Greg Inglis' South Sydney teammates have rallied behind the NRL superstar after he and his wife were targeted in an online racist rant.
Inglis tweeted a screenshot on Tuesday night of the post, left as a comment on an Instagram photo of the Australian Test fullback and his wife Sally.
"I steered (sic) in your face for more than a hour trying to classify your race but I failed I didn't not find any human categories to classify you on it ..." the post read.
The post went on to further disparage Inglis' background and his relationship with his wife.
Inglis re-posted the comment on his Twitter account, with the hashtag "#racism#it#stops#with#me".
The Queensland representative said he and his wife were "so disgusted" by the attack, which sparked a flood of messages supporting him.
"Thank you all for your support on the matter," Inglis wrote.
Rabbitohs veteran Roy Asotasi added his voice to the chorus of support, saying it was disappointing to hear of the way his friend had been treated.
"It's somebody attacking my teammate," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"You'd like to think that racism is out of the game, or even out of this world. Unfortunately you still get somebody that's on social media that's sitting behind his computer, able to write whatever he desires.
"It's something that you can't stop, you can't prevent. But knowing GI, he's definitely bigger than that."
Fellow Rabbitoh Nathan Merritt said it was "sad" to see such blatant racism - a sentiment echoed by Bryson Goodwin.
"It's not a nice thing to happen to anybody. We just really need to stamp that (type of) thing out of the game and out of the whole world entirely," Goodwin said.
Two months ago, Inglis featured in the Australian Human Rights Commission's 'Racism. It Stops With Me' campaign, alongside several well-known athletes including hurdler Sally Pearson, basketballer Liz Cambage and AFL star Adam Goodes.
The program's launch coincided with an incident during an AFL match between Sydney and Collingwood at the MCG, when Swans' superstar Goodes was abused by a teenager who called him an ape.
Asotasi was confident Inglis would use the latest incident to drive home the message that racism was unacceptable, including on social media.
"Knowing GI, he's got his own problems. But he's an ambassador to try and stamp racism out of the game and that's something that he'll probably be looking at and trying to help," Asotasi said.
"You had a certain situation with Adam Goodes and GI's been pretty good mates with him and they're working really hard to try to stamp it out."
The NRL later on Wednesday issued a statement condemning the taunt.
"There is an area where there is simply no room for debate. Racism in any form is abhorrent and contrary to every value of our game," NRL CEO Dave Smith said.
"This applies on the field, in the grandstand and in any walk of life.
"Greg is a wonderful athlete and a great role model for our game and this attack on him and his family is shameful."
Share
