ARLC Chairman Peter Beattie closes his Twitter account to take a step back
ARLC chairman Peter Beattie has revealed why he reluctantly shut down his Twitter account after an embarrassing gaffe but still insists maintaining a dialogue with fans is important.
NRL
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Commission chairman Peter Beattie has revealed why he reluctantly shut down his Twitter account but insists connection with fans is important.
Beattie was slammed over the weekend over a tweet about legendary Balmain fan Laurie Nicholls, who passed away in 2000. He closed his account on Sunday.
“I know everyone is not in favour of the commission chairman having a high profile on social media,” Beattie told The Daily Telegraph.
“There was some research done a few years ago that the leaders of the game needed to communicate and engage more directly with fans.
“That’s what I’ve tried to do outside of fan forums and more traditional ways of communication. Without fans we don’t have a game.”
Beattie defends his more recent social media activity and says it was necessary because of the off-season of player scandal.
“I took a high-profile position because the commission was making important moves in setting policy on player misbehaviour,” he said, “The game was under attack and I wanted to share what we were doing with the fans.
“It’s a really important we listen to the fans. Without them we don’t have a game.”
He is undecided about making a reappearance.
“I’ll just see what happens,” he said, “I may not even come back.”