Moments after confirming Ricky Stuart had stood down as Kangaroos coach for behaviour that "we just can't condone", the Australian Rugby League chairman Colin Love left the door open for his return.
A "shattered" Stuart resigned after a two and a half hour meeting at Sydney's ARL headquarters.
The meeting followed a fortnight iintense scrutiny over an abusive outburst at referee Ashley Klein and match officials director Stuart Cummings the day after Australia's shock World Cup loss to New Zealand.
Although Love insists Stuart wasn't pushed, an Australian Rugby League board meeting at Brisbane today was expected to dump him.
However Love did not rule out Stuart returning to the job, saying he'd hate to think it was a life suspension because that would be over the top.
