Is Ricky Stuart's Raiders rebuild complete?

[Horace Dove-Edwin]

When Ricky Stuart came back to the club for the start of the 2014 campaign as head coach the Raiders were at a low point. It can be said this is when his rebuild started.

The roster was unbalanced with Papa our only rep player. Campo was on old legs and we had a large pile of middling players.

It took a few seasons to get fresh players into the roster. His third year was successful but we maintained our inconsistency missing the finals the next two years.

2019 and 2020 we make the semis. Very good pool of right now talent plus the emerging talent we saw v Sharks in Rd 20.

I think with this consistency of success on field, retention of players, acquisition of good new players and being financially sound off the field, the Ricky Rebuild is complete.

[BadnMean]

Not complete, we need to maintain this standard if consistency, good play and wise management for a few years yet.
I don't think we can hang our hats on making the finals 2 years in a row for the first time in decades.
Building it is one thing, top level is to keep it all running when parts wear out and need replacing and have it operating at top level for sustained periods ala Storm, Roosters or the Raiders and Broncos of past eras.

Also be pretty nice to actually win the bloody thing somewhere.

[Raiders666]

The Destroyer of clubs has completely turned this club around on and off the field.. Ricky is a god amongst men

[greeneyed]

It is never complete. But the club has been restored to a competitive one, and Ricky and all at the club have done an amazing job.

[pickles]

With player movements the way they are in the NRL at the moment you never really have the same team from year to year. I think Ricky has built a solid core of a roster that has some longevity but there is always tinkering at the edges and succession planning that needs to be managed very carefully to have long term success.

Based on the players we have in our development pipeline and the experienced players we have been able to attract things certainly look brighter than they have for around 25 years! Ultimately though this roster will not be successful until they win a premiership and this year and the next couple are our best chance.

[Northern Raider]

It is never complete. But the club has been restored to a competitive one, and Ricky and all at the club have done an amazing job.

Rebuild is complete. Now it's back to regular maintenance and the odd renovation.

[afgtnk]

Rebuild? He already completed that by 2016 - just have a look at the squad turnaround in the two years preceding.

From there on in it's been revision and tweaking, as he's got us in a stable holding pattern.

[GreenMachine]

Define rebuild?
I need to see how our backs regenerate.

For me, so far:

9/10 forwards
9/10 halves
5/10 backs

[Horace Dove-Edwin]

I agree that there are always tweaks and adjustments from season to season.
There is often talk about a 3 year plan or a 5 (Penrith) year plan.
We can use hindsight now to see how long it took our club to get our proverbial together.
3 years took us to 2016 Prelim.
Missed a great opportunity years 4 and 5.
6 years to the Grand Final.

Adding to this:
9/10 forwards
9/10 halves
5/10 backs
10/10 Culture

Wonder how long it will take for Brisbane, Bulldogs, Dragons and Cowboys to rebuild.

[FuiFui BradBrad]

The Destroyer of clubs has completely turned this club around on and off the field.. Ricky is a god amongst men

He destroyed the club, and rebuilt it in his likeness.

What I'd be keen to know from the Canberrans, since I cant see as a Sydneysider - You always hear about how the club under Ricky is getting out in the community more, and the presence has become noticable. What have you noticed under the Ricky reign that confirms this, and how does it compare to previous coaches/regimes?

[The Nickman]

Rebuild? He already completed that by 2016 - just have a look at the squad turnaround in the two years preceding.

From there on in it's been revision and tweaking, as he's got us in a stable holding pattern.

Yeah, this was my initial thought when reading this thread too, the rebuild was over in 2016.

For reasons we don't want to go over again, we then missed the next two seasons when we really shouldn't have, and with a minor turnover of players (again, not another re-build), he's got the squad looking very good and our first back-to-back finals series in over fifteen years.

Stuart has done an excellent job with the culture, the squad management, the turnover of players and salary cap management, our shift in focus to defence and most importantly of all, our consistency and results on the field, but the "re-build" itself finished five years ago.

[Mickey_Raider]

It is hard to know exactly when or what specific event triggered such, but somewhere along the way the Raiders became "cool" again.

I suspect it is a combination of being relevant again on the biggest stage over the last 5 or so years as well as sneaky cultural reinvigoration (look no further than the visceral refrain "Up the Milk" and the viking clap). I also think the state of Rugby Union in Australia means the Brumbies have been struggling for relevance, and the Raiders have consequently emerged as the premier ticket in town.

Also....you cannot underestimate the respect that Ricky brings to the club from the wider NRL community. Love him, hate him, like him, dislike him, apathy; whatever peoples feelings of him he brings a profile to the club that the likes of David Furner never could. He has a rich history in the game and strong connections in the Sydney media which makes it easier.

