Rugby league is littered with stars such as the big names at Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, St Helens and the other big clubs in Super League.
But arguably the biggest stars ply their trade down under in the NRL. They are similar to how Premier League stars are treated over in the UK.
Sadly this can made them targets for ridiculous scams and situations and sadly that has occured to one NRL star.
According to reports down under, one NRL star is being blackmailed with a nude picture.
According to the Daily Telegraph, a Sydney club has told the NRL, police and social media companies that one of their star players was the subject of a blackmail attempt.
The player, who has elected not to be name, is understood to have sent a nude picture on social media, only to be told the image would be shared with friends and family unless they handed over $5,000.
The player opted not to pay the money and instead informed his club, who contacted the police and the NRL to make them aware of the matter.
“We have notified the NRL, police and social media companies, and diligently followed their advice,” a club spokesman said to the Daily Telegraph.
“The player is the victim here. It appears that this sort of incident is occurring on a regular basis to people across sport and society.”
The Daily Telegraph also revealed a text message sent by the player asking for a friend or family member to send the image to police if they received it.
It was a bizarrely relaxed response showing the character of the player despite this nonesense: “Hey this is mad awkward but [account holder] is sending a photo of my d*** around trying to get money out of me and sent it to you,” the Herald reported the player sent to one of his friends.
“Would you be able to report them for sexual harassment? Might help. Sorry bout (sic) this but would be greatly appreciated x.”
At a pivotal point in the season it is likely frustrating for club and player to have to deal with this as the run in begins.
We can only hope the situation soon resolves itself soon as we enter the biggest and best period of the NRL season.
