WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A Facebook page features credible news about Wests Tigers rugby league players.
OUR VERDICT
False. The stories are fake.
AAP FACTCHECK - Wests Tigers fans dealing with their NRL club's struggles on and off the field are also being hit with disinformation.
A foreign-run Facebook page is pumping out sensational fake stories about current and former Tigers players.
The NRL club has confirmed the claims are all false.
The fake news aimed at the Tigers' faithful comes as their team misses the finals for a 15th consecutive season and amid speculation about halfback Adam Doueihi's future at the club.
The Facebook page, called 'Western Pride Report', has shared more than 100 posts about the club since May 2026.
While early posts carried simple messages supporting the team, such as "SAY YES IF YOU LOVE WESTS TIGERS TEAM", later posts contain sensational false announcements.
One post claims fullback Jahream Bula has stunned the NRL by announcing he's stepping away from rugby league to care for his seriously ill mother.
"His emotional statement has left thousands of fans heartbroken and united in praying for her recovery..." the post reads.
A Google search returns no credible reports about the alleged announcement.
Bula played for Wests on July 18, an NRL match report shows, four days after the post claimed he was leaving the sport.
The post features an image of Bula captioned with a quote: "Football is no longer my priority. The only thing I care about right now is the battle my Mom is facing every single day."
However, it appears to be fabricated, with other Facebook pages attributing an identical quote to other sports stars in Australia and the US.
Another false story claims a young Tigers player named Ethan Cole "has passed away at the age of 21".
"The loss has hit the Wests Tιgeгs community hard, with fans mourning not only a young member of the organization, but also a talented soul whose future appeared full of promise," the post reads.
However, AAP FactCheck found no evidence a player by that name features on the NRL club's roster.
Less than an hour after the fake story about "Ethan Cole" was posted, another Facebook page posted a near-identical death announcement about an American football player called "Tyler Hayes".
The photos in both posts appear to show the same person wearing different jerseys.
An analysis using OpenAI's verification tool confirms both images were generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Another post claims Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco, who previously played for Wests, has made a "ceremonial one-day agreement" to return to his old club to retire "after injury forced him away from the game".
Such contracts are sometimes offered in US sports to allow players to retire with previous clubs, but they're uncommon in Australian sport.
Regardless, Tedesco has not retired and NRL match reports show he's still playing for the Roosters.
The Wests Tigers confirmed that the claims in the posts were all false.
"I can absolutely confirm the information in all the supplied links is incorrect," a club spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
The Facebook page also lists its address as Sydney's Concord Oval, the NRL club's headquarters, but transparency data reveals it's being run by users based in Canada, Sierra Leone and Vietnam.
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