All of the above mean that we are unrecognisable from the rabble we were from the Elliot years through the Furner years. Long may that continue.

Wouldn't mind experiencing at least one premiership though ay.

[The Nickman]

It is hard to know exactly when or what specific event triggered such, but somewhere along the way the Raiders became "cool" again.

It was last year's grand final. We got such a groundswell of support due to who we are and also the fact we were playing the Roosters and we've just ridden it into 2020.

[bonehead]

It is hard to know exactly when or what specific event triggered such, but somewhere along the way the Raiders became "cool" again.

It was last year's grand final. We got such a groundswell of support due to who we are and also the fact we were playing the Roosters and we've just ridden it into 2020.

and we took it to them, copped the 6 again thing reasonably well and rolled on.

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[afgtnk]

It is hard to know exactly when or what specific event triggered such, but somewhere along the way the Raiders became "cool" again.

I suspect it is a combination of being relevant again on the biggest stage over the last 5 or so years as well as sneaky cultural reinvigoration through things like the viking clap. I also think the state of Rugby Union in Australia means the Brumbies have been struggling for relevance, and the Raiders have consequently emerged as the premier ticket in town.

Also....you cannot underestimate the respect that Ricky brings to the club from the wider NRL community. Love him, hate him, like him, dislike him, apathy; whatever peoples feelings of him he brings a profile to the club that the likes of David Furner never could. He has a rich history in the game and strong connections in the Sydney media which makes it easier.

All of the above mean that we are unrecognisable from the rabble we were from the Elliot years through the Furner years. Long may that continue.

Wouldn't mind experiencing at least one premiership though ay.

- Playing highly attractive football (2015 - 2018)

- Becoming genuine contenders for the first time in 20 odd years

- Being ambitious and not just settling to make the 8 like a bunch of losers

- Viking clap

- Professionalism of squad and stronger playing culture, no player acting bigger than the club anymore

[Pete Cash]

Stick has done a good job. He even adjusted for having stacked our team with too many big bois in 17/18. Obviously that's his fault in the first place but the guys got a reputation for stubbornness and he did fix the issue

[-PJ-]

We are in a happy place.

New facilities, and we're back in the Milk jersey.

[benda]

Has has def. rebuilt the club from a standards and cultural point of view. We went from an inexperienced coach who frankly had the talent but simply didn't know how to nature it.

Like the others say there is room for improvement for sure, but we can be proud we a supporting a competitive top 4 team. Onward and upwards.

[greeneyed]

The Destroyer of clubs has completely turned this club around on and off the field.. Ricky is a god amongst men

He destroyed the club, and rebuilt it in his likeness.

What I'd be keen to know from the Canberrans, since I cant see as a Sydneysider - You always hear about how the club under Ricky is getting out in the community more, and the presence has become noticable. What have you noticed under the Ricky reign that confirms this, and how does it compare to previous coaches/regimes?

I think it is higher, but I suspect a considerable part of that has to do with The Ricky Stuart Foundation. But I also think Ricky has stressed this responsibility much more than on the past. And the players have been more accessible for the most part, compared to the days of Dugan.


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[sprintman]

We’re now a club players want to join, especially juniors.

[MrPosh]

I think the key thing that's been overlooked in this thread is the emergence of the youngsters.

Guler, Young and Hors in the pack, along with Cotric, Timoko, Valemi and Smith-Shields (supplemented by Simonsson and Starling) shows the club knows how to get young players onto the park.

Saturday's game showed there's more waiting in the wings.

Once you have this level of quality coming through the ideal channel, any concept of rebuilding must be over. This is the model.

[Cranky Old Man]

I volunteer for a group that does a lot of community work, especially for the disadvantaged, and that group always includes many people with mental health problems. The most common mental health issue is depression, and to help people overcome their depression we encourage them to get out and about, We do this by many methods from taking them out for a cup of coffee to providing them with tickets to the movies etc. I have found that getting them a ticket to the Raiders games is beneficial because it not only gets them out, it puts them in the fresh air (often too fresh!) and puts them in contact with other people who might have some social interaction with them. But it was hard to get people to go to Raiders games, the play wasn't exciting, the players often werent much good and there just wasn't much "involvement" in the game. Since the introduction of the Viking Clap, and the improvement of the playing roster, it's not difficult to entice people to games at all, and for those with kids this is more marked. They are desperate to get out there and get involved, which the clap does, it involves the audience and has them invested in the team.
I got tickets for a bloke and his 14 year old son to last years finals game against Souths. Whenever I see them since then it is all they want to talk about when before they were so depressed they were almost mute. The Raiders have managed a culture of inclusion which is very strong, and is a force for a lot of good.

