A 20-year-old man has been charged and granted conditional bail over alleged threatening messages on social media to Knights winger James Schiller.
The Hunter team was woeful in the first half of their round 14 clash with Manly and home fans booed the players off the field when they were down 16-0 at half time.
Schiller had a nightmare opening 40 minutes to the game.
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He made five errors for the night, missed four tackles, and conceded two penalties, helping the Sea Eagles to their dominant half-time advantage.
It was during this period that someone is alleged to have sent a message to Schiller reading, “count your days c— I will end your f—ing life”.
Knights player James Schiller was the target of death threats. Instagram
Schiller’s form was resurrected in the second half, as was his team’s.
He finished the night with a try assist, seven tackle breaks and four line breaks as Newcastle pulled off a 26-22 miracle win.
A screenshot posted to Schiller’s Instagram account later showed the same unnamed social media troll sent him another message, saying “doesn’t make up for it even though you won”.
Lake Macquarie Detectives launched an investigation into the incident and arrested the man at 2.30pm on Friday, June 13.
The man was then charged with use “carriage service to menace/harass/offend.”
He will attend Belmont Local Court on Wednesday, July 30.
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Speaking to media just days after the match, coach Adam O’Brien condemned the death threat and revealed it is in the hands of authorities.
“That is worrying,” O’Brien said.
“I want to protect them… and for him to go through that over a couple of errors… it’s a game of footy.
“He’s got a family. That’s partly the reason why you do want to protect them.
“I think it’s a society problem, isn’t it? It’s not just football players who are getting that sort of stuff.
“I understand there is some legislation, and I think at the moment it’s in the hands of authorities to try and help in this situation with James.
“We need to be able to stop people doing it, change their thought process before doing it.
“I don’t have social media but I know (the players) get it a fair bit.”
The incident is not the first to occur in the NRL with two men charged in 2021 for sending Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell threatening messages over social media.
