The NSWRL will meet Anthony Seibold in the next seven days to hopefully flush out the name of any person linked to the organisation who allegedly spread vile online comments about the former coach and his family.
NSWRL boss Dave Trodden was blindsided by bombshell claims made by Seibold on Nine's 60 Minutes program that his organisation may have played a role in the online abuse.
NSWRL boss Dave Trodden.Credit: John Veage
The information came via the cyber-crime experts Seibold hired to get to the bottom of false online rumours that were spread in recent months. The former Brisbane Broncos coach passed on a report, containing names, to Queensland police and the NRL integrity unit.
Seibold said a person within rugby league was one of the names uncovered by the web experts, and reporter Tom Steinfort revealed the alleged NSWRL link.
"It’s someone who makes a living from our game,'' Seibold said on 60 Minutes.
"There's someone who is part of this conversation who has added to the rumours, who has then forwarded on the messages through social media platforms.''
Steinfort named the NSWRL before Seibold said: "It's a very high-profile franchise within our game.
"That's what is so ironic about all of this, I can’t sit here and tell you these names because essentially 60 Minutes could be charged ... it's crazy."
However, Trodden told the Herald on Monday morning: "I was surprised and disappointed to hear the allegations.
"We haven't heard anything from the police, we haven't heard anything from the NRL integrity unit, we haven't heard anything from Anthony Seibold and we haven't heard anything from 60 Minutes.
We only became aware of the allegations on Sunday night. What they are talking about is really appalling stuff.
NSWRL boss Dave Trodden
"We only became aware of the allegations on Sunday night. What they are talking about is really appalling stuff and should be addressed.''
Trodden reached out to Seibold later in the day and said: "We had a long and cordial discussion and I'm confident the person being discussed is not a full-time employee at NSWRL.
"We will catch up at some stage in the next seven days and, after he gets clearance from the people he needs to, hopefully he can share that information with me. If we need to do something about it, we will do something about it.
"At least it will give us an opportunity to investigate because at the moment we don't have the capacity to do so.''
Former Broncos coach Anthony Seibold. Credit: Getty
Trodden said Seibold was not allowed to reveal the identity of the person in question. When he contacted the NRL integrity unit, it informed him the matter was being investigated by police.
"A complaint has been received and the matter is being investigated. As a result, we are unable to comment any further,'' Queensland Police said.
NSWRL employs 93 staff and is preparing for the State of Origin series.
Seibold has handed all information to the NRL and since moved back to Sydney to be with his family.
"The amount of hate and the amount of defamatory comments being spread, and what people were happy to spread, was crazy. That's not the Australia I grew up in,'' Seibold said.
"My situation went viral on social media with defamatory comments - my reputation was ruined in a lot of respects.
"The very last message upset me the most because it spoke about my daughter. For my mum and dad, it was hard for them too, to see those messages.
"There was no truth to [the rumours]. I don't know what the motivation was for those messages. I don't understand it. They wanted to hurt myself and the others named in some way, shape or form.''
Erin Molan, a popular sports presenter for Nine, owners of the Sydney Morning Herald, also spoke about online harassment, and revealed how one troll hoped she had a ''stillborn''.
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