NRL adamant abuse aimed at Kasey Badger 'isn't a gender issue' - as ref escapes the axe over controversial Bulldogs v Tigers clash

The NRL insists the vitriol aimed at Kasey Badger from Wests Tigers players 'isn't a gender issue' - as the under-fire referee was spared the axe following the controversial finish to the Bulldogs versus Tigers match last Saturday.

Badger sin-binned Tigers forwards David Klemmer (dissent) and Alex Seyfarth (headbutt) late in the contest during the spiteful clash at Accor Stadium.

Benji Marshall's team also saw three decisions overturned via captain's challenges - and halfback Aidan Sezer avoided a 10 minute spell following a dangerous tackle, and was later handed a four-game ban from the NRL match review committee for grade-three dangerous contact.

That led to a torrent of abuse being levelled her way, with many fans calling for her to be stood down. 

The NRL has confirmed she will be spared the axe, naming Badger to officiate the Sydney Roosters v New Zealand Warriors match at Allianz Stadium on Sunday. 

It has since been revealed Badger frequently deactivates her social media accounts in a bid to avoid abuse from fired up fans online.

NRL great Billy Slater has leapt to Badger's defence, with the Queensland Origin coach calling for the keyboard warriors who attacked the rookie referee to jump in and officiate games themselves.

'If you think you can do a better job, go and do it, go and put your hand up to be a referee, don't go on social media and be a coward and abuse someone,' he said on The Billy Slater Podcast.

'If you think you can do better than the person that you're having a go at, go and put the boots on, grab a whistle, or if you're having a go at a player go and play the game, you've got no right to abuse someone anyway.

'I think the referees do a fantastic job, we need them, if we don't have referees we don't have a game.

'To sit behind a computer or a telephone and abuse someone for a mistake they've made because they're having a go, I see that as a coward act.'

It comes as NRL head of elite competitions Graham Annesley pointed to Badger's lack of experience officiating first grade as the problem.

'This is not a gender issue,' Annesley said on Monday. 'Even when referees do make mistakes, they don't make mistakes because of their gender – they make mistakes because they are human.

'Plenty of players have towered over male referees, and attempted to exert some influence. It doesn't only happen to female referees. It's not a gender issue.

'In this particular case, Kasey was in [charge] of her third NRL game, she's a rookie referee, and players will try to test rookie referees, regardless of gender. They'll see how far they can push them.

'Referees accept they'll be tested, but we have to know where that line in the sand is, and not overstep that mark. It can incite the fans. She'll learn an enormous amount from that game.'

And according to the Sydney Morning Herald, Badger was at one stage over the weekend trending at #1 for Australian sport on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, as the online abuse threatened to get out of control.

'The criticism of Kasey Badger is not sexist but, a true reflection of her incompetence. The NRL is a professional sport & she should be held accountable like coaches & players when they bring the game into disrepute. She failed miserably,' tweeted one footy fan.

A second weighed in with: 'Is there a worse referee in the than Kasey Badger? She makes the most incorrect calls every game and teams have to rely on Captain's Challenges to uphold the integrity of the game. She's simply not up to it.'

A third added: 'Kasey Badger deadset has no f***ing idea.'

Other comments on X were so shocking Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish them. 

Former NRL premiership winner and NRL 360 co-host Braith Anasta called the online attacks 'disgusting'.

'Kasey Badger, she's copped it from all angles, from social media to you name it. It isn't fair at all, we've got to get that straight,' he said. 

'We all cop it on social media, but it's disgusting some of the things that have been said. No one deserves it, she doesn't deserve it, we don't accept it and it's a disgrace.'