The Canterbury Bulldogs have raised issue with the behaviour of some Wests Tigers players to the NRL after an emotional afternoon at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.
The Bulldogs have asked the NRL integrity unit to look into the behaviour of a number of Tigers players following their last try to Samuela Fainu, after they gave Canterbury the Arab equivalent of the middle finger. The NRL is aware of the situation.
Samuela Fainu gives Bulldogs fans a ‘khawd’ at CommBank Stadium.Credit: Getty Images
The gesture, which is widely known as “khawd” or “khod” in the Arab community, is given by lowering the middle finger and pointing it in the direction of another person. The term “khwad” means “take that” in Arabic however, in some contexts, it has an offensive meaning similar to “flipping the bird”.
The Bulldogs have a large Arab fan base and club officials have been inundated by complaints by disrespected members and fans since the incident took place in the latter stages of the game.
Tigers backrower Samuela Fainu signalled the gesture to the fans after scoring the match-sealing try in front of the Canterbury faithful. His brother Latu Fainu and Brent Naden also joined in.
It was followed by former Bulldogs player Naden posting a video on social media after the game with the same gesture while saying “f—ing dogs”. Naden later deleted the post and closed down his account.
Brent Naden gives another ‘khawd’ after the game.
The Tigers have a large contingent of Lebanese players including man-of-the-match Adam Doueihi, prop Alex Twal and youngster Tony Sukkar. Sukkar was in the huddle during the celebration but did not use the gesture.
Bulldogs bosses declined to comment but confirmed that the club has been dealing with angry supporters since the incident.