The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Should NRL players have social media?

Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Roar Guru
11th August, 2019
18

A vast majority of us use social media. We use it to socialise with our friends, show off some fun things we did during the day and post pictures of what we love.

Then you have some who use it to threaten players for either having a bad game or doing something in a game defined as a grub act.

I personally know some players who have been scared off social media due to criticism and I feel sorry for them.

If you had a relative who plays in the NRL and had a bad game, and all these keyboard warriors give him horrible criticism and threatened him, it’s going to upset you.

It’s the job of the coach to criticise his team. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do so as a fan, but at least keep it to a minimum.

For example, “He didn’t play the best today and sadly he’s going to feel hurt now. Maybe he should play a few games in reserves until he recaptures his form.” That’s OK.

“Why is he in first grade? He cannot play and the coach must be crazy to think he should be playing. I swear if he plays next week, he’s going to cost us the game!” That’s not OK.

What you say reflects more on you than on them. I won’t deny that I voice some criticism but I don’t go hardcore.

Advertisement

I recently saw one player get a lot of threats over an incident and that’s horrible.

That’s a fellow human being, a son, a brother, a husband and a father.

Think about it. If someone actually made good on their threat and either hurt them, a lot of family members would feel seriously affected.

Do I think the players should have social media? Of course they should.

Why? Because they have every right to.

Some fans on social media like to follow their team’s players on Instagram and I’ve done so myself.

Advertisement

Sometimes, I get a thank you for things like wishing them the best of luck in a milestone match, happy birthday and best of luck returning from injury.

Put things in a real-life situation: how would you feel if someone gave you brutal criticism that really affected you? Sometimes it can make you or break you.

Roarers, what do you think? Should players have social media?

close