Why Ricky Stuart told Jarrod Croker to retire ahead of Canberra Raiders legend’s 300th NRL match
Jarrod Croker will go down in history as Canberra Raiders champion and join the elite 300-game NRL club, but coach Ricky Stuart has revealed he tried to close the curtains on the Green Machine icon prematurely.
Croker will line up for his 300th game against the New Zealand Warriors at 6pm today after Stuart rested the star center to ensure he would reach the milestone at home in front of family and friends at GIO Stadium.
He becomes just the 48th NRL player to reach the milestone, only the 18th player to reach it with a single club and only the second Raiders player to reach 300 games.
It will be a memorable experience for all involved, but it could have been very different after a sobering moment during Covid isolation two years ago.
Croker’s body was smashed, including shoulder reconstructions, cartilage problems in his knee, and problems with his Achilles tendon that nearly robbed him of his superstardom.
Croker will celebrate his 300 NRL game milestone tonight for family and friends in Canberra
Stuart had to deliver the tough news to Croker in 2021 that his playing days in the NRL may be over, but his championship player proved him wrong
Croker overcame a host of injuries and poor form to claw his way back into the NRL side in 2023 and has been able to keep his spot ever since
Stuart, one of the top coaches in the NRL, had seen this movie before.
Great players who had their careers and reputations robbed by playing on when they were no longer the same player.
So he had the conversation with Croker he didn’t want to have, urging him to retire early in an effort to preserve his reputation.
Injury after injury is the real killer in the NRL. So he was not prepared for what I had to say. I told him I thought he should retire,” Stuart wrote in his column News Corp.
“He didn’t play at the level of the Jarrod I knew and I didn’t want him to go out badly because he would be remembered for performances at the end of his career that could overshadow all those other memories he should have been remembered for .’
“I told him I was trying to protect Jarrod from Jarrod.”
Needless to say, Croker didn’t take the advice very well.
“He didn’t want to hear about it, so I told him to go away and think about it. I told him I didn’t want to be the coach to pick him in second grade. I thought he deserved more than that for all he gave,” Stuart wrote.
‘I understood it. He wanted to continue playing. I also told him that I could not guarantee that he would be picked, that his selection from now on would be based purely on performance.
“He understood that even if he’s just helping the younger guys in the NSW Cup, he’d be happy to do that, but he wanted the chance. Again, he was all for the jersey.”
The last game Croker played in Canberra ahead of the 2023 season was the ninth round against the Bulldogs where he dislocated his shoulder.
Injuries became a recurring theme for the Raiders champion and coach Stuart thought he might not get back from it
Croker’s career was at a crossroads and he had to make a decision whether he was willing to continue and possibly end his playing days in the reserve league.
At the start of this season, Croker’s NRL career seemed over.
His last game against the Bulldogs resulted in a shoulder dislocation and he was relegated to the reserves for the first five rounds of the 2023 competition.
However, the Raiders had a dismal start to the year and an evaluation was called for as they were thrashed 53–12 at home by the Panthers.
As part of the review, the players urged Stuart to choose Croker again.
“Elliott Whitehead said he wanted Toots on the left. Josh Papalii immediately agreed,” Stuart wrote.
‘I asked why.
“He’ll bring some calm,” Elliott said.
“They also felt like he would bring energy back to first grade.
I said I trusted them and if I didn’t listen to what they thought I shouldn’t be their coach.’
However, when Croker returned to first grade, early signs were not good.
“However, the next day in training we did a counter session against the NSW Cup team and some of our younger lads were absolutely skinning him,” Stuart wrote.
“They kept getting outside of him. Jarrod was training to get through the session and go to the game. I needed more. I watched and worried whether, for all the energy it took, it was the wrong decision.”
Croker played in his debut season for the Canberra Raiders against the North Queensland Cowboys in 2009
Croker and now-wife Brittany Wicks arrive at the 2016 Dally M Awards where he received the Provan-Summons Medal, Captain of the Year and Top Pointscorer of the Year awards
Despite those fears, Croker pulled off a tough 20-14 win over the Brisbane Broncos that re-started the Raiders season. He has played in seven NRL games so far this season and tasted defeat just once as Canberra emerges as a genuine contender in 2023.
“All the time, sports provide us with examples of old champions who rise to the occasion and find something in their makeup that they shouldn’t be able to for dozens of good reasons, but they find a way to pull it off anyway,” Stuart wrote. . .
“We don’t just talk about our culture, we live it. I don’t expect anyone outside our club to understand, but this is more than just a game. For him, and for us.’