Ricky Stuart knew he had his man when Andrew McFadden sat down in a meeting and said "once you’re a head coach, you know exactly what a head coach needs behind you".
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McFadden has rejoined the Canberra Raiders' coaching staff on a two-year deal in a bid to take the Green Machine back to the NRL finals.
The former Raiders player and assistant fills the void left by Mick Crawley on Stuart's coaching staff following a six-year stint as both a head coach and assistant at the New Zealand Warriors.
McFadden's stint as Warriors head coach spanned three seasons, and while he concedes the role probably came too soon, he says experience in the hot seat will allow him to challenge Stuart and get the best out of the club.
"That’s going to allow me to have those conversations with Ricky, challenge him on whatever it is, but have a bit of substance behind it too. Most importantly, when we walk out of the room, we’re on the same page," McFadden said.
"When you’re assistant coach, you’ve got certain opinions. But until you’re in the hot seat, you really don't know how much pressure they’re under until you’ve got to make those tough calls. I’m very aware of that now, so supporting Rick is at the forefront of what I want to do.
"Six years ago when I left, [I was] a completely different coach to where I’m at now. That experience of being a head coach, you can’t undervalue that.
"That certainly has made me a better coach and it’s going to make me a better support to Ricky."
A return to Canberra is a chance to provide more support for his wife and three boys, who McFadden has said made a big sacrifice to follow him to the land of the long white cloud.
For the family, Canberra will always be home. The 40-year-old played 76 games for the Raiders from 1997-2001 to form the iconic "Mac-Attack" with Mark McLinden, and returned to the club to steer its Jersey Flegg side in 2005.
A year later he coached Canberra's reserve grade team before spending two seasons in France as an assistant at the Catalans Dragons.
Again McFadden would return to Canberra to coach the under 20s in 2009 before being elevated to an NRL assistant role for three seasons.
McFadden then touched down at Mt Smart Stadium as an assistant in 2013 before spending almost three seasons in the top job from 2014-2016, before resuming as an assistant under Stephen Kearney.
He agreed to rejoin the Raiders about a month ago after Crawley knocked back a two-year extension and drew the curtains on a four-year stint with the club.
McFadden's appointment comes almost a year after NRL grand final winner Brett White joined Stuart's coaching staff following Dean Pay's departure to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Canberra's search for a new assistant boiled down to four leading candidates and chief executive Don Furner says McFadden fit the bill when it came to Stuart's final decision.
"One of the things he said to Rick in his interview was ‘once you’re a head coach, you know exactly what a head coach needs behind you’," Furner said.
"[Stuart] wanted to get that right mix of experience as well, Brett White is only young and Mick Crawley was very experienced.
"There was another younger person, not as experienced as Andy, but Rick wanted that experience there to counteract Brett White, who is just coming through in his second year of the NRL, so it just fit perfectly.
"Once we found out he looked like coming back here anyway, we ramped it up. He knows Rick as well which helps, they know each other, they played together.
"Rick’s comfortable that he knows Andy will challenge him and head coaches need that. He probably feels more experienced and able to do that, that all matters."
