Skip to main content

Rugby league sting has day in court

Ryan Tandy gets a mere slap on the wrist for his part in the NRL betting scandal of 2010, with the brains behind the rort yet to face the music.

Leading Sydney rugby league writer, Peter Fitzsimons has a well-deserved attack on the NRL for its reliance on gambling to survive.

Tandy's behaviour odds-on in sport that thrives on gambling

REPORTING live from the Centrebet Stadium at Penrith, we'll get back to you shortly about how wrong it is to bring in legislation to protect problem gamblers from themselves … as right now, in news brought to you by SportsTAB - wall to wall on your TV and radio coverage and even in your newspapers - we have to leave the Centrebet Panthers and Centrebet Sea Eagles, to deliver some breaking news.

Canterbury forward Ryan Tandy has been found guilty of conspiring to gain a financial advantage for others by manipulating the first scoring play in a rugby league match last year between the Bulldogs and the North Queensland Cowboys.

I KNOW, I know, horrifying! And so unexpected!

Who would have thought that in a game where every moving part is covered in the names of gambling companies, where from sun-up to sundown and on into the night - just one more press on this Queen of the Nile pokie and I'll be done - gambling money flows into its coffers, an individual rugby league player would get it into his head to try to get some of the action for himself?



The AFL have told firms they want to roll back the live advertising on its games while the AFL and NRL are fighting hard against the Federal Government's plans to limit access to poker machines - something NRL clubs in particular have relied upon for income for decades. These sports take a heavy stance when it comes to morality of players in the public eye - so why won't they do the same when it comes to money?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

BBVA Compass Bowl preview

Just a few more College Bowl games to go to complete the season. Here's another preview by James Jack, @materialista27 . And a reminder that if any previews aren't posted here, you should be able to find them on his dedicated College Bowl site . --------------- BBVA Compass Bowl Saturday January 5th, 12:00 CST (18:00 GMT) Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Ole Miss Rebels The BBVA Compass Bowl was originally created as the Birmingham Bowl in 2006 and has also been sponsored by Papa John's Pizza in its short history. The Bowl initially had a tie-in with the Conference-USA but they decided to rip that up in 2008 and signed a deal with the Big East and the SEC. It currently matches the 6th team from the Big East with the 9th team from the SEC, however in recent years, it appears to have become the Pittsburgh Bowl as this will be their third straight appearance, splitting the last two with SMU. Should this game follow that trend, Pittsburgh ...