Inside the dressing rooms at the old Sydney Football Stadium in 1991, Ricky Stuart was on a massage table waiting for the Raiders doctor.

The events that unfolded next, and again another seven times throughout that finals series, is still etched into Tim Sheens's memory almost three decades later.

It was about an hour before Canberra's semi-final against Western Suburbs and the crafty halfback was once again struggling to deal with the pubic symphysis injury that was threatening to end his season.

He'd already been told he needed surgery, but Stuart wasn't having any of it.

The alternative? Well, it still makes Sheens squirm to this day.

"I don't know how you are going to put this politely," Sheens told NRL.com from the UK earlier in the week as he reflected on the three premierships during his time guiding the Raiders.

NRL grand final media conference

"But the only way he could play was with the help of needles. One before the game, and one again at half-time. But we're not talking about a normal injection. We're talking about what looked like a horse needle."

So there he laid. Legs spread. Hands gripping the table. With this "horse needle" injected in the area between his scrotum and his anus. Perhaps the perineum is the polite word Sheens was after.

"I wasn't sure about him copping this needle so I wanted to come in and have a look at it just to see how brave he was," Sheens said.

I certainly turned tail and scampered out the door.

"If anything would make you grab the table, that would make you grab the table. And I tell you what, when he grabbed the table I left the room. I'll never forget the bravery of the guy and his love for that club.

"Just for him to be out there – it said a lot about his competitiveness and passion for the Raiders. It showed during that period of time. I certainly turned tail and scampered out the door.

"That encapsulates Rick from the point of view of what type of character he is. He'd doing anything for Canberra."

Stuart is as Canberra as Mal Meninga and Laurie Daley.

But Sheens has admitted even he questioned the decision of the club to lure Stuart from rugby union all those years ago.