League: Bottle-throwing and abuse sparks inquiry

Parramatta forward Dean Widders claimed he was almost hit by a bottle and his teammates were abused by "idiots" in the crowd during their win over the Warriors.

Widders said he felt a bottle fly past his head when the Eels were on defence late in the second half of the 20-12 win at Mt Smart Stadium.

He was seen complaining to referee Sean Hampstead.

"I don't know if it was thrown exactly at me but it nearly hit me," Widders told the Sunday Telegraph.

"Maybe half a metre... I could feel it go past."

Widders said the crowd were "pretty fiery".

"Usually it's good when we come over here, but there were some idiots in the crowd.

"The good thing was, when it [bottle throwing] happened, the ref looked over and people in the crowd were pointing out who it was."

Parramatta coach Jason Taylor said the hostile crowd made their fourth win in a row all the more satisfying.

"The crowd here were just giving it to our boys as they walked off the field, swearing at them and everything," Taylor said.

Neither Taylor nor skipper Nathan Cayless, in their post-match press conference, raised the issue of the crowd or bottle-throwing.

However, the Warriors said yesterday that an investigation would be launched over Widders' complaint.

Chief executive Wayne Scurrah said the first he heard about the incident was yesterday.

"I don't think it was thrown at a player, but it was thrown on to the field," he said.

"We will investigate that. It would be a concern if it happened."

Scurrah said bottles were banned at the stadium, so the one that was thrown would have been smuggled in.

- NZPA