"I'm excited": Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Like the late "Big Kev" from many a television advertorial, Canberra coach Ricky Stuart is excited. The pre-season for the Raiders starts now.
Many of the Green Machine's squad for 2021 gathered at Raiders HQ at Braddon this morning for their first day of preparations for next season.
Only the players who have had less than four seasons in first grade rugby league were required today, with the more senior players given more time off.
The club's Origin representatives - Josh Papalii, Dunamis Lui and Jack Wighton - won't be back until after Christmas.
Stuart sadly had to face questions about Tom Starling's arrest on the weekend, when the coach met the media this morning for a scheduled press conference.
But as soon as talk switched back to the intended topic - pre season training - you could barely wipe the smile off Stuart's face. He was obviously pleased to be back in the saddle.
"It's basically all our rookies and our junior players, guys who have had less than four seasons of pre season training," he explained.
"They'll be very eager and enthusiastic and I think everyone is now quite refreshed after a good break and ready to go again."
"I'm excited. The younger players create an edge for the coaches too. I feel we've got a very good young group of players and I'm looking forward to coaching them and helping them with the early stages of their careers."
"Today, it'll be more about fundamentals and conditioning. Just stripping everything back."
"It's something I learned over many years from the early parts of my coaching, when they come back in, you've got to think they've forgotten everything about the game and start again."
"They'll bounce in this morning and it'll be a good enjoyable day for them. The hard work's about to start."
New Raiders recruit, prop Ryan James is one senior player who was on the training park today. He opted to arrive in Canberra early and has trained with the club's Jersey Flegg squad over the past couple of weeks. He spent 2020 on the sidelines due to an ACL injury. After a decade with the Gold Coast Titans, he's already making an impact in the green.
"He put his hand up and wanted to train with the Under 21s," Stuart said.
"I've heard some stories about Ryan grabbing a couple of [the Raiders Under 21] kids and showing them a certain way to lift, or a certain way to train."
"It's wonderful to have that type of NRL player's experience. Ryan's been in the game for a long time. I know how excited the younger players were to have Ryan around. He's a good person and he'll be a great fit for the club."
Stuart says it will be a short pre season, especially for the more senior players, but it's a welcome problem.
"We're going to have quite a short preparation going into next season, because we went so far into the competition. But that's what you want," he said.
"You want players to learn how to have a short preparation for the next season, because it means you've gone into the play offs."
The club's senior contingent will continue with their own physical training, but Stuart says that giving them a mental break - particularly this year - is critical.
"We give them some work to do whilst they're away. This year will be very important in regards to the mental break as much as the physical break, because of the last season, especially for the senior players."
"The guys who were in the bubble, it was a long, hard year. The mental break will have been so important. If they come back and they have got that bit of energy about them, you'll know they really have had a good break."
"I know the senior boys have been doing a lot of training with their off season programs and that's really important when you have short pre seasons."
"You've got to have been disciplined and done you're work at home, away from the group and the facility. A number of the guys get together and do work and do train together. They're professionals and they don't let themselves go too far."
It was confirmed over the weekend that the Raiders have signed 19 year old, former Manly Sea Eagles back Albert Hopoate.
Hopoate reportedly turned down the chance to join his brother Will at the Bulldogs to line up with the Green Machine.
Albert was not one of those youngsters at Braddon this morning, but Stuart is certainly pleased Hopoate will be on board.
"It's a great opportunity for him," Stuart said.
"I met with him and his father and Tyran Smith, his manager, last week.
"I've coached Will before in Origin and he reminds me of the same personality as Will Hopoate. He's a nice young bloke and had a little bit of bad luck over the last couple of seasons with ACL, with two knee injuries."
"You just want to hope he gets a little bit of good luck with his leg and gets to play a little bit of football and and gets some longevity into his season."
A report for The Greenhouse
VIDEO: Ricky Stuart: The hard work is about to start:
https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2020/12 ... -to-start/
GALLERY: Pre season training:
https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2020/12 ... on-begins/
Ricky Stuart's Canberra Raiders kick off NRL pre-season:
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239
Stuart already seeing benefits of James' leadership:
https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/12/07/stu ... eadership/
