiders in 2019. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Corey Horsburgh earned a call-up to the Maroons in 2023. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

But his dream 2023 campaign, which included an Origin debut for Queensland, was followed by a turbulent 2024 where Horsburgh fell out of favour with Stuart.

“We’ve obviously had our moments, which has been pretty public,” Horsburgh said.

“He is a very good bloke and he is a very good coach.

“We spoke about what I needed to do and it’s been way better building the relationship back up with him.

“We mended it at the back end of last year when I decided to stay.”

Horsburgh says his relationship with Ricky Stuart has healed. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

BUCKING BRONCOS

Struggling to get back into the NRL team, Horsburgh thought his only option was to leave Canberra.

Walters was keen to sign Horsburgh and at one point it looked like a deal would be struck.

But Horsburgh was reluctant to leave Canberra and the sacking of Walters brought a potential move to an end in what was a sliding doors moment.

“It broke down with all the coaching stuff that happened,” Horsburgh said.

Corey Horsburgh playing in the NSW Cup in 2024. Picture: NRL Photos

Horsburgh came close to leaving Canberra. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

“I’m lucky in a way because I didn’t really want to leave Canberra anyway.

“There were some circumstances and I thought I had to.

“It all fell through and I’m still here with my family, dogs and am building a nice house.

“It’s nice how it all unfolded in the end.”

BOUNCING BACK

While Horsburgh’s attitude came under question last year, he was battling a painful problem that made it close to impossible to perform on the field.

“I had a lot of groin problems last year and I couldn’t run,” he said.

“I’ve got chronic osteitis pubis. I still feel it at times but now pre-season is over it should ease up.

“Last year I could barely jog. It got so bad that my body tore my adductors. I’ve got bone bruising around my pelvis from how bad it got.

“It can be painful at times, but they’ve managed me a bit better this year. If it felt bad they let me go on the bike or do some boxing to give it a rest.

“It’s not affecting my running or footy now.”

Canberra star Corey Horsburgh is looking a slim figure. Picture: NRL

Back on his feet, Horsburgh managed to shed 5kg during the pre-season and impressed Stuart enough to earn a starting jersey in the US.

Now Horsburgh wants to get the Raiders firing and win back his Maroons jersey in 2025.

“It was just one of those years,” he said of 2024.

“I started with suspensions from the year before, I was overweight and had really bad groins and couldn’t run for ages. I came back and got suspended again.

“It was an up and down year but I’ve had to put it behind me now and get myself in better shape.

“I can’t repeat the same mistakes. I have to give myself every opportunity to have a good year again.

“My goal is to get back to Origin. I want to lock down a starting position with the Raiders and let my footy do the talking.

“Hopefully I’m lucky enough to pull on a Maroons jersey again.”

* The NRL has helped fund our team’s travel expenses to Las Vegas

Originally published as Canberra Raiders star Corey Horsburgh on repairing Ricky Stuart relationship, injury woes, Vegas weight transformation