South Sydney has condemned death threats aimed at young winger Jaxson Paulo after the Rabbitohs' loss to Penrith on Thursday night.
The 22-year-old had an off night with his hands in the 26-22 loss, including dropping a Sean O'Sullivan kick that gave the Panthers field position for Liam Martin's match-winning try.
That sparked an overreaction on social media, with the club confirming Paulo had received death threats and abuse online.
"It's outrageous because no player or anyone in society should be subjected to that," Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly told Nine.
"If Jaxson would like to take further action he has our 100 per cent support. We will work with Jaxson, his management and the relevant authorities, both of them, just as we have with other players in the past.
"Every member, fan, player and staff [member] wants to win games. In my time I've never seen an NRL player not try their absolute best.
"So for that sort of abuse and those threats to be made, it unacceptable."
Th club turned off comments on its Instagram post of the full-time score "because we're all in this together".
It was the second high-profile case of online trolling in the week since former Cowboys coach Paul Green died by suicide, with former representative star Keith Galloway pointing out people should be hyper-aware of the dangers of mental ill health.
Paulo is in his third NRL season with Souths and has played 16 games for them in 2022, scoring six tries.
He also made his Test debut this year, playing in the Pacific Test for Samoa against Cook Islands in June.
