IT’S a good thing that Ricky Stuart has no interest in social media for if ever a coach was a constant topic on Twitter and on-line forums it is the Canberra Raiders’ coach.

When the Raiders were losing it was his fault and he couldn’t coach, despite everything he has achieved including coaching the Roosters to a premiership, Origin and Australia, called into question. When the team was winning it was due to the players!
To his credit he has ignored the critics and there have been plenty. He has stuck to his guns and believed in what he was doing. That self-belief has transferred to the playing group and there is real energy around the Raiders’ Bruce headquarters.
As such, the team is performing beyond the expectations of those outside the group. Speak to the players and, like the coach, they have always had that self-belief.

SIX months ago I was reliably informed that Cricket Australia was considering placing the seventh team in the men’s domestic one-day series in Canberra.
It wouldn’t be the Comets resurrected, instead it would be a side made up of younger players contracted to existing teams but unable to force their way into the match-day XI on a regular basis.
I was told that Canberra was deemed to be an ideal base for the team because of the high level of coaching and facilities at Manuka.
Imagine my surprise when Cricket Australia opted to base a second team in Brisbane at the expense of a side based in Canberra. To my way of thinking, Cricket Australia has missed a chance to promote the code in the ACT and southern NSW region.
A second side in Brisbane will get lost in terms of profile. A team in Canberra would have generated plenty of support for cricket in this region. It is not just the ACT; it’s Wagga Wagga, Batemans Bay, Cooma, Albury and so on.
It could be years now before an additional side is introduced and, for the time being, it remains an opportunity lost.

I AM hearing that the Canberra team in the National Rugby Championship in 2016 will revert back to being called the Kookaburras.
It has been the Canberra Vikings in the first and second seasons of the competition, but it is probably causing the Vikings Club more angst than it’s worth.
There is a perception that it is a Tuggeranong team and probably enhanced in the minds of many given 18 players in the 35-player training squad for next season come from the Vikings.
I know many won’t agree, but I think we should be grateful for the Vikings’ support. The money has come from the football club not the licensed club and the Vikings have taken a risk in funding the venture.
If it wasn’t for the Vikings, I doubt we’d have a team in the competition.