A Raiders official has reduce Ricky Stuart’s post-match press convention brief after the pinnacle coach bought emotional whereas dissecting Jack Wighton’s contract choice.
The 56-year-old was requested in regards to the strain each the membership and Jack Wighton confronted throughout making a name on his future, signing a four-year cope with the Rabbitohs.
Stuart’s uncooked emotion surfaced, displaying how a lot the 30-year-old five-eighth means to him earlier than he stated “we all love him”.
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Stuart and Wighton are presently in the course of tenth season collectively within the nation’s capital.
“No one on the outside understands how Don and myself have (had) to protect the club, no one on the outside understands the pressure Jack has been under,” Stuart stated.
“Only hear the hearsay and there’s so much lies and innuendo in regards to why Jack is leaving, he is going for a change… and I get that, I really do.
“We all love him… if we weren’t hurt by it, him going, we wouldn’t care about him, we don’t care about the club.
“Am I pissed off he is going yeah, that is his decision,” Stuart stated earlier than the Raiders official interjected.
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Stuart was additionally clearly emotional initially of the press convention when requested about his aspect’s efficiency on Saturday afternoon.
The Raiders secured two competitors factors, beating the Dolphins 31-30 after a Jamal Fogarty area purpose.
“We wanted to reveal a bit of character, and I reckon we did,” Stuart stated.
“We’ve been criticised as a club, I feel sorry for Jack… Jack is our mate and I’ve had a long association with him and he had to make a decision, he was put in a difficult position.
Stuart also set the record straight regarding Wighton’s decision for leaving the Canberra club.
“I’m okay with the decision, there’s a lot of excuses going around about why Jack is leaving and they are all crap,” Stuart stated within the post-match press convention.
Wighton breaks down after massive win | 02:00
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“Jack wants a bit of a change, he’s been here a long time and I get that and he’s the least of my worries in regards to turning up every week and playing football.
“But he shouldn’t be put in that position, the way the system is at the moment it is hard on those players to make their decision on their futures.
“Hard for our fans, hard for players who are put into a position when you have got to make those calls.
“All the innuendo, the criticism Jack has got, it is rotten… we need to make it a better system to make it better for the teams and the players making those decisions.”
“It was never any doubt Jack was going to put it aside, I couldn’t be prouder of my playing group and Jack.
“The way we started that game revealed the character of the joint.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au