Raiders coach Ricky Stuart launches extraordinary spray at his detractors, calling them ‘muppets’

Fired up Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has unloaded on his critics who questioned the bold decision to rest Jarrod Croker against the Tigers on Friday night.

The Green Machine won a thriller 20-19 to stay entrenched in the NRL top eight, but the notoriously hard to please Stuart was still angry in the post game press conference.

Croker sat out the gripping win at Campbelltown, and next weekend will chalk up 300 career appearances in lime green after making his first grade debut in 2009.

Stuart wanted the veteran centre to play the milestone match on home soil at GIO Stadium in front of family and friends – and made no apology for doing so.

‘What I did was the right thing by all our Canberra fans,’ Stuart said.

Croker, 32, will chalk up 300 career games for Canberra at home next weekend against the Warriors

‘They would’ve bought their tickets, the poor buggers would’ve had to come down here [Sydney] after work to see Jarrod play 300. But no, I did the right thing.’

Stuart then blasted what he perceived ‘muppet’ detractors, who felt resting Croker was arrogant.

‘When you are in leadership, you’ve got to take a risk,’ he said.

‘I was going to cop it from every one of you (the media) if we had’ve got beaten. But I was prepared to take the risk. That’s leadership, not these other muppets, who pretend they know.

‘These muppets who have been bagging me, they’re all the guys who will read the textbooks and talk about courageous leadership, man management and they’ll go out and talk at corporate functions but they can’t execute it.

‘They’re not the people I want in my football team, they’re not the people I want in the trenches with me. There wasn’t a [Raiders] player that didn’t want Jarrod to have his 300th game at home.

‘I was open and honest (about resting Croker), which I was probably wrong to be. I may as well just lie.’

Club legend Stuart – who won three premierships as a player with the Raiders – labelled his detractors ‘muppets’ in a rant for the ages

Croker will become just the second Raiders player to reach 300 games and the first to do so in the nation’s capital after distant relative Jason Croker brought up the triple-century feat against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in 2006.

Stuart also hailed the significance of Croker’s impending personal milestone.

‘This will be one of the biggest events we have had for a player in Canberra,’ he said.

‘We get nothing, the Raiders get nothing, we are battlers.

‘We’re happy to be proud of it but we’ll have a great event this week and Jarrod Croker deserves everything that he gets next weekend.’

Stuart won a NRL premiership in charge of the star-studded Roosters in 2002 – but silverware had eluded him since.

He did guide the Raiders to the 2019 decider, but came up short against the Tricolours.