Penrith centre Brent Naden messaged Tyrone Peachey during the height of last week’s racism scandal to applaud his stance against alleged abuse in the NRL.
Gold Coast utility Peachey was left hurt and angry last week when he accused Mitchell Barnett of calling him a “black c***”, a claim strongly denied by the Newcastle lock.
An NRL investigation into the matter found no evidence to reach a conclusion, while both Peachey and Barnett stood by their respective claims after conciliation.
It marked the second investigation into racism by the NRL this year, after Naden was abused by members of the crowd by a match on the Central Coast in August.
Peachey’s claims therefore struck a chord with Naden, who made an immediate point to contact the former Panther.
“When it first happened I spoke to him, reached out to him,” Naden told AAP.
“His missus replied honestly because he is overwhelmed with messages. I just said I am standing with you 100 per cent.
“Our town and community is going to stand with him. The boys here are going to stand with him.”
Fellow senior Panthers and Peachey’s former teammates Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo were among other Penrith players to message Peachey.
Naden himself spoke just last month about the influence of Latrell Mitchell and Adam Goodes’ stances against racism in being a motivation for finding his own voice.
At age 24 and in just his 22nd first-grade game at the time, he did initially fear a public backlash but received significant support.
He has since accepted a formal apology from the group of young fans who made the remarks, but hopes it can continue to inspire other players to take the same position.
“It’s a really positive sign people are speaking up,” Naden said.
“I’m lucky now after Latrell Mitchell and Adam Goodes faced the front of it, it’s making it easier for me.
“Hopefully this now makes it far easier for young Indigenous boys and girls coming up.”
Meanwhile Barnett also made a point to denounce racism last week, but insisted while he’d sworn at Peachey there was no racial taunt and the incident had been a misunderstanding.
“Players should call out discrimination and I support Tyrone in speaking out,” he said in a statement.
“I hope Tyrone continues to receive support from the game and his club.
“However, that does not change the fact I did not say what I was accused of saying.”