- Wests Tigers stars made gesture in win over the Bulldogs
The NRL Integrity Unit is investigating after Wests Tigers players appeared to make obscene gestures at Canterbury supporters during the boilover at CommBank Stadium.
After the final try of their side’s shock 28-14 win, a number of Tigers players appeared to taunt Bulldogs fans with the ‘khod’ gesture, known as an equivalent to ‘flipping the bird’ in the Arabic community.
Tigers players Samuela Fainu, Sunia Turuva, Brent Naden and Latu Fainu all made the hand gesture towards the southern grandstand, where a large contingent of Bulldogs fans were sitting.
On Sunday night, Tigers centre and former Bulldogs player Naden appeared in a since-deleted TikTok video in which he made the gesture and yelled ‘f***ing dogs’.
The video was reportedly sent by Naden to a friend and then leaked publicly.
The Bulldogs have a passionate Middle Eastern fan base and reached out to the NRL integrity unit, which is now investigating the matter after the club was inundated with complaints from their fans.
Pictured: Tigers star Samuela Fainu (right) directs the ‘khod’ hand gesture at Bulldogs fans, which is roughly the same as giving them the middle finger
Tigers star Brent Naden – who also gave the gesture on the field – did so again in a TikTok video that surfaced after Sunday’s match (pictured)
A footy supporter took to Reddit to post a video of the celebrations, captioning the clip: ‘Naden giving the Dogs the Khod’, with other commenters also referencing the gesture in their posts.
The phrase ‘Khod’ has several meanings. In Arabic, its literal translation is ‘take’, but the symbol can also be used as an insult in some cultures.
Fainu and Naden’s gesture divided footy fans online, with some branding it disgraceful.
‘This is disrespectful and completely worth being looked at by the NRL. If they flipped the bird, which is what this action actually means, they’d be getting smashed for it. There is no difference. Pull your players’ heads in @WestsTigers,’ one wrote on X.
However, many fans saw the lighter side of the incident and said the Tigers players should be allowed to celebrate wildly after winning the game.
‘Let the joint venture have their day, one finals appearance since 2011,’ one wrote on Facebook.
‘But the fans were doing it to the players ? I was literally there seen it with my own eyes. So they can but players cant give it back ? Give and take in life mate,’ another said.
It came after star Bulldogs signing Lachlan Galvin was verbally abused by a fan on-field before kick-off of Sunday’s game.
Footy fans picked up on the gesture and its meaning in social media posts (pictured) shortly after full-time of Sunday’s match
Wests star Sunia Turuva (pictured right with teammates Jarome Luai, left, and Adam Doueihi) was also seen giving fans the ‘khod’
Tigers members and fans formed a long guard of honour for their players on the field before kick-off, with the large crowd taking time to disperse.
Australian Associated Press has been told that in the commotion, one fan stood only metres from former Tiger Galvin and yelled at the star, who controversially left the club to join the Bulldogs mid-season.
The Bulldogs are privately questioning why security was not on hand, particularly given tensions were always expected to run high with Galvin facing his old side for the first time.
Galvin was booed with every touch of the ball on Sunday afternoon, but coach Cameron Ciraldo said at full-time that the 20-year-old had taken the jeering in his stride.
‘Nothing much flusters him. I thought he went out there, he did his job today. I don’t think it rattled him that much. It’s just we got beaten as a team,’ Ciraldo said.
