Panthers considering legal action against Fox Sports after unfair attacks on club by pundits

Penrith Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher and captain Isaah Yeo have blasted recent coverage of the NRL club by Fox Sports pundits and urged legal action against the broadcaster to be considered.

The Panthers embarrassed Manly with a 42-12 thrashing at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday – and the week before the Raiders were thrashed 53-12.

Fletcher says Fox Sports unfairly criticized the Panthers during the Canberra game, and it’s not the first time the broadcaster has targeted them.

He says the Panthers board will consider banning players from appearing on Fox Sports this week, as well as taking legal action against the network.

“We have to protect our players,” Fletcher said The Sydney Morning Herald. “And we have to protect our coaches and their reputation… We will discuss it as a board and we will look at all options.”

The Panthers embarrassed Manly with a 42-12 thrashing at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday – and the week before the Raiders were thrashed 53-12. Fletcher says Fox Sports unfairly criticized the Panthers during the Canberra game, and it’s not the first time

Captain Isaah Yeo was just as outraged by the coverage and says it hurts the Panthers club.

“As a club we understand that people will have opinions, and not all of them will be good, but it’s… tarnishing a brand that doesn’t deserve to be tarnished, and I think the public is starting to understand that. That’s nice,” he said.

“The fact that we’re giving this more oxygen than it deserves is something that I’m not too happy about and that only leads to rebuttal…

Fletcher was also shocked by coach Ivan Cleary’s targeting and suggestion that he had no class.

“The focus should be on the opponent’s coach after we thrashed them, not ours, but things don’t work that way,” said Fletcher.

“As a club we cannot sit back and let this continue. It all started a few years ago when there was an article about how strong the Raiders reserve team was and we beat them. Then they came out and called our players mokholes. And now the attacks continue. The last thing was the Jaeman thing [Salmon].

To say, as some have done on Fox, that parents should not send their children to Penrith is just outrageous. That is an insult to good people like Kevin Kingston, Joe Galuvao and Glen Liddiard who work in that area.

“They say things that attack everything this club stands for and then they expect us to play along and put people on their shows. It’s not on and we have a duty to explore every area to protect our club from the nonsense being said.’

Captain Isaah Yeo (pictured) was equally outraged by the coverage and says it hurts the Panthers club

Fletcher was also shocked by the attacks on coach Ivan Cleary (pictured) and the suggestion that he had no class

Yeo is proud of the culture at the club and says it is respected throughout the game.

“I know the feedback we get, not only from Penrith supporters but also from other teams’ supporters, about how much we do for the community and how well we do after games get around and the fans see,” said Yeo.

More than a few footy fans online agree with the Panthers’ comments and took to social media to show their support.

Personally, I think Penrith should have a full media blackout from @FOXNRL, just outright refusing to speak to them,” said one Twitter user.

Another replied: ”’How dare a team from Western Sydney wear a bit of swagger and confidence. We need to tear them down ASAP.” Aussie tall poppy syndrome in full swing by a bunch of dinosaurs.”