Canberra Raiders head coach Ricky Stuart was a standout rugby league player, scaling the heights of the sport during his illustrious career. Transitioning to coaching in 2001, the former Test halfback, ranked among Rugby League Week's top 30 players from 1978 to 2008, has built an equally impressive reputation. He joined the Raiders at the end of 2013 after coaching the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, Sydney Roosters, Cronulla Sharks, and Parramatta Eels.
A 1990s superstar, Stuart made history in 2002 by leading the Sydney Roosters to a premiership in his first season as a senior NRL coach, ending a 27-year title drought. The Roosters then thrashed English champions St Helens 38-0 in the World Club Challenge. Stuart further proved his coaching prowess by guiding the Roosters to consecutive NRL grand finals over the next two years.
Stuart's rapid coaching success led to his appointments as coach of the NSW Country Origin team in 2004 and the NSW State of Origin team in 2005. Following NSW’s 2-1 Origin success, he coached the Australian Kangaroos from 2006 to 2008, winning the Tri-Nations championship in his first year. Stuart was named Coach of the Year in the NSW Sports Awards in 2002. Before switching to league with the Canberra Raiders in 1988, Stuart was a rugby union international and captain of the 1985 Australian Schoolboys.
By 1987, Stuart was ready for international exposure on the Wallabies tour of Argentina. Three years later, he starred in the Kangaroos' 2-1 Ashes victory in England and France. In 1994, he helped the Mal Meninga-led Australians retain the Ashes. Stuart played nine rugby league Tests for Australia, 14 State of Origin matches for NSW, participated in two Kangaroo tours and one World Cup tour to Great Britain, and starred in four NSW State of Origin series victories.
After a serious illness in 1998, Stuart made a successful return to playing. He played 11 seasons and 203 first-grade matches for Canberra before moving to the Canterbury Bulldogs in 1999. A knee injury ended his career in Auckland on May 20, 2000, after 40 first-grade matches for the Bulldogs. Throughout his first-grade career, Stuart scored 205 points (41 tries, 27 field goals, seven goals).