NSW Blues forward Liam Martin has become the latest NRL player to publicly condemn social media abuse, after exposing a vile direct message he received on Instagram following State of Origin Game 2 on Wednesday night.
Martin shared the message on his Instagram story shortly after Queensland’s 26-24 victory over the Blues in Perth. His caption:
“Don’t be like Beau”, was aimed at the Instagram user who sent the offensive message.
The message also included a number of other particularly offensive and personal comments, sparking widespread support for Martin and renewed concern about player welfare online.
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In the message, the sender named Beau targeted Martin with a tirade of abuse, writing:
“You are the biggest grub to ever hit New South Wales.You are a disgrace to rugby league and should never ever touch the football again.”
Martin’s post comes in the wake of a similar incident involving Newcastle Knights winger James Schiller, who also received disturbing abuse via social media after the Knights’ recent win over Manly.
In that message, the fan told Schiller to “count your days,” before escalating to a serious threat:
“I will f*ing end your life.”
Police later charged a man in relation to the incident with use carriage service to menace/harass/offend, and he was granted conditional bail to appear at Belmont.
These incidents highlight a troubling trend of online harassment aimed at NRL players on digital platforms.