0
Bulldogs fans embroiled in internet war-of-words
Article from:
Dean Ritchie, The Daily Telegraph
February 11, 2009 05:54pm
BULLDOGS supporters have turned on one another with death threats, sexual innuendo, racism, prank calls and talk of gang bashings.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed two sets of fans on rival Bulldogs websites have become embroiled in a row that threatens to cause a racial divide among club fans.
Members of The Kennel fan website are angered a rival website, BluenWhite, has been set-up.
BluenWhite bloggers claim to have been terrorised on forums by The Kennel members and told they would be "mugged and bashed'' if they attend any Bulldog matches. Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg described the war as "childish''.
The drama comes ahead of Saturday's fan day at Homebush. BluenWhite members fear for their safety with Matthew Attard, 18, of Port Macquarie, receiving a death threat and five prank calls yesterday.
He was also threatened with his life last year. "I was told by a bloke at The Kennel that they couldn't wait to see me at the Newcastle game and that they would 'f...ing kill me you fat c...','' Attard said.
"I'm not going to spend $300 and have a six-hour drive each way to Sydney for matches to put up with trouble. I'm a Bulldogs member who has spent thousands of dollars on merchandise and I watch all the games.
"The Kennel try to threaten and intimidate you. That's why we broke away and created our own site. There is a lot of racism on The Kennel. Having said that, 99 per cent of Bulldogs fans are great people. It is only the small minority that cause trouble.''
Danny Jarman, The Kennel's administrator, has been unable to find any evidence to substantiate the claims. "I can't find any evidence to back up the accusations,'' he said. "If I do find evidence, those people will be permanently barred.
"That kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. But it sounds like a storm in a teacup. The club has been through a lot and is now back on track. It doesn't need these accusations.''
But BluenWhite members claim people from The Kennel are posing as players and making threats. "It looks like players are threatening to bash their own fans,'' said Brendon Meynell, who helped set up BluenWhite.
"They (The Kennel) were upset about the new site. We were told not to turn up to any Bulldog events or we'd be mugged or bashed.''
Meynell believes racism has been prominent in the spat. "I am a white Kiwi and was told I was a `bloody white c...','' he said. "This has been going on for three months now. I went on to The Kennel website and asked for calm and they said people shouldn't listen to me and that we'd be shown how Lebs do things.
"They also called us homos and doctored up photos of us.''
Greenberg was attempting to play down the troubles among some fans. "We are pleased with preparations for our 2009 campaign and a childish feud among rival websites hardly warrants our attention,'' he said.
"It will not distract us as we look forward to catching up with Bulldog supporters and members at our fan day on Saturday.''
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor...005401,00.html
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by innocent quokka
