The roster genius, unseen Ricky impact behind rise as shunned Raiders ‘grow their own’ stars

Can you remember the last time the Raiders made a really big splash in the transfer market?

Like, a player already established as an NRL star who turned on the TV one Saturday night and saw Ricky Stuart, wearing a beanie pulled so tight it’s almost covering his eyes, rocking nervously on the freezing Canberra Stadium touchline and thought, ‘I want to be part of that’?

Keep thinking. There isn’t one in recent years, is there?

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Morgan Smithies and Matty Nicholson came as good prospects from the English Super League, but hardly bone fide stars. Kaeo Weekes? He’d shown flashes of brilliance, but was not an NRL regular at Manly. Zac Hosking won a premiership at Penrith and was jockeying to be Nathan Cleary’s BFF, but he doesn’t really fit the category. Jamal Fogarty wasn’t really wanted by the Titans, but he just fits Canberra. Savelio Tamale will be a star, but he wasn’t when the Raiders plucked him out of the Dragons before he’d even made his NRL debut.

So, is there anyone in the last five years?

“Mate, I don’t have the luxury of having two or three players dropped on my doorstep every season, so we’ve got to grow our own,” Stuart tells foxsports.com.au. “And that’s the way we’ve gone.”

There’s still a long way to go this season, and during the course of interviews for this story both Stuart and Raiders boss Don Furner stress their side has “achieved nothing yet”, but it’s hard to ignore the Cinderella story of the NRL season unfolding in Canberra.

Stuart is squeezing every drop out of veterans such as Josh Papalii and Fogarty, elevating world class players like Hudson Young to new levels, and nursing the formative days of young careers belonging to Ethan Strange and Owen Pattie with aplomb.

Emotional Ricky speaks on son's debut | 08:04

But it’s what the Raiders have done with their roster in recent years, and now going chips-in on the state’s best youth talent, which looms as a fascinating case study, because un-like the very modern day NRL they, well, don’t fret about signing big names.

Ever since the franchise entered the ARL Premiership in 1982, Canberra’s recruitment has had to feature outside-the-box thinking.

They started with Queenslanders such as Mal Meninga, Gary Belcher, the Walters brothers and Peter Jackson before the Broncos entered the fray. Then once that pipeline dried up, they switched their focus to the likes of New Zealanders such as Ruben Wiki and Quentin Pongia.

The Raiders celebrate winning the 1989 NSWRL Grand Final against the Balmain Tigers held at the Sydney Football Stadium September 24, 1989 in Sydney, Australia. Raiders won 19-14. (Photo by Patrick Riviere/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

Over the last decade, it has been Englishmen headed by Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead, John Bateman and George Williams.

“But as teams have come in, it’s become harder,” Furner says. “We have to look far afield.”

Now, it’s young talent.

It’s no secret the Raiders have gone down this path in the last two years, but it’s remarkable to think from NSW’s victorious under-19s State of Origin side two years ago, Canberra has five of the starting 13 on contract: Strange, Tamale, Ethan Sanders, Chevy Stewart and Myles Martin.

Stuart argues identifying that type of young talent isn’t the hardest part, it’s explaining to the teenagers, their families, and invariably managers, what the Raiders are about that is most difficult. He stresses culture, a home away from home for kids who haven’t left their own yet.

“Ours is very genuine,” Stuart says. “There’s no fakeness.”

As if anything about Ricky would be fake.

“I promise parents that I’ll care for them as a father figure, but the kid has to be good enough to play first grade too,” he says. “They’ve got to show the talent, hard work and commitment.”

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The five Raiders in NSW's victorious 2023 under-19s State of Origin team Source: Supplied

At certain stages throughout the year, Stuart’s barbecue at home will get a workout. It’s not just used to feed his own family, he makes good on his promise to the parents of his players who come to Canberra by throwing open the doors of his house. They chat about everything: family, footy, life.

“Obviously I’m biased, but you don’t know how much time he spends with him,” Furner says. “He has them over at his house – and a lot of good coaches invest in their (players’) private lives and them personally, which might not sound like much but it can be time consuming and taxing and draining – but he’s fully invested.

“We feel that we’re good at relocating people because we’ve had to do it for a long time and we think we have a bit of country hospitality in us. And players can get close in one-team towns. It’s like moving away to boarding school, you’ve all got to rely on each other. They form that closeness.

“You also don’t have to rush through traffic in Sydney. They finish and go play golf together. Certain things work in our favour once they get here and get settled. There are benefits, but there are also challenges.”

Ricky Stuart is more than just a coach to many Raiders players. Source: Getty Images

The Raiders have recently made significant pitches to genuine established stars, mostly forwards: Eli Katoa, David Fifita, Luciano Leilua, Stefano Utoikamanu, Leo Thompson. It’s come to nought. Some would argue they’ve dodged a bullet with a few of those. Still, they keep throwing punches on the field.

Furner and Stuart ask themselves a question before they close out deals: what’s it mean for the salary cap in three years time? Will this be a contract that will set us back long term, because we might still be here needing to clean it up?

“Some coaches don’t have to think that far ahead,” Furner shrugs. “But Rick doesn’t want to leave the club in a s*** situation salary cap wise. I understand, coaches have got to win tomorrow. I think we’re lucky in the fact the board trusts him, the club trusts him, and he trusts us. He’s not looking over his shoulder and worried. He’s not insecure. It helps for better decisions to be made for the organisation.”

Canberra’s discipline with its roster management often means players leave one year too early rather than one year too late.

Hodgson was perhaps the greatest example, signing for the Eels where his body finally caught up with him. Whitehead. Jarrod Croker. Jordan Rapana. Ryan Sutton. Even Papalii, who just broke the club’s all-time games record and brought his coach to tears, might play on next year, but it won’t be with the Raiders or in the NRL.

“It’s a very fine balancing act and it’s not easy to do,” Furner says. “(But) we’re a club that has to give young talent a chance. We certainly can show them a pathway because we’re forced to.”

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Raiders set for minor premiership | 02:29

Which brings us to the case of Fogarty, who has led the Raiders to near top of the table, the perfect glue between a powerful and hungry forward pack and lightning fast outside backs. It would seem madness to even consider letting him go, despite the fact he’s 31, especially with a game-wide halves shortage.

When Daly Cherry-Evans announced he would walk out on Manly at the end of the year, the Sea Eagles swooped. The longer the negotiation dragged on, the more Manly were willing to give Fogarty. They upped his offer to three years. The Raiders scaled their counter to two, but insisted they couldn’t go any more because of Sanders waiting in the wings.

Fogarty signed with the Sea Eagles.

“But we’re concentrating on upgrading and extending those young guys we’ve got,” Furner says. “We know we have to. That’s our next challenge and we’ve got room to do it.”

The challenges aren’t just restricted to the players.

Only last week it was confirmed the Raiders’ long-time recruitment manager, Joel Carbone, would be returning to Sydney. He’s been signed by the Roosters, who have been so impressed with his work in the background in the national capital, they prised him out of the Raiders. Carbone and Dave Warwick have been central to the youth push.

But whoever comes in next will be the same: focus on young talent, don’t stress about big name signings, keep the culture right and always remember the long-term implications on the cap.

“We don’t build for one season. If you’re building just to win tomorrow, it doesn’t work,” Stuart says. “We build for the Canberra Raiders.”

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