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The phone call that spelt doom for Ricky - The Australian
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=...790554&usg=AFQjCNE98A-shzLOFn7D5g0dJ_FYB7WrCw
The phone call that spelt doom for Ricky Stuart
Margie McDonald
May 25, 2010 12:00AM
ALARM bells started ringing for Ricky Stuart before Christmas, when he received a telephone call from Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown.
The former St George Illawarra coach, a good friend of Stuart's, said he had been sounded out about the Cronulla job and wanted Stuart's version of events.
Early in January, Stuart approached Sharks chairman Damian Irvine and was told there had been no approach, not even through a third party.
But Stuart's information contradicted that statement and his antenna was now fully raised.
The Brown speculation became public knowledge in April and again Irvine denied any form of contact with him.
Last weekend, another newspaper report linked Stuart to the Wests Tigers and his old mentor Tim Sheens. If the Tigers failed to make the finals this year, Sheens - who had just signed an extension until the end of 2011 - would be terminated and Stuart offered the job.
When asked to comment last night on his relationship with Irvine, Stuart said: "I know how hard it is to coach first grade. But when you have administrators who want to talk about other coaches when you've got a contract to the club, it makes it very, very hard."
Although he did not mention Irvine, who was present for the 10-minute press conference yesterday at Sharks Leagues Club to announce Stuart's decision to quit at the end of the season, it was hard to miss who he was talking about. "Any first grade coach worth their salt, if that type of scenario does raise its ugly head, I believe you've got to do something about it," Stuart said.
Irvine told The Australian yesterday he had assured Stuart his job was safe. "Absolutely, numerous times," Irvine said. "In fact it was probably us seeking assurances over a lot of that talk about him. It was both ways.
"There's been a lot of innuendo, a lot of talk out there and I've clarified numerous times that we hadn't entertained the idea of any other coach.
"No third parties or anything. I'm clearly on record with that."
The drama that embroiled Cronulla last year - when a seven-year-old sex scandal threatened to tear the already embattled club apart - would have been enough to make anyone consider walking. And in the background lay the club's grim financial standing which still hangs on a $110 million real estate development planned on Sharks' land adjacent to Toyota Stadium.
The project is seen as salvation for a club which has long been asset rich but cash poor.
Irvine and two other new directors were voted on to the Cronulla board in May last year, and after long-time chairman Barry Pierce bowed to pressure and left two months later, Irvine was elevated to the top job.
In August 2009, approval for the land development came from Sutherland Shire Council, but construction has still not started.
Stuart asked the board last Thursday for a release from the final year of his contract, reportedly worth $400,000 a season.
He did not receive any payout.
Cronulla chief executive Richard Fisk yesterday paid tribute to Stuart. The pair had previously worked alongside each other at the Sydney Roosters where Stuart had made a bitter departure in August 2006 during a poor season.
"People don't remember what Ricky went through last year at this place," Fisk said.
"Ricky was the rock that held this place together. This club owes very much to Ricky Stuart for the way he hung in there, kept the players focused and kept the club off the field together."
Stuart said one regret was not being able to deliver a premiership to the club, which entered the competition in 1967 and has lost three grand finals.
But he told his players yesterday that after the solid win over Parramatta his priority was to give the final eight a real shake.
"My work ethic, intensity, passion will not waiver one little bit because I've got too much respect and care for the players," he said.
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=...790554&usg=AFQjCNE98A-shzLOFn7D5g0dJ_FYB7WrCw
The phone call that spelt doom for Ricky Stuart
Margie McDonald
May 25, 2010 12:00AM
ALARM bells started ringing for Ricky Stuart before Christmas, when he received a telephone call from Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown.
The former St George Illawarra coach, a good friend of Stuart's, said he had been sounded out about the Cronulla job and wanted Stuart's version of events.
Early in January, Stuart approached Sharks chairman Damian Irvine and was told there had been no approach, not even through a third party.
But Stuart's information contradicted that statement and his antenna was now fully raised.
The Brown speculation became public knowledge in April and again Irvine denied any form of contact with him.
Last weekend, another newspaper report linked Stuart to the Wests Tigers and his old mentor Tim Sheens. If the Tigers failed to make the finals this year, Sheens - who had just signed an extension until the end of 2011 - would be terminated and Stuart offered the job.
When asked to comment last night on his relationship with Irvine, Stuart said: "I know how hard it is to coach first grade. But when you have administrators who want to talk about other coaches when you've got a contract to the club, it makes it very, very hard."
Although he did not mention Irvine, who was present for the 10-minute press conference yesterday at Sharks Leagues Club to announce Stuart's decision to quit at the end of the season, it was hard to miss who he was talking about. "Any first grade coach worth their salt, if that type of scenario does raise its ugly head, I believe you've got to do something about it," Stuart said.
Irvine told The Australian yesterday he had assured Stuart his job was safe. "Absolutely, numerous times," Irvine said. "In fact it was probably us seeking assurances over a lot of that talk about him. It was both ways.
"There's been a lot of innuendo, a lot of talk out there and I've clarified numerous times that we hadn't entertained the idea of any other coach.
"No third parties or anything. I'm clearly on record with that."
The drama that embroiled Cronulla last year - when a seven-year-old sex scandal threatened to tear the already embattled club apart - would have been enough to make anyone consider walking. And in the background lay the club's grim financial standing which still hangs on a $110 million real estate development planned on Sharks' land adjacent to Toyota Stadium.
The project is seen as salvation for a club which has long been asset rich but cash poor.
Irvine and two other new directors were voted on to the Cronulla board in May last year, and after long-time chairman Barry Pierce bowed to pressure and left two months later, Irvine was elevated to the top job.
In August 2009, approval for the land development came from Sutherland Shire Council, but construction has still not started.
Stuart asked the board last Thursday for a release from the final year of his contract, reportedly worth $400,000 a season.
He did not receive any payout.
Cronulla chief executive Richard Fisk yesterday paid tribute to Stuart. The pair had previously worked alongside each other at the Sydney Roosters where Stuart had made a bitter departure in August 2006 during a poor season.
"People don't remember what Ricky went through last year at this place," Fisk said.
"Ricky was the rock that held this place together. This club owes very much to Ricky Stuart for the way he hung in there, kept the players focused and kept the club off the field together."
Stuart said one regret was not being able to deliver a premiership to the club, which entered the competition in 1967 and has lost three grand finals.
But he told his players yesterday that after the solid win over Parramatta his priority was to give the final eight a real shake.
"My work ethic, intensity, passion will not waiver one little bit because I've got too much respect and care for the players," he said.