Kiwis hooker Issac Luke has been fined $10,000 for calling people ‘lil poofters’ in a heated exchange on his Instagram page. The South Sydney Rabbitohs player had posted on social media about a fan of his club who was injured and hospitalised after a fiery game against the Bulldogs. He tried to reach out to the fan so he could donate them a jersey and some Easter eggs. He copped abuse and hit back with: “Get off my page you lil poofters. This is about a kid your fans knocked out. Well now two kids Yous dropped. We train at Redfern come down and see if you fellas are still carrying on #rulesarerules even though it was a hard penalty to take. I bet youse would’ve done the same had we done it to one of your players. Or we would’ve have even had u gooses commenting had it happened earlier on in the game. Now get off my page.” Luke quickly deleted the post and apologised, saying "I was very worried and my emotion got the better of me I didn't mean to offend anyone." The NRL took the provocation and his apology into account and has fined him $10,000 - $5,000 of which has been suspended. He has been allowed to play for the Kiwis in this Friday’s ANZAC test against the Kangaroos. However Luke has also been ordered to undertake an education programme. The NRL says there is no place for vilification of any kind in rugby league. “We believe that education is the most important element in dealing with vilification matters such as this,” the NRL says. “So we will require Issac to undertake an education program in tolerance and equity in addition to the financial penalty.” New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission says it welcome’s the NRL’s approach to the case, saying “homophobic slurs don't belong in sport, nor society”.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 29th April 2015 - 8:30am