'Punish the person': Raiders call for action on racial abuse of Jack Wighton

Wighton shared a screenshot of direct messages sent to him on Instagram on Wednesday, with the culprit calling him a "weak gutted dog" before labelling him an "abo c--t" just hours after South Sydney trumpeted Wighton's four-year deal.

The six-time Indigenous All Star reposted the offensive material with the message: "Stooping low here ... for what reason little coward".

The Raiders have reported the matter to the NRL integrity unit, and now players are rallying around Wighton and demanding police take action against the offender.

"There's a lot of abuse on social media, a lot of them like to get on their keyboards and type away. I'm not sure how many would say it to his face," Raiders forward Elliott Whitehead said.

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"It's very disappointing to see comments like that, you don't want that in the world or in our game. Hopefully the police can get to the bottom of it and punish the person that said them.

"To get comments like that is just well out of order. Hopefully the police can get to the bottom of it with the person that sent them, and not just accept an apology, actually make a statement and give him some kind of punishment."

Wighton will join close mate Latrell Mitchell at the Rabbitohs, who has made a point of taking a stand against racial insults alongside teammate Cody Walker.

Last month, NSW Police issued a warning to a teenager accused of abusing Mitchell during a game.

"The way they spoke to Jack on social media is totally unacceptable. It's great work for Jack to call it out," Canberra's Hudson Young said.

"We've seen in recent times with Cody and Latrell leading the way in doing that. It's good for the game, the more people call it out, and not only the game but the community as well. Hopefully the NRL and police take action on it.

"They've probably grown up with it. The more we can get rid of that, the better it's going to be for them as people and for the game. There's no place for it."

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