Advertisement

NRL player apologises over 'disrespectful' act during Last Post

Corey Horsburgh, pictured here blowing a bubble with his chewing gum during the Last Post.
Corey Horsburgh was seen blowing a bubble with his chewing gum during the Last Post. Image: Fox Sports

Canberra Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh has been forced to apologise after he was seen blowing a bubble while chewing gum during an Anzac Day ceremony.

The Last Post was played before all NRL games over the weekend, including at Canberra's clash with the Panthers at BlueBet Stadium on Sunday.

'COMPLETE JOKE': NRL fans seethe over 'ridiculous' farce

'THAT WAS SICKENING': NRL rocked by 'awful' Anzac Day incident

TV viewers were left in disbelief when Horsburgh was spotted blowing a bubble with his gum during the Last Post in Penrith.

Fans took to social media to slam the 24-year-old forward, with many labelling his actions "disrespectful".

On Tuesday morning, Horsburgh addressed the controversy and apologised.

“Just wanted to post a message to say I’m sorry if I offended anyone on the weekend during the ANZAC day ceremony before our game against the Panthers,” he wrote on Instagram.

“It was an honest mistake and in no way did I mean to cause offence to anyone.

“I always chew gum before a game and completely forgot it was still in my mouth before I ran out.

“I have the deepest respect for the ANZAC day tradition and it was an honour to be involved in the game on Sunday.”

One Panthers fan wrote on Twitter: "So Canberra fans are upset about us doing the Viking Clap but silent on the actual disrespect from Corey Horsburgh blowing a bubble gum bubble during the Anzac ceremony."

Another wrote: "The NRL should sit him for a week for bringing the game into disrepute."

Controversy as Panthers fans do Canberra's 'Viking Clap'

It wasn't the only controversy to come out of Sunday's game, with Canberra reportedly seething over 'arrogant' Panthers fans who stole their famous 'Viking Clap'.

With the Panthers leading 24-6 in the second half, fans mocked the Raiders by doing their own Viking Clap - a pre-game move Canberra fans are known for.

After Stephen Crichton was awarded his third try - a penalty try after interference from Raiders centre Matt Timoko - the 20,000-plus fans began a mock Viking Clap to rub a little more salt into the wounds.

They did it again 10 minutes from full-time when the result was inevitable.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart bristled at questions from a reporter about it after the game.

Panthers fans, pictured here performing the 'Viking Clap' during their clash with the Canberra Raiders.
Panthers fans perform the 'Viking Clap' during their clash with the Canberra Raiders. (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)

“Ricky one of the big moments in the second half a couple of times with the Viking Clap, what where your thoughts about that?” the journalist asked.

Stuart replied: “I have got not thoughts mate. Is that really a big focus point?”

Raiders captain Jack Wighton echoed his coach's sentiment before Stuart interjected.

“Well if that is all we have got to talk about. F*** me dead," he said, imitating to leave the press conference.

Crichton underpinned Penrith's seventh-straight win of 2022 with a hat-trick as the Panthers scored a 36-6 victory.

The Raiders hung in relentlessly for a large chunk of the game, but caved during the final 18 minutes.

"It was very hard," Stuart said.

"I don't think we had a play-the-ball in their half in the second half. We were forever defending, so it wouldn't have only been Penrith that beat us by that amount - other teams would have to."

with AAP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.