Canterbury officials have contacted the NRL integrity unit about Wests Tigers players making obscene gestures to Bulldogs fans 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 and Sunia Turuva were both pictured making the hand gesture towards the southern grandstand, where a large contingent of Bulldogs fans were sitting.
Tigers centre and former Bulldogs player Brent Naden later uploaded a since-deleted video to TikTok that featured the gesture.
The Bulldogs, who have a passionate Middle Eastern fan base, were left unimpressed by the gesture and have reached out to the NRL.
The NRL integrity unit is aware of the matter but has not yet begun a full-scale investigation.
It came after star Bulldogs signing Lachlan Galvin was verbally abused by a fan on-field before kick-off of Sunday’s game.
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.
In the commotion, AAP has been told 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.
© AAP
