‘Four games in 18 days’: Ricky calls out draw as bye comes at ‘good time’ for Raiders

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has once again taken aim at the club’s draw, which saw them play four matches within 18 days.

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Defeated by the Penrith Panthers on Sunday, Stuart is looking forward to enjoying the bye next week following a cluster of games in a limited time period.

But that didn’t stop him from pointing out the club’s draw to begin this year’s campaign when asked by a reporter about what needs to happen over the next seven days, in which they won’t be preparing for a game and will instead be allowed to relax.

“As I keep saying, those four games in the 18 days and then bouncing into that game last week, where we were really disruptive with injuries. That helped us mentally,” Stuart said post-match.

“I think we got up physically tonight because we got the win last week and your week changes after a win.

“That’s probably the win over the Gold Coast and we should have beaten the Gold Coast too. We were a better team than them so we should’ve won last week too.

“But the bye has just come at a really good time for us. A couple of these injuries that we’ve got, they get another week off without missing a game.”

Meanwhile, he stated that Sunday’s match was a great learning opportunity for halves Ethan Strange and Ethan Sanders as Nathan Cleary delivered a masterclass for their opponents.

“Those two young halves, seeing what Nathan Cleary does tonight is such a benefit for those two boys, the two Ethans,” Stuart added.

“That’ll be them dominating games over the next six to 18 months. That’s just an education. You can’t get that on video.

“You can’t get that while sitting down and coaching them. They’ve got to fell it. They’ve got to hear it, what he’s talking (and) you’ve got to see it.

“I said it after the game to the whole squad. That’s how you grow as a team. We’re not happy that we didn’t win.

“We weren’t close enough in the end to keep competing…we were good enough to be but going back to the two halves and Ethan Sanders, that’s how you get real development.”