Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has criticized the cowardly trolls online who have sent death threats to the Curtis Scott NRL Center.
In January, Scott was drunk and barely conscious as he was arrested meters away from NRL headquarters in Moore Park around 2:10 a.m. on January 27.
The 22-year-old has been charged with serious allegations, including assault and resistance to police, after loud Anzac Day celebrations.
Earlier this week, dramatic footage of Scott being mocked by police was shown in court a day after the charges against him were dramatically dropped.
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The Canberra Raiders star later revealed that he and his family were subjected to online abuse – including death threats – in the aftermath of the accident.
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s 36-20 win over the North Queensland Cowboys, Bellamy criticized the online trolls who targeted Scott and former Brisbane Bronco coach Anthony Seybold.
“I think it’s a disgrace. Some of the things Anthony Seybold went through, too,” Bellamy said.
“We don’t want that. Whatever anyone does, at the end of the day, to get rid of this kind of thing … It’s bad enough for the players or the coaches or the people in the game.”
“When your family is thrown into it, it’s really wrong.
“We shouldn’t take it with the players, but the family shouldn’t take it. What kind of family.
“That’s nonsense, that’s bulls ** t.
“I don’t know how to stop it, I have no idea how social media works. But when you hear things like this, I’m not really keen on finding out.
“If some think this is a good thing, I think some people have a distorted sense of what is right and what is wrong.
“I don’t understand it, and I don’t really want to understand it. It’s very unfair when families are under pressure.”
Scott played 49 Premier League matches and scored 19 attempts for Melbourne before contracting with the Readers last year.
Scott was sentenced to two counts of publicly aggressive behavior, after he pleaded guilty to those charges earlier in court. No conviction recorded.
CCTV showed him kicking and treading on a chained bike to a pole on Regent St .. The court heard that this came before he punched the driver’s side door of a taxi and threw his cell phone at a passing Suzuki Swift.
Judge Jennifer Giles rejected the charges and said Scott had already been punished through intense media scrutiny surrounding the accident and the tension over his possible loss of his career.
Giles said, “Obviously you are a smart person, Mr. Scott, you are the type to not waste this experience on.”
“Spraying capsicum with your hands tied and not disinfected for 19 minutes, that’s much worse than anything I can do for you.”
– with NCA NewsWire
