- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
“NRL to punt stars phones” and “Game-day phone ban to stop the fixers” were headlines this week in News Limited’s Daily Telegraph.
Talk about journalistic sensationalism!
This is a ‘nothing’ story and will have zero impact on any potential match fixing, and anyone who vaguely comprehends betting would be laughing at the suggestion that skulduggery will be minimised.
The Telegraph said, “The NRL is making a concerted effort to distance itself from sports betting.”
The opposite is the case, as the NRL knows a product fee commission from the bookies is worth millions to them.
“There is nothing to stop players or officials passing on last minute information on team changes to punters or bookies in the hours leading up to kick-off,” the Telegraph also said.
The final run on teams must be completed and made public one hour prior to kick off, so the only way a last minute change can happen is if someone is injured in the warm-up, which is generally public anyway.
The flashing headlines sell papers but it is time to move into the real world now, the fair dinkum department.
Anyone who is interested in any type of match fixing would have initiated the plans weeks prior to the game and to suggest any match fixing would take place in the dressing rooms is just folly.
Anyone that would make that assertion needs to attend a streetwise gambling class, or is just into sensationalism.
If the NRL are going to invest a fortune into establishing an Integrity Unit, then ideally they should have a solid comprehension of the online wagering landscape in this country and oversees.
I doubt they do and based on the Telegraph they are certainly wasting resources.
Sending officials and integrity stewards to matches is a complete waste of time and money. All the action happens online and until the NRL are set up so they can monitor every price on every product they will always be in reactionary mode.
Even if they were set up and could monitor the 500 plus corporate bookies who wager on rugby league, it is doubtful if they have the in-house expertise to notice a ‘red flag’ if they saw it on the screen.
The Ryan Tandy match fixing scandal in 2010 clearly could have been prevented had the NRL been set up correctly.
I noticed an aberration in the betting and advised my friend Peter Tunks, who happened to be on air at the time on his sports show with 2SM.
Tunksie actually mentioned it on air hours before kick-off. Sadly it fell on deaf ears, as the election was the focus that night.
The Tandy case was a very unusual circumstance put together by a bunch of greedy guys who tried to win far too much on a crazy exotic.
I do not believe we will ever see that type of match fixing ever again, and I firmly believe the NRL is one of the cleanest sports in the world.
The greatest concern for match fixing is late in the season when teams cannot make the top eight and the type of wager that would not attract attention would be line betting as it is the most popular form and huge amounts are invested.
It would be easy to invest $250k on a team at $1.92 and give away 20 points start, but making sure the favoured team wins by less than 20 points. No one smells a rat as the good team has won and it is no big deal they failed to cover the line.
The other inane law is players, coaches, officials and managers are not allowed to bet on games but there is nothing to stop family or friends from betting.
How ridiculous is this?
As a member, I would be delighted if the owner of my club financially supported the team. The rule should be that players, coaches, officials and managers are not allowed to bet against their team. That would make sense.
The NRL currently have four huge punters who are also club shareholders.
Try telling Eric Watson he cannot support his beloved Warriors, or Nathan Tinkler with his Knights or Gerry Ryan and Matt Tripp to just watch the Storm go around.
The fact is if any players, coaches, officials or managers wish to have a bet it is very easy to get someone to do it for them, so why have a rule that cannot be enforced?
I guess the NRL and the Integrity Group have to be seen doing something, otherwise we would not have any headlines to read.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.