Jed Stuart ends dad's sleepless nights with debut win

The Advertiser

7 hours ago

Ricky Stuart's weeks of sleepless nights are over after his son Jed scored on debut and Canberra held on to beat the Raiders 16-12 at Campbelltown.
Following a fortnight of build up to one of the Raiders' most famous debuts in years, Stuart played a key role in Canberra's ninth win in 10 matches on Friday night.
His try came as Canberra led 16-0 at halftime, before being forced to defend through a nervy final 25 minutes with the margin just four.
The win ensures Canberra will finish the round in second spot, with five straight victories and nine from their past 10 games.
Stuart was the story of the night with a try on debut, the four-pointer coming as his proud father Ricky stood on the sideline.
The Raiders coach had long known of the 23-year-old's ability, but was hesitant to plug him into Canberra's backline before Savelio Tamale's injury.
Stuart Jnr. responded by taking a bomb on attack with his first play, saving a 40-20 with a bat back and then scoring when Seb Kris sent him over in the corner.
"This week has been the hardest moment I've had as a coach," Ricky Stuart said.
"Because from a father's point of view, I don't want him to come out and be man of the match, I just want him to hold his own. And he did that.
"The amount of times I've been waking up at 3am with real bad thoughts ... He didn't have any of those tonight, which was good."
While Jed Stuart provided the headline moment, it was Joe Tapine and Canberra's goal-line defenders who proved the heroes.
The Tigers spent large parts of the match camped on the Raiders' line, but were only able to break through twice in a five-minute period in the second half.
Tapine was crucial.
He somehow held up Jarome Luai as the Tigers five-eighth looked certain to get the ball down in the first half, pulling the No.6's arm back up as it went towards the turf.
Then moments later it was Tapine who gave the Raiders their first try, running on to a Josh Papalii try and through a gaping hole to score.
The Raiders prop had another crucial moment in the second half, pulling off a one-on-one strip to end another Tigers attacking raid in the final 10 minutes.
"That's why I've been saying for the past two years I think he is the best front-rower in the game," Stuart said.
"There is a lot of athleticism in those efforts."
As resolute as the Raiders were, the Tigers were at times their own worst enemies.
A Tom Starling try came after Kris brushed through a poor Heath Mason miss, before Jeral Skelton and Jahreem Bula fumbled a grubber and Starling dived on the ball.
The Tigers were better in the second half, with Luai coming to life after being well contained before the break.
Backing up just two days after Origin II and following cross-country travel, he sparked the Tigers to life when he grubbered for a chasing Alex Seyfarth to score.
Luai had it at 16-12 moments later when he first put Adam Doueihi into space, before backing up on the next play and combining with Latu Fainu to send Starford To'a.
But a denied try from a forward pass, Tapine's strip and another overturned late penalty for a Skelton hair-pull meant the Tigers were consigned to a fifth straight loss.
"Looking at our last two games, the four-time premiers (Penrith), taking them to the wire and almost winning. And the team that is second on the table, giving ourselves a shot today," Tigers coach Benji Marshall said.
"I know the results have gone the other way, but it's not proud off where we've got to be."
Ricky Stuart's weeks of sleepless nights are over after his son Jed scored on debut and Canberra held on to beat the Raiders 16-12 at Campbelltown.
Following a fortnight of build up to one of the Raiders' most famous debuts in years, Stuart played a key role in Canberra's ninth win in 10 matches on Friday night.
His try came as Canberra led 16-0 at halftime, before being forced to defend through a nervy final 25 minutes with the margin just four.
The win ensures Canberra will finish the round in second spot, with five straight victories and nine from their past 10 games.
Stuart was the story of the night with a try on debut, the four-pointer coming as his proud father Ricky stood on the sideline.
The Raiders coach had long known of the 23-year-old's ability, but was hesitant to plug him into Canberra's backline before Savelio Tamale's injury.
Stuart Jnr. responded by taking a bomb on attack with his first play, saving a 40-20 with a bat back and then scoring when Seb Kris sent him over in the corner.
"This week has been the hardest moment I've had as a coach," Ricky Stuart said.
"Because from a father's point of view, I don't want him to come out and be man of the match, I just want him to hold his own. And he did that.
"The amount of times I've been waking up at 3am with real bad thoughts ... He didn't have any of those tonight, which was good."
While Jed Stuart provided the headline moment, it was Joe Tapine and Canberra's goal-line defenders who proved the heroes.
The Tigers spent large parts of the match camped on the Raiders' line, but were only able to break through twice in a five-minute period in the second half.
Tapine was crucial.
