It has been revealed Ricky Stuart and Des Hasler had a heated altercation in the dressing rooms between their press conferences after the Raiders’ 21-20 win over the Titans.
Hasler took issue with the refereeing in his press conference, which prompted a tirade from Stuart in his, but The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie revealed a run-in between the two where the Raiders coach said, “F**k you to Hasler.
“We all love a feud. Was there any truth to a confrontation in the tunnel between Ricky and Des?” Braith Anasta asked on NRL 360.
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Phil Rothfield confirmed the tense exchange between the pair.
“Bulldog Richie’s got the story on the Telegraph website, about 20 minutes after the game after Des had done his press conference and blown up about what we’ve just spent five minutes talking about, he went to the Canberra Raiders dressing room and he wanted to see Ricky before Ricky went to his press conference,” Rothfield said.
“He wanted to man up and tell Ricky to his face that he had just sprayed the referee and wasn’t happy and thought his team should have got the money.
“Ricky came outside and they stood there and had a reasonably heated exchange that went on for a minute or so.”
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Anasta questioned Rothfield on the heated bust up which sparked a fiery debate.
“Talk me through a reasonably heated exchange,” Anasta said.
“I think when you drop the F-bomb to a rival coach, I think you could say it was heated,” Rothfield said.
“Oh come on Buzz, please,” Paul Kent said.
“I’ve spoken to Des and Ricky Stuart for more than 20 years,” Rothfield said.
“I know them both and I know the respect they have for each other. So for them to be involved in a face-off like that.”
“They had a disagreement,” Gorden Tallis said.
“That’s not bad was it? For two coaches to be passionate about their teams.”
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“That’s why I said it was reasonably heated,” Rothfield said.
“I wasn’t there, I didn’t see it.”
“Yeah, but that’s fine, it shows they care,” Tallis said.
“They shook hands,” Kent said.
“But you saw how upset Ricky was in the press conference,” Rothfield said.
“He called them cheats.
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“Yeah, and let me tell you something and I’ll guarantee you this,” Kent said.
“If they’d been beaten in that game, he would go off like a two-bob watch today Ricky, absolutely he would have.”
“That would have been fun,” Anasta joked.
“It would have, but look, they’ve played together these guys,” Kent said.
“They’ve toured together. They know each other. They can sit there and have a conversation where it gets a little bit loud.”
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