Canberra coach Ricky Stewart faces one-week ban and $25,000 fine for ‘weak dog’ comments

Raiders coach Ricky Stewart has been handed a one-week suspension and a $25,000 fine by the NRL after calling Panthers five-eighter Jayman Salmon a “visceral dog.”

The league served Stewart a notice of violation, which he accepted and suspended for seven days beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

It also mandates that Stuart must personally pay the fine, not the Raiders.

The decision marks the first time in NRL history that a coach has been suspended for comments made at a press conference.

“The suspension period will prevent Stuart from performing any duties as head coach of the Raiders, including attending team and individual training and coaching sessions and attending Raiders facilities,” the NRL said in a statement. said.

In addition, he may not give instructions or instructions to teams, individual players or club officials during any period of suspension, including before, during and after matches within this period.

This means Stuart will miss Sunday’s game against the Dragons in Canberra and won’t return to the Raiders until next Tuesday.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has slammed Stuart’s comments, which are believed to stem from an incident between Salmon, who was an U-12 teammate in 2010, and Stuart’s son.

“Leaders have to set the bar in the game. Comments are completely unacceptable from any individual, let alone anyone with such experience and position,” Abdo said.

“This is a highly unusual case and we have taken the important step of proposing a one-week suspension.

“This is a full suspension and Ricky will no longer be able to engage directly or remotely with club activities.

Furthermore, the fine should be paid by Ricky, not by the club.”

Earlier, Raiders CEO Don Farner admitted that Stuart had done something wrong and said it was important for the club to support the longtime coach.

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“It’s like waiting for a suspension for a player… I said publicly that I would accept whatever punishment, accept the decision they made and move on from there,” he told reporters.

“It’s a very public job, a tough job. He’s clearly very disappointed and embarrassed. He’ll have to forget about it and move on. We all know him.” will support the

Farner said he hasn’t discussed which assistant coach will take center stage in Sunday’s game, but it looks like a former Raiders prop will take the role.

Canberra skipper Elliott Whitehead also entered the plate for Stuart.

“We stand by him. He had his reasons,” Whitehead told reporters on Tuesday.

“I’m not going to get into them, but we all stand by Ricky and know he probably shouldn’t have said that on that platform.

“He’s upset that he allowed his emotions to get the better of him.”

AAP/ABC