He somehow held up Jarome Luai as the Tigers five-eighth looked certain to get the ball down in the first half, pulling the No.6's arm back up as it went towards the turf.
Then moments later it was Tapine who gave the Raiders their first try, running on to a Josh Papalii try and through a gaping hole to score.
The Raiders prop had another crucial moment in the second half, pulling off a one-on-one strip to end another Tigers attacking raid in the final 10 minutes.
"That's why I've been saying for the past two years I think he is the best front-rower in the game," Stuart said.
"There is a lot of athleticism in those efforts."
As resolute as the Raiders were, the Tigers were at times their own worst enemies.
A Tom Starling try came after Kris brushed through a poor Heath Mason miss, before Jeral Skelton and Jahreem Bula fumbled a grubber and Starling dived on the ball.
The Tigers were better in the second half, with Luai coming to life after being well contained before the break.
Backing up just two days after Origin II and following cross-country travel, he sparked the Tigers to life when he grubbered for a chasing Alex Seyfarth to score.
Luai had it at 16-12 moments later when he first put Adam Doueihi into space, before backing up on the next play and combining with Latu Fainu to send Starford To'a.
But a denied try from a forward pass, Tapine's strip and another overturned late penalty for a Skelton hair-pull meant the Tigers were consigned to a fifth straight loss.
"Looking at our last two games, the four-time premiers (Penrith), taking them to the wire and almost winning. And the team that is second on the table, giving ourselves a shot today," Tigers coach Benji Marshall said.
"I know the results have gone the other way, but it's not proud off where we've got to be."
Ricky Stuart's weeks of sleepless nights are over after his son Jed scored on debut and Canberra held on to beat the Raiders 16-12 at Campbelltown.
Following a fortnight of build up to one of the Raiders' most famous debuts in years, Stuart played a key role in Canberra's ninth win in 10 matches on Friday night.
His try came as Canberra led 16-0 at halftime, before being forced to defend through a nervy final 25 minutes with the margin just four.
The win ensures Canberra will finish the round in second spot, with five straight victories and nine from their past 10 games.
Stuart was the story of the night with a try on debut, the four-pointer coming as his proud father Ricky stood on the sideline.
The Raiders coach had long known of the 23-year-old's ability, but was hesitant to plug him into Canberra's backline before Savelio Tamale's injury.
Stuart Jnr. responded by taking a bomb on attack with his first play, saving a 40-20 with a bat back and then scoring when Seb Kris sent him over in the corner.
"This week has been the hardest moment I've had as a coach," Ricky Stuart said.
"Because from a father's point of view, I don't want him to come out and be man of the match, I just want him to hold his own. And he did that.
"The amount of times I've been waking up at 3am with real bad thoughts ... He didn't have any of those tonight, which was good."
While Jed Stuart provided the headline moment, it was Joe Tapine and Canberra's goal-line defenders who proved the heroes.
The Tigers spent large parts of the match camped on the Raiders' line, but were only able to break through twice in a five-minute period in the second half.
Tapine was crucial.
He somehow held up Jarome Luai as the Tigers five-eighth looked certain to get the ball down in the first half, pulling the No.6's arm back up as it went towards the turf.
Then moments later it was Tapine who gave the Raiders their first try, running on to a Josh Papalii try and through a gaping hole to score.
The Raiders prop had another crucial moment in the second half, pulling off a one-on-one strip to end another Tigers attacking raid in the final 10 minutes.
"That's why I've been saying for the past two years I think he is the best front-rower in the game," Stuart said.
"There is a lot of athleticism in those efforts."
As resolute as the Raiders were, the Tigers were at times their own worst enemies.
A Tom Starling try came after Kris brushed through a poor Heath Mason miss, before Jeral Skelton and Jahreem Bula fumbled a grubber and Starling dived on the ball.
The Tigers were better in the second half, with Luai coming to life after being well contained before the break.
Backing up just two days after Origin II and following cross-country travel, he sparked the Tigers to life when he grubbered for a chasing Alex Seyfarth to score.
Luai had it at 16-12 moments later when he first put Adam Doueihi into space, before backing up on the next play and combining with Latu Fainu to send Starford To'a.
But a denied try from a forward pass, Tapine's strip and another overturned late penalty for a Skelton hair-pull meant the Tigers were consigned to a fifth straight loss.
"Looking at our last two games, the four-time premiers (Penrith), taking them to the wire and almost winning. And the team that is second on the table, giving ourselves a shot today," Tigers coach Benji Marshall said.
"I know the results have gone the other way, but it's not proud off where we've got to be."