Puppeteer Ricky primes a state of hate

"HE is the greatest gibberer NSW has produced," says Maroons great Chris Close about Queensland's newest punching bag, Ricky Stuart.

"HE is the greatest gibberer NSW has produced," says Maroons great Chris Close about Queensland's newest punching bag, Ricky Stuart.

Gibber has been a blue-chip commodity during this Origin series, more so than the usual rhetoric flung from state to state.

On Monday, The Courier-Mail newspaper in Brisbane ran a digitally-altered image of Stuart as a clown, next to a screaming headline "SEND IN THE CLOWN". It was a response to Stuart's explosive column in The Sunday Telegraph labelling the Maroons "fake" and "smug" and "arrogant bigheads".

Just to clarify, State of Origin is a physically brutal form of rugby league, played between grown men.

Make no mistake: the excrement flung from either side of the Tweed River is a propaganda war by design.

By Stuart's design.

From the moment he knew he would be in charge of the Blues again this year, the 45-year-old has been resolute about fostering a near palpable hatred of the Queenslanders.

He was immovable in his belief that to finally break this Origin death roll he would need to whip his team, his support staff and the entire state of NSW into a frenzy.

From the moment his side was on the wrong end of some questionable refereeing decisions in game one in Melbourne, Stuart set about fostering fear and loathing inside every single individual connected to his campaign.

Of course, Ricky - bless him - was already there.

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"The three best coaches I've seen at using the media to their advantage were Bozo (Bob Fulton), Gus (Phil Gould) and Stick (Stuart)," says long-time NSWRL boss Geoff Carr. "Their passion was never contrived. In Ricky's case, though, he isn't always in control of his emotions."

Yesterday, Stuart angered some sections of the media when he didn't front an Origin-eve media opportunity at Sydney Olympic Park - even though he wasn't scheduled to speak. Assistant coach Trent Barrett was left to address the angry press.

"(Ricky) has done more than enough I think to promote the game this week and it is indicative of having 84,000 people there tomorrow night," Barrett said.

The $150,000 and loose change a year Stuart is rumoured to have received as NSW's first full-time coach surely pales into insignificance to the extraordinary publicity he has generated. This, in a series where there has been precious little to talk about in terms of injuries and suspensions and shock selections.

Stuart is said to be desperate to take control of an NRL side again, although links to Canberra and Parramatta have been scoffed at from all parties concerned.

Origin coaching is a totally different beast to that found in Club Land.

Stuart's predecessor, Craig Bellamy, was accused of over-coaching the NSW side during his years in charge from 2008 to 2010. Players often complained of too many wrestling sessions, that would leave some forwards walking away clutching at strained shoulders.

Stuart has taken his approach to the opposite end of the spectrum, taking it upon himself to infuse passion into his players again.

It remains to be seen if his public war on everything - referees, Bill Harrigan, Meninga, the Sunshine State of Queensland - creeps under the skin of the polished and experienced Maroons side.

If NSW wins tonight, and wins the series, it will be a masterstroke. If not, it will merely be remembered as gibber.

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