Rugby could learn something off Ricky's rant Before Ricky Stuart walked into the press conference room at Skilled Park last Sunday night, there was the distinct feeling he was about to serve up something a little special. Maybe it was the faint sound of paint melting from the walls as he stormed up the corridor, or the fact he was Force-choking security guards like Darth Vader if they made eye contact. An 8-1 second-half penalty count may not tip the average man over the edge. Not much about Stuart is average. His Eels had been demolished by the officials in the second half and he had a few words he wanted to say, most of which were "bullshit." Eels coach Ricky Stuart was not happy when his side visited the Gold Coast. Photo: Matt Roberts The $10,000 fine was chalked up after about 30 seconds. Stuart didn't care. For better or worse, he'd had it up to there (pointing at the sky as I type). The gaffer made it crystal clear that even if the referees didn't seem to help his team, he had their back. If I was an Eels fan, or player, I would have loved it. As a journalist, you couldn't help but enjoy the theatre. Bring the referees to face the media! They speak to the players in Spanish! The game is going backwards! Zing, zing and more zing. Than a cha-ching. Twitter lit up instantly. Steve Mascord's video of the press conference went viral. And all of a sudden, a potentially dour Sunday night affair was all over the airwaves. Rugby league has always embraced the rogues and rivalries. It's part of the appeal of the game, unless your tender sensibilities are adverse to a few post-match expletives. Mine aren't. I went to school in Gympie, north of Brisbane, and grew up watching country footballers punch holes in each other's faces then go for beers. The game lives and breathes on characters like Stuart, whose complex relationship with Mal Meninga, which swung wildly between an old friendship and fierce professional rivalry, took Origin build-up to another level. For any number of reasons, Super Rugby hasn't been able to muster the same sort of passion as the NRL or AFL. The franchises are mere pups in sporting years, the coaching pool is small and familiar to each other and the leading players share a bond forged in long Wallabies camps. All of that is lovely. And genteel. And generally unfailingly polite and deeply non-controversial. And slightly dull. Which is why it's so good to see the Reds and the Brumbies start to peel back the layers of civility before they meet on Saturday night in Brisbane. For so long, the Reds-Waratahs meeting was the mainstay of the Australian conference, built on a storied history between the states that featured more blood noses than a night at the fights. Now Reds-Brumbies has grown some legs, fuelled by the two ambitious squads and two even more ambitious coaches. All week, the tension has been building. It started in the Wallabies camp in Sydney, where Ben Tapuai admitted there was a sense of unease between players from rival camps. And Will Genia, a frustrated onlooker for the round one loss in Canberra, said he hadn't anticipated a game as much as this one since the 2011 grand final. Then McKenzie penned his Fairfax column, highlighting some areas of the game he thought the referees should keep an eye on at the midway point of the season. In Canberra, it was interpreted as mind games, or an attempt to influence the way the match was handled. Jake White responded by handing out a stats sheet to reporters at the press conference, highlighting the number of penalties the Reds had given away in 2013. Sure, there was some fuzzy edges, given the figures were total penalties, not average penalties, and all but one of the New Zealand and South African teams have played less games than the Reds and Brumbies. Details, details. The point is that proper tribalism, a notion that frightens some rugby fans who believe it to be subversive and self-defeating, has finally poked its head out from under the bed. Of course, this is nothing to be afraid of and the players who duke it out (with any luck) on Saturday night are big and brave enough to forgive and forget any perceived wrongs when they play together against the Lions. Not everyone in elite sport is best friends. It just doesn't work like that. Rugby could do with giving itself some more tough love and letting the personalities off the leash. This week, we've at least taken some baby steps. We're not suggesting a Ricky Stuart performance every week, although it could be a handy way for the ARU to extract some cash from the provinces, should they have any behind the couch. Sometimes it's just more fun to fan the flames than douse them the moment you see a puff of smoke.