[Cranky Old Man]

What I mean by the above rant is that the sense of inclusion that Rick has worked so hard on has worked on the Raiders public.

[BadnMean]

I think the key thing that's been overlooked in this thread is the emergence of the youngsters.

Guler, Young and Hors in the pack, along with Cotric, Timoko, Valemi and Smith-Shields (supplemented by Simonsson and Starling) shows the club knows how to get young players onto the park.

Saturday's game showed there's more waiting in the wings.

Once you have this level of quality coming through the ideal channel, any concept of rebuilding must be over. This is the model.

That recruitment can't be understated. I remember we signed Guler at 17-18 years of age and thinking he might be anything in a few years (he was big and a rated jumior but yet to fill out or show he'd still move at that size). Similar Hors- he could tackle but could he play.

HSS is Canberra through and through and starred in junior rep sides of all sorts- he was never going to be overlooked but kudos to the coaches for bringing them all through SO much more succesfully than the Carney/Dugan era.

Add to that Fiji island lads like Semi and the English contingent and it is that quality funnel of players that is the difference. It just probably "adds" 20% to the cap when you can bring guys in on lowish contracts or developjuniors and then keep them as opposed to buying them in at full superstar status.

[Smurfette]

I volunteer for a group that does a lot of community work, especially for the disadvantaged, and that group always includes many people with mental health problems. The most common mental health issue is depression, and to help people overcome their depression we encourage them to get out and about, We do this by many methods from taking them out for a cup of coffee to providing them with tickets to the movies etc. I have found that getting them a ticket to the Raiders games is beneficial because it not only gets them out, it puts them in the fresh air (often too fresh!) and puts them in contact with other people who might have some social interaction with them. But it was hard to get people to go to Raiders games, the play wasn't exciting, the players often werent much good and there just wasn't much "involvement" in the game. Since the introduction of the Viking Clap, and the improvement of the playing roster, it's not difficult to entice people to games at all, and for those with kids this is more marked. They are desperate to get out there and get involved, which the clap does, it involves the audience and has them invested in the team.
I got tickets for a bloke and his 14 year old son to last years finals game against Souths. Whenever I see them since then it is all they want to talk about when before they were so depressed they were almost mute. The Raiders have managed a culture of inclusion which is very strong, and is a force for a lot of good.

That’s a great story.

[Seiffert82]

Yeah, on reflection it certainly has been a rebuild, with a couple of false starts. Only Croker, Wighton and Rapana remain from his original 2014 squad (although Baptiste and Sam Williams have since returned to the club).

The recruitment strategy has evolved a bit over that 7 year period - from largely ditching the reliance on juniors and picking up players looking for opportunities such as Austin, Tapine and Leilua; then to the focus on the Pommy's looking for a run in the NRL; and now back to a bit more of a focus on juniors.

At no stage have we recruited a marquee player, unless you include Junior Paulo who was obviously just keen to get out of Sydney for a while.

[Seiffert82]

Further to that, the job is clearly never complete.

In 2020 we have 6 key players who are 30 or older - Croker, Hodgson, Whitehead, Soliola, Rapana and Lui. The team is on the verge of another refresh.

[benda]

I think the key thing that's been overlooked in this thread is the emergence of the youngsters.

Guler, Young and Hors in the pack, along with Cotric, Timoko, Valemi and Smith-Shields (supplemented by Simonsson and Starling) shows the club knows how to get young players onto the park.

Saturday's game showed there's more waiting in the wings.

Once you have this level of quality coming through the ideal channel, any concept of rebuilding must be over. This is the model.

Hmmm.. Furner had a lot of talent in his roster as well and did nothing with it. 2016 was it.

Now we are a top 8 ... possibly a top 4 quality side consistently.

[gangrenous]

2016 was Ricky

[-TW-]

Further to that, the job is clearly never complete.

In 2020 we have 6 key players who are 30 or older - Croker, Hodgson, Whitehead, Soliola, Rapana and Lui. The team is on the verge of another refresh.

I think the key difference is we will have ready made replacements for those guys, where in the past we've had to pay overs for bog average gap fillers

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[The Nickman]

Further to that, the job is clearly never complete.

In 2020 we have 6 key players who are 30 or older - Croker, Hodgson, Whitehead, Soliola, Rapana and Lui. The team is on the verge of another refresh.

That’s called natural squad turnover, that’s not part of a rebuild as such. The rebuild was finished four years ago, everything since is part of natural squad progression.