Panthers demand explanation after To’o makes lewd public remarks about teammates’ partners

3 days ago 6

Penrith star Brian To’o has expressed remorse over a joke gone wrong after he made sexualised comments about several teammates and their partners on social media during the Panthers awards night earlier this week.

Penrith management sought an explanation from one of their biggest names on Thursday after To’o’s Instagram account was used to comment on several stories from the Panthers’ official account, in which he referenced players’ partners.

In response to Nathan Cleary being announced as the Merv Cartwright Medal winner for the club’s best and fairest on Tuesday night, To’o described Cleary as “The Fowler slayer”, in reference to Matildas forward and Cleary’s girlfriend Mary Fowler, along with a goat emoji (referencing the Greatest of All Time acronym) and a love heart,

Similar messages were added on a series of posts from the Penrith account.

Brian To’o’s comment on Penrith’s Instagram post.

Winger Tom Jenkins was referred to as “Jess Wrecker”, forward Matt Eisenhuth as “Holly destroyer” and veteran back-rower Scott Sorensen as “Elle smasher”.

The Panthers declined to comment when contacted as they arrived in Auckland ahead of Saturday’s sudden-death finals clash against the Warriors.

Club officials have spoken to To’o and say the matter will be taken seriously, with the NSW and Samoan flyer having acknowledged his public comments were in poor taste.

Brian To’o’s comment on Penrith’s Instagram story.

To’o has since explained to Panthers officials that he intended the comments as a joke. The 27-year-old rarely drinks and has told Panthers management he was sober while commenting live on the awards ceremony.

To’o’s comments have since disappeared from the social media site, given individual stories are only live for 24 hours.

The Daily Mail reported that several user comments on the since-expired posts expressed dismay at To’o’s comments.

The Panthers winger was involved in an embarrassing incident in 2022 when his best man and former teammate Jarome Luai gave an off-colour speech at his wedding, for which the Tigers star made a subsequent public apology.

To’o was rested for the last two weeks of Penrith’s regular season along with Liam Martin after the club prioritised managing their players’ workloads over an unlikely tilt at the top four.

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