With friends like these... Canterbury Bulldogs NRL star Josh Reynolds claims he only tickled rival Aidan Sezer's backside 'as a joke' because they are 'good mates'
- Canterbury Bulldogs player Josh Reynolds under fire for controversial act
- Bulldogs five-eighth caught on camera appearing to perform a 'Hopoate'
- Canberra Raiders' Aidan Sezer was feeding the ball into scrum at the time
- Reynolds and Sezer played together as juniors and are good mates
- The 'Hopoate' is a controversial move named after ex-player John Hopoate
Canterbury five-eighth Josh Reynolds says an incident in which he grabbed Canberra playmaker Aidan Sezer's backside during Monday night's NRL clash was merely a joke.
Reynolds attracted attention when footage emerged showing him reaching between the legs of Sezer as he attempted to feed a scrum at Belmore Oval in Sydney.
Some even compared it to John Hopoate's infamous foul-play finger incident of 2001, however Reynolds took to Twitter to Tuesday morning to play down the moment.
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Canterbury Bulldogs star Josh Reynolds (left) has come under fire for appearing to perform the notorious 'Hopoate' on Canberra Raiders half Aidan Sezer
Reynolds, 26, was caught on camera during the Bulldogs 8-22 defeat putting his hand close to Sezer's backside in a Raiders scrum
'Just want to clear up the incident with Aiden (sic) Sezer last night,' he tweeted.
'We're good mates and it was just a bit of a joke. I hope no harm done.'
Reynolds and Sezer played together in the under-20s and lower grades at the Bulldogs in 2010 and 2011, before Sezer eventually moved to the Gold Coast.
Reynolds scored a try for the Bulldogs in the game, but it was not enough to stop the Raiders from securing a comfortable victory.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was pleased with the way his side muscled up against the big Dogs pack.
'We prepared for a tough game and we got it... it was a good win for us,' Stuart said.
Reynolds has played 100 games for the Bulldogs, scoring 28 tries. He has also represented New South Wales on four occasions.
The 'Hopoate' is named after former player John Hopoate, who was notorious for his on-field behaviour and is one of the NRL's most suspended players.
Aidan Sezer has backed his mate Josh Reynolds' claim that his 'bum grab' was just a joke
Reynolds took to Twitter to Tuesday morning to play down the moment saying that he was good friends with Aidan Sezer and it was a bit of a joke
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