Ricky "Sticky" Stuart is a Australian professional rugby league football coach for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League and a former rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A former international representative rugby league and rugby union player (a dual-code international), Stuart also played State of Origin for New South Wales in the first Gould era. At club level, Stuart was the half-back of the "Green Machine", the formidable Canberra Raiders team who were coached by Tim Sheens and won three premierships in 1989, 1990 and 1994, besides being runners-up in 1991. As a player Stuart was noted for his ability to throw long, spiralling passes to both the left and right sides of the field.

Ricky Stuart was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. He originally played rugby league as a child, but took up rugby union while attending St Edmund's College, Canberra. Stuart was selected for the ACT Schoolboys in 1984, and attracted press attention the following season for a dominant display for his school in the Waratah Shield final. Stuart's union career was with the Queanbeyan Whites before being selected for the Wallabies tour of Argentina in 1987. Stuart played three tour matches, but no Test matches, in both the Fly-half and Scrum-half positions.

Always interested in converting to rugby league, Stuart was initially chased by Balmain, who had a weakness in the halves at the time. He also received offers from reigning premiers Manly and the newly formed Newcastle club. However, his residence in Queanbeyan meant that he preferred playing with Canberra, and after initially signing to play for Manly RUFC, the Raiders would double Balmain's offer in order to get him. Stuart began his senior league career in reserve grade. Although he would lift a previously weak Raider reserve grade team, Stuart would remain in reserve grade until the regular halves became injured at the end of June.

Once promoted to first grade, Stuart immediately stamped himself as a player of genuine class, and by the end of 1988 was earmarked for representative honours. He soon became a key factor behind the club's most successful period in the late 1980s and 1990s, playing halfback inside a backline including legendary talents Laurie Daley, Mal Meninga and Gary Belcher. Ricky Stuart was instrumental in helping the Raiders win their first Premiership title in 1989, in one of the all-time time great finals against the Balmain Tigers.

With New South Wales seeking new blood after two successive Origin cleansweep losses in 1988 and 1989, he was earmarked for a New South Wales halfback berth from very early in the season. Stuart would not disappoint: New South Wales won the series 2 -1 and he was named man-of-the-match in the second game of the 1990 State of Origin series. He then won the Clive Churchill Medal in the Raiders' 1990 grand final victory over Penrith, and had become a certainty to tour with the Kangaroos. Stuart debuted in the first test of the 1990 Kangaroo tour against Great Britain in London in October 1990, playing five-eighth outside Allan Langer. This appearance saw him become Australia's 38th dual code rugby international, following Michael O'Connor. He replaced Langer at halfback in last two Tests, with Australia winning both.

Established in league's elite, Stuart would suffer throughout the 1991 season from a painful groin injury, despite having an operation after returning home from the Kangaroo Tour. He managed despite this handicap to play 24 of 26 club games for the Raiders, and all three Origin games for the Blues. However, Queensland won a very close series 2 -1 and Stuart lost his Test jersey to Langer who was fitter and in better form at all levels. By the time of the finals, Stuart's kicking game was crippled by his groin trouble, and he was replaced by Scott Gale during the Raiders' grand final loss to Penrith.

During the 1991 season, the Raiders were plagued by massive debts and salary cap breaches, largely due to the cost of their move to Bruce Stadium and building a second leagues club. It was initially thought Stuart might sign with English club Wakefield Trinity during the peak of the club's financial crisis. Stuart would not re-sign until after Meninga, Daley, Clyde and Walters had done so. Ricky Stuart would suffer a posterior cruciate ligament tear that required another surgery, but would recover to help New South Wales to Origin success - winning his second Man of the Match award in the deciding encounter.

A recurrence of his groin problems saw Stuart miss the opening Winfield Cup game, nevertheless returning Stuart played in his finest form yet, leading the Raiders to a sequence of thirteen wins and a draw in fifteen games from Rounds 7 to 21. Besides helping NSW to another Origin triumph with a third Man of the Match in the first game, a likely Canberra premiership triumph was quashed when Stuart broke his leg - ironically during a record 68 - 0 win against Parramatta - in the penultimate round. Stuart nonetheless won the 1993 Dally M Medal for the Winfield Cup's Player of the Year, and won the Rothmans Medal with a vote total then beaten only by Mick Cronin in 1978.

Ricky was fit for the start of the 1994 season. He then reproduced his 1993 form, leading the Raiders to an emphatic 36 - 12 Grand Final triumph over Canterbury, and New South Wales to a fourth Origin triumph in five seasons. the close of the 1994 Kangaroos tour, Stuart was viewed as the most influential, and possibly best, player in the world. At the height of the Super League conflict, Stuart's asking price rose from $700,000 to $2,500,000 during one day, as he became the public face of Super League. Appointed captain of the Raiders to succeed the retiring Meninga, Stuart would lead them to their best-ever regular season record of twenty wins and only two losses, but after defeating the Broncos 14 - 8 in Brisbane, they would be thrashed 6 - 25 by the Sydney Bulldogs in their SL preliminary final.

However, the ARL's blanket ban on Super League players meant Stuart would not play in any representative match in 1995. Indeed, as it turned out he would never play representative rugby league again. Stuart retired as a player in 2000 after failing to recover from a recurring knee injury. He had played a total of 243 first-grade games for the Raiders and Bulldogs since 1988.

Stuart began his first grade coaching career in 2002 with the Sydney Roosters, taking over from Graham Murray and winning the premiership in his first year as coach. The 2004 Stuart-coached Roosters side was also beaten in the Grand Final, but the team struggled in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Stuart took over from Stuart Raper as head coach of Cronulla with a two-year contract, with his time there marred by controversy involving Sharks players. Stuart then signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Parramatta Eels, beginning in 2013, but quit Parramatta that same year to join Canberra as head coach on a three-year contract.

In 2005, Stuart was appointed coach of the New South Wales. Although Stuart only coached the NSW side for just one series, the Blues managed to win the series 2 -1 after losing the first match in golden point. Stuart's victory in 2005 was the last time NSW won an origin series until the Laurie Daley-coached Blues won in 2014.

In December 2005, Stuart was appointed as coach of Australian national rugby league team, replacing Wayne Bennett after Australia's loss in the 2005 Tri-Nations Final to New Zealand. Stuart enjoyed success with the Kangaroos: winning the Anzac Tests of 2006 and 2007, as well as the 2006 Tri-Nations. In addition, at the end of the 2007 season, the team won a one-off Test against New Zealand.

Stuart's Australian team lost the 2008 Rugby League World Cup Final to New Zealand, 34 - 20. Afterwards he was reported to be so incensed by the defeat that he verbally attacked Geoff Carr, the Chief Executive of Australian Rugby League, claiming that tournament organisers and match officials conspired to cause the Australian loss. He is reported to have verbally abused both referee officials in front of a number of witnesses, calling Klein a cheat, and of being physically and aggressively intimidating. Stuart was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, for significant service to rugby league, and to the community.