AFL club’s social media joke backfires badly as fans take it seriously and lash out at the team for crossing a line
- Gold Coast Suns social media ‘prank’ not well received
- Move came after $3,750 fine for defenseman Ben Long
- Supporters reacted strongly to the attempted joke on X
The Gold Coast Suns are under fire from football fans after a prank by the club on social media backfired spectacularly.
The AFL this week fined defender Ben Long $3750 for a high-profile offence involving Collingwood enforcer Brayden Maynard during last Saturday’s win over Collingwood.
The Suns lightheartedly said in an interview with X on Wednesday that the club is asking fans to help Long, who reportedly makes $325,000 a year, pay the fine.
“Since Ben Long’s appeal was unsuccessful, we are starting a @gofundme to help Longy pay the $3,750 fine,” the original tweet read.
It didn’t take long for football fans to express their anger online.
“Isn’t that a salary cap violation?” asked supporter Todd Davey.
“The Suns should lose championship points for this,” posted another fan, with a third replying: “Shouldn’t you be worried about making the final series?”, referring to the fact the club has never finished in the AFL’s top eight since its formation in 2011.
Many other fans expressed similar sentiments, writing: ‘Suns should lose premiership points for this’, ‘just use some of the millions in AFL benefits you get every year’ and ‘really grow up Suns. Definitely a salary cap violation’.
The Gold Coast Suns have come under fire from football fans after a social media ‘prank’ backfired in spectacular fashion (the tweet is pictured)
Defender Ben Long was fined $3750 by the AFL this week for a high-profile offence involving Collingwood enforcer Brayden Maynard
Football fans found Gold Coast Suns media department’s ‘joke’ not funny
Hours later, the Suns posted another message on X – the social media platform formerly known as Twitter – and stated: “The number of people who didn’t realize this was a joke is disturbing.”
The negative reactions prompted a second tweet from the Suns, in which they wrote: ‘The amount of people who didn’t realize this was a joke is disturbing’
The second post was met with a flood of criticism, with fans not impressed with the attempted joke.
“Jokes are usually funny, but this one wasn’t,” someone noted.
Another wrote: ‘The only joke was that Gold Coast actually appealed against a blatant fine.’
As part of their verification guidelinesGoFundMe clearly explains on its website what forms of fundraising are acceptable. Helping a wealthy football player pay a fine for an on-field violation is not approved.
This came after football fans demanded that Magpies star Maynard be fined for his alleged theatrics in the fight with Long.
After Long pushed him, Maynard grabbed his waist, causing the Collingwood Premier League player to fall dramatically to the ground and be awarded a free kick.
“Great entrance for Maynard’s staging? Grab his head and try to sell it as a hit,” one fan posted on X.
“Maynard can give it, but he can’t receive it,” replied another.
“Maynard should be fined for staging this. That was pathetic,” wrote a third.