NRL star offers apology after homophobic slur

On Friday, a classic encounter between the Warriors and the Cowboys was marred by a homophobic slur.

The headlines should have been about Shaun Johnson’s match winning field goal in golden point which gave the Warriors a 25-24 win over North Queensland. Instead, the focus was on the NRL investigation into a report of homophobic language during the game aimed at North Queensland’s Kyle Feldt who went down injured around the hour mark.

The injury prompted a Warriors player to use a homophobic slur saying: “Get up Kyle you f****t”.

It was initially unknown who the player was with the slur picked up on the referee’s microphone but it has now been identified as Marcelo Montoya who now faces a ban over the incident. It will be refered straight to the judiciary with it not being graded and his fate will be determined on Tuesday.

Following this the club and the player have issued an apology according to Zero Tackle which read: “Warriors CEO Cameron George and winger Marcelo Montoya have apologised for an on-field comment made in Friday night’s fifth round NRL match against North Queensland in Redcliffe.

“Both Marcelo and the club are extremely apologetic for the offence this has caused. It was unacceptable.

“Marcelo accepts responsibility and knows there’s no place for such behaviour both in the game and in society generally.”