Vile online trolls have lashed out at NRL star George Burgess after he was suspended for eye gouging.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs star will miss the rest of the NRL regular season after he was given a nine-week ban for eye gouging Wests Tigers’ hooker Robbie Farah at Parramatta’s Bankwest Stadium last Thursday.
Within minutes of his suspension being handed down on Tuesday night, trolls took to Burgess’ Instagram to write abusive comments on posts of the player’s young family.
Burgess’ heavily pregnant wife Joanna is due to give birth to their third child in coming weeks.
Off-contract star George Burgess (pictured with wife Joanna) may have played his last game for South Sydney after copping a massive nine-week suspension for eye gouging
George Burgess has been inundated with abusive comments on social media
‘Enjoy your nine week holiday, grub,’ read one comment posted on Tuesday night on a photo of his toddler son.
Another appalling comment read: ‘Hopefully your son doesn’t become a dog like his father.’
Even an adorable photo of Burgess clutching his baby daughter’s tiny hand was subject to abuse.
‘The fingers that eye gouged Robbie Farah,’ one comment read.
Another read: ‘Why don’t u gouge the baby out like you gouged Farah’s eye out.’
However, one woman hit back at the online trolls.
‘Can y’all be quiet about the eye gouging, he made a mistake and he pleaded guilty for it and is paying the price, he doesn’t need y’all stating something he clearly already knows on a FAMILY post about his CHILDREN. So can y’all chill?,’ she posted.
Following a disappointing night at the judiciary, Burgess spent Wednesday morning enjoying an al fresco breakfast with son Boston, 2, and 10-month-old daughter Birdie as his wife posted a photo of her family on Instagram, captioned with a love heart.
Joanna Burgess posted this photo of George enjoying breakfast with their two young children hours after copping a massive nine-week suspension at the NRL judiciary
The Burgess incident on Tigers’ veteran Robbie Farah was sent straight to the judiciary
The three-man judiciary panel of Bob Lindner, Mal Cochrane and Dallas Johnson took 30 minutes to give their verdict in a hearing that lasted almost two hours on Tuesday night.
Flanked by defence counsel James McLeod and Rabbitohs football manager Mark Ellison, a remorseful Burgess admitted being deeply hurt by the footage that clearly showed his hand pressing around Farah’s eye region.
On several occasions, Burgess became emotional before answering questions, and towards the end of his grilling, stopped watching the replays.
‘I’ve been pretty upset. My career is probably in the balance. What I’ve done looks pretty disgraceful on the footage there. It’s a shame really,’ Burgess said.
‘I’m definitely going to change the way I play. I’m going to be a lot more cautious.’
George Burgess will miss the rest of the NRL regular season after being handed a nine-game ban for his eye gouge last Thursday night
However he rejected any accusation that the foul play was deliberate, insisting he was completely unaware of where his fingers were.
‘My hands ended up in a dodgy place. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. I was sort of in auto-pilot. I’m angry with myself about the situation,’ Burgess said.
‘Towards the end I realised I might have been on his face. I didn’t realise in the tackle I had contact with his eye. It was only until I saw the footage did I realise.’
He later said: ‘Things are going a million miles an hour. I swear on my kids’ lives I didn’t know I had my hands in his eyes.’
It’ss the second time in less than a year Burgess has been accused of an eye gouge.
Burgess was banned four games after a similar attack on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, during England’s test against New Zealand at the end of 2018.
The suspension, which included a 50 per cent loading from last year’s incident, amounted to a nine-game ban – the NRL’s largest in seven years.
With just nine games left in the regular season, Burgess, who is without a deal for next year, can only return should Souths make the finals.
‘It’s a tragedy for George and his family and the whole situation that’s come up,’ Rabbitohs general manager Shane Richardson said after the hearing.
‘I want to say this though: George is a loving father, a brother, and a son. And at South Sydney he’s nothing but an ornament to the club all the way through.
‘I don’t think this should ever define what George Burgess is about in any way, shape or form.’
Furious viewers called on the Rabbitohs and the NRL to hand Burgess a lengthy suspension at the time of the incident.
‘George Burgess should be sent off and suspended for 20 weeks minimum. That’s disgraceful,’ one person said.
George Burgess and his wife Joanna will welcome their third child in the coming weeks