Bodene Thompson's sister has posted an emotional plea on Facebook, urging people not to write negative comments about athletes on social media.

Trisha Cameron addressed the post as an 'open letter' in the wake of scandal that saw six Warriors players stood down from NRL selection for last weekend's game at home to the St George Illawara Dragons, following a night out in Auckland after a 42-0 hammering to the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day.

They were all late for a team meeting the morning after and five of the six also admitted to mixing prescription medicine with energy drinks on the now infamous night out.

"This is an open letter to every person that has ever written a negative comment about an athlete's life on social media," Cameron wrote.

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"I'm sure everyone at some day or stage of their life have been confronted with these words, however meaningful or meaningless they may be to you.

"Just as we have all in some type or form experienced BULLYING. To whether you were the bully, the one that was getting bullied, a bystander or even known a loved one that has been bullied, we have all been confronted with the very REAL impact it can have on an individual!"

Thompson, Manu Vatuvei, Ben Matulino, Konrad Hurrell, Albert Vete and Sam Lisone came in for heavy criticism for the night out. As well as being stood down from first grade they were declared ineligible for international selection and then it emerged five of the six had mixed a prescription drug with energy drinks. Hurrell said he did not.

The Warriors have since granted Vatuvei a leave of absence on medical grounds.

Cameron said there was a time she believed the phrase "sticks and stones might break my bones, but words can never hurt me" to be true. "But truthfully words hurt and can and have shown to be able to kill as well."

She then described the "hardships" athletes face in their lives while defending her brother, who joined the Warriors in 2015 from West Tigers, and described the emotion she feels when people target him with ' hurtful and hateful comments'.

Cameron asked people to put themselves in the athletes' shoes and questioned the humanity of people who ridicule them online."Have we as human beings lost our humanity?" she wrote.

"These athletes are on show for 80mins a week, where they are expected to perform in an unpredictable environment. Yet we judge them from behind a tv screen, behind a computer screen and not ever know what struggles they had to go through before they had to go to "work".

These individuals put their hearts on the line to play for their club, can go from highly loved and idolised to getting absolutely slaughtered by their own "fans".

"People who type without thinking of the everlasting effects these words can have on a very real HUMAN being. I have seen many crude and disheartening comments, I have directly seen the effects the words of these strangers can have on an individual. If you knew what it could lead to, you would want it to stop as well."

Cameron asked people to 'think' before they post something negative online, saying: "You have no idea how many lives you can be affecting with a single negative comment.

"Before you write up some silly "innocent" comment, thought or opinion on these players, please remember they are somebody's husband, brother, father, son or uncle.

"Yours truly, A concerned sister, mother and fan."

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