NRLW 2022: Robinson the target of more online trolls

Heartbroken Julia Robinson has revealed she was targeted by trolls last week, less than two months after she suffered despicable abuse from people who criticized her appearance.

The Broncos winger was pictured on the red carpet at last week’s Dally M Awards after a terrific season in the NRLW, but instead of celebrating her accomplishments some people felt the need to try and knock her down .

It is the second time this year that she has faced online abuse after calling out trolls who attacked one of her Instagram posts ahead of the final NRLW season.

“It just hurts,” a devastated Robinson told NCA NewsWire.

“It’s happened twice now.

“It hurts because I feel like a nice person and I know I would never say anything bad to anyone else. It hurts because no one likes to be called names or nasty things.

“It’s sad to know that this still happens in today’s society, where strong women have to be criticized and some people find it horrible to see a girl with muscles.

“That shouldn’t be a bad thing, and that’s why I said in my first post that it just shows my hard work and dedication. Without it, I wouldn’t be here today.

“It should be recognized a lot more; how good it is to see fit and healthy women.

Broncos teammate Ali Brigginshaw says she will always be there to support Robinson, but fears online abuse is an ongoing trend for female athletes.

“I don’t think it will ever stop,” the Jillaroos legend said.

“It’s sad and it hurts to see all these comments.

“I think every player does it every time they step onto the pitch, but it means our game is growing and the profile of these girls is growing.

“For every positive comment, there will be people who want to put you down. As soon as you get to the top, there are so many people wanting to be there, and their reaction is just jealousy.

“When you’re a female athlete, it’s all about supporting each other. We all support her.

Robinson says she was overwhelmed by the support she received not only from soccer players, but also stars from other codes and strangers who reached out to her on social media.

It’s reminiscent of what Tayla Harris went through in the AFLW when she was attacked because of a photo that showed her perfect punching technique.

Trolling is a hot topic not just for athletes but for society at large, and Robinson says negative feedback from Faceless Keyboard Warriors can lead to extreme results.

“I can’t say enough good things about the people who have supported me,” Robinson said.

“It shows that I have such an amazing group of people around me, but it’s also people I don’t know who have reached out to me.

“I had athletes from all the other codes supporting me, but also supporting the real situation and that this is an important topic to talk about.

“We need to change people’s mindset about how they talk on social media. It was such a bad time because it happened around the time of Paul Green’s death and there was so much focus on mental health.

“Stuff like that can trigger people.

“I’m lucky because I know I wouldn’t go down that road, but these people posting stuff have no idea how other people are reacting. You can’t just troll people on social media because you don’t know what’s going on in their lives.

“I am proud of myself and I will never change for anyone.”

Robinson fought back tears during the conversation, but was all smiles as she said how honored she was to be part of the Jillaroos World Cup squad.

The winger has checked her passport three times as she prepares to go overseas for the first time, just four years after she started playing rugby.

“It means the world to me,” she said.

“I checked off a huge to-do list moment.”

Originally published as NRLW star reveals she suffered more despicable online abuse

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