‘Don’t like it’: Panthers fans’ ugly act towards Storm gun

A Melbourne star has been subjected to a brutal scene during a devastating post-match interview that has sparked anger.

Storm star Jahrome Hughes has been booed by Penrith fans during a devastating post-match interview.

The Dally M Player of the Year and his team were dominated by Penrith in Sunday night’s NRL Grand Final and exhausted Storm players could barely stand when the final whistle went.

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Hughes had even more reason to be feeling flat after the red hot halfback failed to trouble Penrith’s defence in the entire 80 minutes.

However, the treatment he received from Panthers fans went way over the line.

Penrith fans inside Accor Stadium could be heard cheering throughout the post-game TV interviews with Channel 9 figures — but it turned to boos when Hughes responded to the first question asked by presenter Danika Mason.

The ugly scene did not go unnoticed by fans watching on at home.

The popular Ladies Who League account was one of those to share their distaste on social media.

“The crowd booing Jahrome Hughes is surprising. I don’t like it,” the author told her 12,000 followers.

“Why are people booing Storm players? If my team won a Grand Final I would be too busy crying and vomiting.”

Another fan posted: “People being surprised Penrith fans boo opposition players? Surely they are used to it by now?”

Another wrote: “Typical. Pretty disgusting tbh, have good sportsmanship”.

Danika Mason interviews Jahrome Hughes. Photo: Channel 9.

Other fans pointed out Hughes has been one of the most disliked players in Penrith ever since a video emerged of him mocking western Sydney in 2020.

Hughes in 2022 apologised for his involvement in the video where he appeared to mock the Mt Druitt upbringing of several Penrith players during the Storm’s 2020 NRL premiership celebrations.

The video was deleted, but former Panthers assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo reportedly showed it to Penrith players as motivation.

Prop Moses Leota said this week: “We did take it personally”.

It seems Penrith fans have also taken it personally.

One fan posted: “I think the lesson here is to be humble in success. Hughes’ dig at Western Sydney came back to bite him tonight”.

Another posted: “He made disparaging comments about Mt Druitt years ago and they have NEVER forgotten it”.

Hughes appeared to take it all in his stride and had nothing but praise for his opposition.

Mason first asked the Kiwi: “Jahrome, I’m so sorry that didn’t go to plan for you tonight. You fought so hard, but you just couldn’t get there in the end”.

He responded: “Yeah. A tough game, obviously. They’re a great team. They’ve been the best for the past couple years for a reason. They just stay in the fight.

“They’re the best. We’ve seen that over the last couple years. They’re so hard to beat. You need to be on your game for the full 80 minutes to beat them and if you’re not they’re too good and they showed that tonight.”

Jahrome Hughes just couldn’t get into the game. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

When asked about where it went wrong for his team, Hughes responded: “Just a bit loose in our contact. They got too many quick play-the-balls and you can’t give a team like Penrith that.”

Melbourne’s attack also went very wrong.

The star-studded spine of Hughes, Grant, Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen were completely shut down by the Penrith defence.

In the crucial moment in the second half where the Storm had five consecutive sets inside Penrith’s red zone, the quartet looked completely lost.

However, Storm coach Craig Bellamy was more disappointed with his team’s effort.

“They were too good for us,” Bellamy admitted in his post-game press conference.

“They really know what they’re good at and they just stick to it. They’re relentless at sticking to what they plan to do. We got off the beaten track tonight and paid the price for it

“They’re relentless at doing what they know works for them and we probably weren’t prepared to go as far as they were or as far as they did with our game plan.

“Hopefully we’ll be wiser for tonight, learn a few things.

“I don’t think we’re going to lose too many of our squad next year... there’s a bit of a theory that you’ve got to lose one to win one so hopefully that’s the case. At the end of the day we were outplayed tonight.”