ABC election analyst Antony Green has caused a stir after he shared a distasteful tweet after the death of rugby legend Bob Fulton was announced.
Fulton passed away at age 74 on May 23, which resulted in a prompt flood of tributes from his largest fan base: the footy community.
Green was accused of failing to read the room as plenty of mourners paid their respects to the sportsman.
“A fulsome apology for raising this, but the headline ‘Rugby League Immortal Bob Fulton has died’ does contain a significant level of conflict with dictionary meaning,” Green tweeted.
Twitter users were not impressed with the ABC analyst’s words, with one person writing: “Hardly the time, hardly the place, and just hardly altogether. Delete.”
Another said: “You’d have been better advised not to send that tweet at this time.”
A third also chimed in, saying: “Pretty poor taste. Unfollow coming up. What is the purpose of this little English lesson? Tasteless.”
Green reportedly deleted his tweet moments later.
Veteran broadcaster Ray Hadley announced the death of his close friend on his radio show.
“It’s a very sad day for the Fulton family and rugby league generally,” Hadley said on 2GB.
“I’ve announced some sad things on radio but this could be the saddest.
“I’m going to miss him, he was a great man … the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. He’ll be sadly missed.”
NRL Commission chairman Peter V’landys also paid his respects to the legendary sportsman, saying rugby league has “lost a true legend of the game”.
“The word legend is used a lot in tributes, but Bob was a genuine legend of rugby league,” V’landys said.
“He was an original Immortal, a Kangaroo, a Blue and a club legend of Manly, winning three premierships as a player, including Man of the Match in the 1973 Grand Final.
“As a coach he led the Kangaroos to two World Cup victories and Manly to two premierships. He was also a great promoter of our game. His role on the Continuous Call team over many years provided great humour and insight to fans every weekend.
“Bob will forever be part of rugby league’s DNA and our game is richer for having had Bob part of it.
“Today we’ve lost a giant of our game. On behalf of the Rugby League community, I send our deepest condolences to Bob’s family.”
Fulton was surrounded by his family and other close friends when he passed away on Sunday morning.
Fulton is survived by wife Anne, daughter Kirsty and sons Brett and Scott.
Images: Getty Images / Twitter
