North Queensland Cowboys CEO Michael Luck has slammed the circulation of fake AI-generated posts about club identities on social media, labelling the inaccurate content ‘highly disturbing.’

It comes after the Cowboys Fan Hub Facebook page stated club legend Johnathan Thurston has been diagnosed with cancer.

The page also ‘revealed’ some Cowboys cheerleaders had posted lewd images online.

The Brisbane Broncos have also been targeted, with a Facebook page known as ‘River City Broncos Fans’ outrageously posting that Pat Carrigan’s mother Carmel had passed away.

Luck told News Corp the Cowboys had received a ‘number of reports’ about the AI-generated stories.

‘We have seen a rise in the number of reports from our playing group and their families of posts on social media platforms, which are clearly from fake accounts,’ Luck said.

North Queensland Cowboys CEO Michael Luck has slammed the circulation of fake AI-generated posts about club identities on social media, (pictured, a false ‘update’ stating Johnathan Thurston has been diagnosed with cancer )

The Brisbane Broncos have also been targeted, with a page known as ‘River City Broncos Fans’ outrageously posting that Pat Carrigan’s mother Carmel had passed away

In July last year, NSW Blues halfback Nathan Cleary engaged with lawyers after an AI generated image of him was slapped across cars following the State of Origin decider

At the time, Cleary’s legal team said they would pursue civil and criminal charges over the flyers which were left on cars in Sydney Olympic Park’s P1 carpark

‘Some of the posts are highly disturbing in nature, including fabricated stories about our players, past and present, and their partners.

‘It is disappointing we live in a world where people find validation and self-worth by promoting provocative misinformation, in this instance using AI.’

The NRL is aware of the fake accounts, and it is understood they are working with Meta – who own and operate Facebook and Instagram – in a bid to close down the wildly inaccurate pages. 

In July last year, NSW Blues halfback Nathan Cleary engaged with lawyers after an AI-generated image of him was slapped across cars following the State of Origin decider.

Cleary’s legal team said they would pursue civil and criminal charges over the flyers which were left on cars in Sydney Olympic Park’s P1 carpark.

Hundreds of fans returned to their cars after Cleary and the Blues lost the decider to Queensland at Accor Stadium.

They found flyers on the windscreens which depicted Cleary in a NSW jersey with his arm around a woman. 

The flyers read: ‘Way to go Blues! I knew you had rizz! I’m taking this one home!’

Melbourne Storm hooker Harry Grant has also been reportedly targeted with fake AI images online, while there were also wild – and false – recent posts saying outgoing Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater had re-signed with the club on a $55million deal.