Ricky Stuart handled crisis in Las Vegas well, prioritizing game and club over player protection.
At close to 9.30pm in Las Vegas on Sunday night, Ricky Stuart was enjoying a quiet beer with his coaching staff at a bar at the team hotel in Resorts World.
He stepped outside the bar to take a phone call from Nine colleague Danny Weidler, who had just heard the same thing as this columnist about the brawling Raiders.
After he got off the phone, this masthead approached Stuart about the incident. What happened next was a lesson in crisis management to clubs who have often prioritised the protection of the players over the good of the game and their clubs.