Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has given 18-year-old fullback Chevy Stewart an inspired vote of confidence after the rookie bounced back from a difficult first half in the 34-10 loss to Brisbane.
Stewart, who has his opportunity due to a knee injury to star fullback Jordan Rapana, made his NRL debut the previous week and shone in a 21-20 win over the Gold Coast.
He struggled against the Broncos in the first half on Saturday, dropping a bomb that led to a try to No.6 Ezra Mam after he had earlier been stepped by fullback Reece Walsh on his way to a try.
The Raiders trailed 28-0 at the break but Stewart, who made three errors in the opening 40 minutes, responded with grit and determination in a much-improved second half.
At halftime Stuart spoke to the rookie and gave him a clear message.
“My message was, ‘you will show me tonight in the next 40 minutes what sort of career you are going to have in the NRL by the way you respond’,” Stuart said.
“I said, ‘mate, no-one cares about the first 40’. He responded the way we needed him to, and for him too. We know he is a good footy player.
“If Chevy Stewart wasn’t a tough kid, he would have crumbled tonight. At 18 years of age, you remember that.
“I know at 18 years of age I wasn’t ready to play NRL. At 18, how he handled the second half showed me has a future in the NRL.
“I don’t care about the dropped bomb. I don’t care about the try off it because there will be more of that. I have just got to be patient.”
Stuart said the senior players would also be patient as the Raiders transition into a “completely new team with youth in important positions on the field”.
Five-eighth Ethan Strange is 19 and none of the outside backs are older than 25.
“There are going to be more of those nights for a lot of those young blokes,” Stuart said.
“I have to be patient with a lot of those boys and there are going to be more of those nights and more errors in the process of them learning to be NRL players. It will take 50 or 60 games before they are completely comfortable, but I am prepared to be patient.
“We are trying to stabilise our future and in three or four years time we will have a future with those kids.”
