PASSIONATE Brisbane co-captain Lachie Neale wants online trolls to take responsibility for their words as incidents with players continue to mount.
Neale took to Instagram last Friday, saying people hiding behind keyboards to attack players were a "stain on society" that needed to "grow the f**k up".
Although not specifying what led to his post that came hours after Brisbane's 52-point loss to Collingwood, the dual Brownlow medallist doubled down when speaking to media on Tuesday morning.
"When players cop death threats from a game of footy, it's a bit crazy," Neale said.
"I'm pretty passionate about it because it can affect players and people in general, their mental health and what not.
"People can create accounts and not have any responsibility for their words."
Port Adelaide's Willie Rioli copped it following his comments about hating Hawthorn last week, while on-field moments have also littered the start of the season.
A Sydney patron was removed from the SCG and interviewed by police and SCG staff after he threw an object at Port Adelaide's Aliir Aliir on Sunday, while Bailey Smith and Harley Reid have been sanctioned for gestures towards the crowd.
Neale said there was a lot of good in social media, and he'd received upwards of 400 positive responses following his post from fans and people around the industry.
"I'd love to see a world where people have to face up to the words they say," Neale said.
"I don't know what you can do about it, but [maybe a solution is to] scan your ID to create an account? You don't have to have your actual name there … but for it to be traced back to you so that you're responsible for what you say.
"I don't think any player has had someone walk up to them and say to their face the things people say online.
"We’re just trying to do our jobs to the best of our ability like everyone else in any industry.
"I'm more than happy to cop criticism on performance and the team's performance, but when it gets personal and attacks players' families and themselves as people, some pretty nasty stuff gets said they'd never say to your face, that's the disappointed aspect.
"Sometimes people just think we're not human maybe, but we are."
