Papenhuyzen and Tedesco unite over social media abuse

Melbourne’s Ryan Papenhuyzen and Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco are united on social media abuse.

Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco says abuse from fans his relentless

Melbourne fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen has urged the NRL to do more to combat social media abuse and in a rare show of unity between two of the game’s bitter rivals, he has won support from the man he will oppose on Thursday night at the SCG — Sydney Roosters custodian James Tedesco.

Papenhuyzen, speaking in the wake of online abuse in the AFL that was called out by GWS Giants star Callan Ward and Brisbane Lions’ Mitch Robinson, said he had received multiple death threats over the course of his career, the latest earlier this season.

“It is quite annoying and I don’t get why people do it,” Papenhuyzen said.
“We don’t go out there to lose people’s bets, we don’t go out there to make people’s SuperCoach (score) as low as possible. We go out there to get a win.

“I just thought what he (Robinson) tweeted was true. You usually get a lot of death threats if you have a bad game or what not.

“Hopefully there is a bit more stuff done around that because the toll it has on players is pretty massive. It’s something lots of the boys get after a game.

“They do get a fair bit of stick from fans. There is no need for it. I just reckon it is stupid. We go out there to play footy and win games.

“I don’t think we should get bashed for that.”

Tedesco has been on the receiving end himself, the abuse reaching a crescendo when he left Wests Tigers to join the Roosters a few years back

“People abuse you all the time,” Tedesco, a Fox League ambassador, told The Australian.

“The big one was when I left the Tigers. I was getting letters on my doorstep. If you don’t win or you don’t play your best, then people can be pretty brutal.

“Sometimes you don’t want to read (social media). When people aren’t playing your best footy … it’s not good for mental health.

“Some guys can’t handle it.”

The current climate makes it all the worse. NRL players, like their AFL counterparts, are living in a restricted environment that governs their everyday activity.

They are limited in their contact with the outside world and spend most of their day cooped up at home. The NRL and the players union are rightly concerned over the impact the current conditions are having on the mental health of their players.

“You do sit on your phone a lot,” Tedesco said.

“You end up reading stuff you don’t want to read. It can bring your energy down and mood down.”

The NRL has supported players who have found themselves on the receiving end of social media abuse in recent seasons, most notably last year when Roosters star Latrell Mitchell was the target of racial abuse.

It is understood chief executive Andrew Abdo will speak to the players union later this week and discuss the best way to reach out to the playing group to remind them they have the game’s support.

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“I think that is a massive concern for the game it is a massive concern for anyone in the community to be honest,” NRL head of football Graham Annesley said.
“Regardless if you are a rugby league player or not, that is unacceptable in the community.

We have had access in the past where match officials receive those threats after games.

“We’re very happy for them to bring that to our attention, we’re very happy to use our integrity unit to talk to the authorities, to talk to the police, to investigate those threats.

“We have done it in the past. I would certainly say to anyone who indulges in these sorts of threats, that they shouldn’t feel they are doing it anonymously because the authorities do have ways of tracking these things down.”

Papenhuyzen has put the onus back on the NRL to solve the problem.

“It makes you a target if you do go at it,” Papenhuyzen said.
“I think it is for the people higher up to figure out and crack down on a bit harder. Us as a players, if we say something, it usually comes to bite us on the bum.

“I think a lot of us just ignore it. What Mitch did on Twitter starts a conversation.”