Ricky Stuart has called on his experienced players to assist him in navigating the Canberra Raiders out of a troubled start to the season.
This plea follows the team's fourth loss in five matches, with their most recent defeat coming against the Newcastle Knights on Sunday afternoon.
The Knights have emerged as an unexpected force this season, now sitting in second place on the competition ladder, while the Raiders are left facing scrutiny after their performance.
Last year's minor premiers, lacking the presence of Jamal Fogarty, have shown significant struggles compared to their strong start in 2025, which has been exacerbated by a challenging schedule.
During their visit to the Hunter, the Green Machine faced difficulties on both offense and defense, ultimately finding themselves down by 20 points.
Currently, the Raiders avoid the bottom position in the standings only by way of the winless St George Illawarra Dragons. While Stuart's position faces less scrutiny than that of Shane Flanagan, he acknowledges the need for serious discussions among the team this week.
"They might be as concerned at the moment, the players. A lot of those boys are young and have never been in this situation before, so I've got to lead them out of it and I need the senior players like Joe [Tapine] to help me with that," he said in the post-match press conference.
"They're a solid group so we'll stick together and keep working the way out of it. Obviously, it's been a tough stretch.
"It's not about me going in there ranting and raving and trying to make yourself happy because you're ranting and raving and pointing out everything is going wrong. It's about as a collective group just sticking together and working hard towards the quality of football I know we're capable of.
"We're just not winning the moments in the game and there were some poor passages of play.