Knights vs Raiders: Ricky Stuart blames Raiders loss of slow start, not rescheduling

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Ricky Stuart said his side’s 34-24 loss to the Raiders to Newcastle on Sunday was due to a slow start rather than a disturbed build-up after the game was delayed for 24 hours.

Originally scheduled to be played on Saturday afternoon, the match was postponed to the day and was held at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane after a COVID-19 outbreak in southeast Queensland.

The Queensland government announced a three-day instant lockdown on Saturday afternoon, forcing the NRL to hastily reschedule all of the round 20 games of that one-day weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, the Raiders lost 18-0 in the first 20 minutes as Kalyn Ponga unleashed a Knights offense.

Two late tries gave Canberra some respectability on the scoreboard, but in reality Stuart’s side were largely outplayed.

Speaking after the game, Stuart denied any claims that the disturbed build-up had negatively impacted his team.

He also aimed at information suggesting that he was frustrated with the NRL’s handling of the current situation.

“The disruption and what happened yesterday has no bearing on the way we played today,” he said.

“There was a headline in the Herald this morning that I was mad at something, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I am going to pay compliments to the NRL and the officials for what they have given us.

“They are working tirelessly with the government right now to keep this game going.

“Everyone is doing everything they can. No one is upset by the changes. The league is doing everything they can to keep the game going and so do we.

“The disruption had nothing to do with this poor performance.”

Instead, Stuart said Sunday’s terrible start – when his team conceded converted tries to Enari Tuala, Bradman Best and Kurt Mann – was the reason for the loss.

“We didn’t start the way we were supposed to,” he said.

“We lost all of our momentum in the first 20 minutes and it sucked our juice. We looked very flat.

“We weren’t a shadow in the squad we’ve been for the last two or three performances.

“That’s the disappointing part, because it wasn’t us today.”

The result sees Newcastle equalize the Raiders on 18 competitive points, Canberra currently in ninth place heading into the final five rounds of the regular season.

Heading into the weekend, Stuart’s team were on a three-game winning streak.

He argued that his players need to look at themselves to reverse the result ahead of their Matchday 21 game against the Dragons next weekend.

“We weren’t good enough today,” he said.

“We didn’t start the game well. We have to practice before we look at anything else.

“We have to look at each other and understand why we did not start this game well.

“We have had a number of individuals who weren’t as good as they were, and they need to look into why.

“We have to look at ourselves first.”

The Raiders v Dragons game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, but Stuart is open to any changes to that schedule.

“We got used to understanding that anything can happen that day,” he said.

“Like yesterday. It’s a good test of character. We handled it well. It didn’t affect our preparation, there was no disruption. We got on the sidelines ready to play.

“I was just disappointed with the start of the game because we couldn’t get into it.”

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