The Canberra Raiders' nine-game winning streak came to a devastating close on Saturday night, losing 18-12 to the St George Illawarra Dragons.
In what was one of the biggest upsets of the season, the Raiders fell apart in the second half, failing to score a try in 40 minutes.
Ricky Stuart was visibly filthy in his press conference after the match, sharing some choice words for his troops.
"I'm disappointed about the result," Stuart began.
"I thought we were dumb in the second half.
"In that second half, we made too many errors and forced passes, turned the footy over too much and gave them a lot of field position against that breeze."
While his frustration was evident, it wasn't all doom and gloom for the ladder-leading coach.
"I thought we were very courageous, played really good football in the first half," Stuart admitted.
When asked if he believes his side needed the loss to be brought down to Earth, Stuart admitted he hasn't bought into that mentality.
"No, we didn't need [the loss]," Stuart declared.
"We're a good enough team to win that game. But as I said, we were dumb in the second half."
The club could lose their top spot to the Canterbury Bulldogs this week, if the Dogs can win by more than 16 points against the Wests Tigers on Sunday.
'Sticky' admitted he isn't thinking too far ahead in regards to ladder positioning, due to his side's lack of experience.
"We're not looking too far ahead and we can't," Stuart conceded.
"I haven't got that experienced squad to be looking too far ahead... It's still such a tight four."
The Raiders still have a bye to go in their race for the finals, but with the Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm hot on their trail, they cannot afford to lose many more matches if they hope to win the minor premiership.
