Web of support for Matthew Johns

TENS of thousands of Matthew Johns devotees have used online social networking site Facebook to demand Channel Nine reinstate him.The Support Matthew Johns Facebook page was created when the disgraced former rugby league star was dumped from Channel Nine over his New Zealand group sex scandal and has attracted as many as 10,000 fans an hour. A large proportion of the group's members are women. At 9.30pm there were more than 90,000 signed up.A Save Matty Johns' Job petition circulated and fans talked of protesting at Channel Nine's Sydney headquarters.But the protest, set for Thursday at 7.30pm, fell flat when a lone Parramatta family showed.Instead fans have vowed to boycott Channel Nine's Footy Show if Johns is not reinstated as co-host.Posts of encouragement for Johns and in some cases abuse for the other parties involved have appeared on the site, most showing sympathy for the "scapegoat" Johns.Some take to task the other NRL players involved in the incident who refuse to come forward.Fans all said they were willing to forgive their hero his sexual sin.But a few objectors hit back, saying NRL fans were blinded by their devotion for the former football great and accepted a culture of disrespect towards women.Critics of Johns are in the minority on the site.About 50 people have joined the Support Matthew Johns' Wife Trish Facebook group.