Stuart's conspiracy claim rattles Carr
Jacquelin Magnay and Glenn Jackson | November 24, 2008
KANGAROOS coach Ricky Stuart was so incensed by the shock loss of his team to New Zealand in Saturday night's World Cup final he verbally attacked ARL chief executive and close friend Geoff Carr, alleging a conspiracy by tournament organisers.
Yet despite the fierce exchange of words and outlandish claims, and Stuart's role in overseeing the most stunning shock defeat in rugby league's centenary year, Carr was yesterday adamant the coach would keep his job - if he wanted to stay on.
Stuart is understood to have taken particular exception to a number of refereeing decisions that proved costly to his team and made accusations that an Australian loss suited the organisers and the future of the World Cup, which, up until the final, had been written off as a one-horse race after the Kangaroos' crushing defeats of the Kiwis, England, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
But witnesses say Stuart was out of line in his attack, blaming match officials and accusing them of stitching up his team to such an extent defeat was virtually inevitable. While Stuart might have been upset with a few decisions, it was the errors of his team, coupled with a lacklustre forward pack, that cost them the game. Captain Darren Lockyer failed to ground a try, Billy Slater threw a ball direct to try-scoring Kiwi Benji Marshall and Joel Monaghan handed the Kiwis a penalty try after a deliberate and high tackle on Lance Hohaia