Jon Ralph examines whether ‘burner’ social media accounts exist in AFL circles

IT IS the NBA soap opera making headlines all over the world. A highly ranked executive busted allegedly tweeting critical things about his own players on fake social media accounts. But does it happen in the AFL?

IT is the NBA soap opera so explosive it even trumps the recent Ben Simmons-Kendall Jenner union.

Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo is accused of operating five phantom Twitter accounts openly critical of his team.

The 76ers have launched an official investigation, he has denied it, some are blaming his wife, and entire NBA world is losing its mind.

SKIPPER: WHAT COULD BLUES GET IF MURPH LEFT?

WANTED: COULD EAGLES LAUNCH REVENGE TRADE?

TEAMS: SEE ALL THE ROUND 11 INS AND OUTS

Why would a senior basketball official openly criticise his star players, reveal sensitive team information and basically press self destruct on his own career?

In AFL circles, the only question people are asking is this: could it ever happen here?

The list of players to hamper their careers or reputations through social media is far from brief: Blaine Boekhorst, Tyrone Leonardis, Josh Bootsma and Jake Carlisle to name a few.

The five “burner” accounts were openly supportive of Colangelo, just as NBA star Kevin Durant was caught out tweeting from a fake account hitting out at his critics.

Josh Bootsma had his trouble with social media.

The greatest mystery of the Colangelo affair is why he would be so critical of his own team.

Yet social media experts who have closely tracked Twitter’s explosion in AFL football believe phantom accounts are commonplace in the world of AFL.

Almost every AFL player has an Instagram account, about 75 per cent also have a Twitter account.

Officials and coaches who do not want to be identified can easily sign up to a player profile with a fake name and no photo, free to follow anyone they want on twitter.

One anonymous expert with intimate knowledge of the social media landscape says rumours have flown about for years in the AFL.

“In terms of recruitment a lot of list managers have paraded with anonymous accounts tracking player behaviour,’’ he said.

“They want to see what they are doing, what their personality is, who they connect with and what they say.

“From a club perspective I heard at one point one senior coach had an account and was checking up on players.

“No one could definitively say it was him, but the players were talking about it and didn’t know if it was him.”

Oakleigh Chargers talent manager Craig Notman said yesterday one of the first warnings players were given was about not filling up their social media profiles with the kind of junk that could end careers before they started.

Steven Trigg has a Twitter account but doesn’t tweet. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Former Adelaide and Carlton chief executive Steven Trigg was signed up to a twitter profile by his communications team in 2011.

“I reckon we promptly dropped a handful of games and I was just copping it from everywhere,” he said yesterday.

“I said to the guys, I am not sure I need a Twitter account, it is just distracting me with these people questioning my heritage.

“But I kept it open and I find it a really useful instant source of info, with news feeds and footy feeds. I keep an eye on players, but haven’t tweeted anything since 2011.”

The senior coaches and executives who watch on anonymously do no damage but many players have caused self-inflicted wounds.

Boekhorst was openly critical of Mick Malthouse then drafted to Carlton; Sydney’s Tyrone Leonardis “liked” Facebook pages critical of Adam Goodes then was drafted by Sydney.

In the AFL Nathan Buckley (53,500 followers) has plenty of fun on Twitter, mellowing lately after sparring for years with journos.

Nathan Buckley has previously been active on social media. Picture: Getty Images

Presidents Andrew Pridham (3284 followers), Jeff Kennett (28,500 followers) and David Koch (165,000 followers) are also good value, Kochy often in Twitter blues with punters.

CEOs Brendon Gale, Matt Finnis and Xavier Campbell also have strong presences, the Bombers CEO tripped up last year by an “emotional” tweet.

He apologised to players after his line — “Not good enough. Not even close” — came after a shock loss to Brisbane.

Want to avoid controversy on Twitter? Be like Jake Lever, who has deleted his accounts.

Or even better, don’t start them, as North Melbourne’s Scott Thompson told the Herald Sun this week.

“Social media? I don’t even really know what it is. I am not too big into that, I just enjoy my time at home with the kids.”

LIVE stream every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week trial & start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW >