{"id":471043,"date":"2026-06-10T23:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/471043\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:21:10","slug":"warriors-coach-andrew-webster-confronted-by-fake-social-media-posts-claiming-wife-emma-has-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/471043\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors coach Andrew Webster confronted by fake social media posts claiming wife Emma has died"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt the same time, if you want to live in that world and be part of it, you\u2019re going to get this. I\u2019m sure if somebody\u2019s got enough technology to create something like that, they\u2019ve got enough technology to get rid of it, so that stuff never happens. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are smarter people than me who can do that. I\u2019ll stay in my lane \u2013 I\u2019ll make sure my family know that\u2019s not true \u2013 and I\u2019m sure somebody can put an end to it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The most recent post on Facebook read: \u201cThe world of New Zealand rugby league is quietly mourning the passing of Emma Webster, the devoted wife of New Zealand Warriors head coach Andrew Webster. <\/p>\n

\"AA Facebook claims Andrew Webster’s wife, Emma, has died.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmma was known not only for her warmth and grace but also for her steadfast support, serving as a calming, unwavering presence behind one of the sport\u2019s most respected figures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webster tends to keep his private life out of the spotlight, but after winning the Dally M Coach of the Year in 2023, he was quick to credit his wife after receiving the award. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been amazing,\u201d Webster said. \u201cWe moved countries, had a baby, I became a head coach, so there was a lot of pressure and a lot of things happening in a short amount of time. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe just handled it in her stride and never complained once. She allowed me to chase my dreams and I\u2019ll always be grateful for that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other posts on the pages have included claims about players signing lifetime contracts with the Warriors, while others have alleged players skipped training to attend nightclubs. <\/p>\n

Webster said he does not use social media because he thinks it is addictive. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know myself when I was on it, I could be sitting there dazing. It could be two hours later and I\u2019d still be scrolling on my phone,\u201d Webster said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to be elite at anything you do, you\u2019ve got to have a creative mind. You\u2019ve got to be clear in what you do and, if you\u2019re scrolling all the time, you\u2019re just filling your head with crap information.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other pages and posts targeting Super Rugby teams<\/a>, including one that claimed former All Blacks halfback Brad Weber had died of brain cancer, have been removed by Meta, the owner of Facebook. <\/p>\n

Weber was furious after he was contacted by family and friends about the post. <\/p>\n

\u201cHad this sent to me by a few friends. Wtf is wrong with people?!\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaking up s*** like this for engagement. Worst thing is everyone in the comments believes it\u2019s real. I don\u2019t have brain cancer fwiw [for what it\u2019s worth].\u201d <\/p>\n

Meta\u2019s policy on misinformation states that it removes \u201cmisinformation where it is likely to directly contribute to the risk of imminent physical harm\u201d. <\/p>\n

The policy also says Meta tries to \u201cfocus on reducing\u201d the prevalence of misinformation and foster productive dialogue. <\/p>\n

Webster said social media had its uses, but urged his players to be careful on it. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t need me to be their dad all the time,\u201d Webster said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t need me giving them lectures on life\u2019s lessons. \u201cI\u2019m here for them. We\u2019ve had people far more qualified than me tell them what it does to the brain \u2013 how you can\u2019t learn as well, how you can\u2019t sleep at night. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many different reasons why you shouldn\u2019t be on it, but at the same time, these players have a brand and they can further their careers by using it well.\u201c<\/p>\n

You\u2019re only in this for a short time and, as long as they are using it in the right manner, I\u2019m fully supportive, provided they know how to deal with this sort of stuff and can give themselves an out.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Warriors host the Sharks in Auckland on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ben Francis<\/a> is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAt the same time, if you want to live in that world and be part of it, you\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[432,74,9092,98659,20251,3595,1559,23552,10712,1320,69895,6179,790,16719,4636,37483,104285,6871,1073,19052,111,139,69,18935,1072,213,42699,3006,20252,1842],"class_list":["post-471043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-action","tag-after","tag-against","tag-aigenerated","tag-andrew","tag-by","tag-called","tag-claimed","tag-claiming","tag-coach","tag-confronted","tag-died","tag-emma","tag-emotional","tag-facebook","tag-fake","tag-falsely","tag-has","tag-media","tag-misinformation","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-posts","tag-social","tag-sports","tag-stronger","tag-warriors","tag-webster","tag-wife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}