Wasn't Delroy Facey charged a decade ago? That Australian player who played for Rovers got banned from playing for life (think he committed suicide a few years later).
Ryan was a good friend of mine whilst in the UK. We signed him at Donny and then when we went bust I arranged his move to Rovers and got him his flat. Went to see him in Aus just a few months before he was arrested. The poor bloke was up to his eyes in debt to bookies. As any follower of the sport will know there is no way one player can fix the first points scorer in rugby league. It needs a few people to get the circumstances right, making sure the other team don't kick off for a start. Tandy gave the penalty away but you can see when that young kid ran it and scored there were a few on both teams who looked gutted. He swore his innocence right until the end and a mutual friend very close to him is convinced he was telling the truth and had been framed to take the fall.
I'm not just talking about match fixing, I'm talking about coupons that can be easily beat when you know which teams are playing weakened sides and will likely lose. Rover will probably remember the year we won the championship at Hull KR and got promoted to super league. There was a game away at Whitehaven were Morgs announced the team at training on the Thursday and he was playing almost purely academy kids. Rovers were top of the league with a 100% record and Whitehaven bottom. They were giving Whitehaven a 40 start from memory. I got my mate to go to the bookies next to Crown on holderness Road and got a big lump on. It is almost certain every dressing room in every sport will have a punters club and a large percentage of players will have betting accounts in the names of friends. Plenty have admitted it, some have been caught.
It might come as a surpise to you Jim bit I'm not a fan of RL. I did go and watch both Hull teams in the late 60's when all three Hull clubs were not in competition with each other, and RL was not in competition with football. Innocent days, you could say. But, I have always suspected that some RL games are rigged, meaning the scores were kept tight to keep the game interesting to those watching. One match in particular stands out. The RL Cup final last year, Wigan v Warrington? Wigan were storming it in the first half, the game was virtually over after 40 mins and they had a perfectably good try disllowed which would have made the second half meaningless. Like a football game being 5-0 at half time. Warrington then ran through the Wigan side without even an attempt to make a tackle to score under the sticks. Even the commentators said it now makes the second half interesting. I have mixed with many ex City players on social occasions and I've never heard any of them mention betting on games.
As much as I despise the RFL there is no way they would get clubs to agree to keep games close. Rovers got battered 50-0 in a challenge Cup final recently, it happens. The players/clubs in football do a great job of covering it up but trust me young lads with lots of money are going to be gambling and many do it on football.
As an ex bookie. I looked after this area. I know of one ex City player lose £20k in 20 minutes in one of my shops. I also had to keep tabs on 2 footballers suspected of betting on football, both from the level Scunny are currently at who lived South of the Humber. Never aware of any local players betting on football, but nationwide we had a list of some players, and more ex players who if they entered a shop, we had to phone in at a higher level.
I can't see it (although if there is proof, will accept it!) - 26 + players, referee and the management staff all to be corrupt and to be paid off, then to keep quiet forever and most difficult, allow scoring to not look so obvious... It would be a full scale theatre performance and cost a fortune. My second cousin was on remand with Michael Boateng in Wandsworth and he was saying that it was impossible for one or two players to control a game and get away with it - they weren't good enough actors. The things they could do was kick out for a corner or throw in, back when you could bet on that or what he was involved in as a middle man, was fouling for first free kick, which Asian betting markets had at the time. There are too many factors involved in a team game to fix scoring etc. Far easier to make money on doped horse racing, if that's your crime. There was that game in 2004 Euros (?) between Sweden and Denmark where the only outcome where both teams could progress was a 2-2 draw. And that was the final result with the last goal being suspicious... But could have been collective cognitive bias.
In relation to that story I told about the Whitehaven game and Hull KR, I got my mate to do it but could have probably done it myself, they bookie wont have known me. One overseas player went in a Bookies near the Uni and got a bet on dressed in his normal gear. He told some other players who went in dressed in their training gear. The bookie burst out laughing and said 'you're taking the p*ss now' and as you would expect the odds suddenly changed very differently. If anyone ever tells you Rugby League players are thick then they are speaking sense!!
As with the Ryan Tandy case in the Bulldogs game he was charged for there must have been 3 or 4 on each team to make that work. I cannot remember what it said in the book about him and I have leant it out so cant check, but I am sure others were linked to the Asian betting market. In that case alone you would need someone from each team with some authority to try and make sure the kick off went to the right team. Then in possession you need enough on the defending team to be sure you can contain them and avoid conceeding a try from a break on the wing. If you watch the penalty it was pretty poor and whatever Ryan did or didnt know about it is virtually impossible to explain why he gave a penalty away in that exact spot at that time without having a motive to do so. When he told me he was innocent it was like talking to a mate with a blooded knife in his hand saying 'I havent just stabbed that guy on the floor'. I guess in football it would be much more scrutinised as someone giving a penalty away in minute one would have to do something pretty crazy like hack someone down inside the box and that is not something you see very often. When Grobbelaar was done I seem to recall most people were shocked however looking back at the incidents they were dodgy as hell. I dont recall the Denmark v Sweden game but if that happened with the perfect result no wonder people were questioning it.
One City game I did suspect something dodgy was the Liverpool FA Cup game in the 80's. Grobbelar in goal for Liverpool and two big gamblers playing for City, Whitehurst and Hesford. What would have been the price for City winning at half time but Liverpool winning over 90mins in that one? I didn't trust Hesford at all, he let in some absolute howlers.
I suppose we will never know but I feel like football is much harder to fix than RL. Even if both keepers were in on it, and a striker, you are banking on defenders not doing their job to create a chance for Whitehurst that Grobbelaar could let in. In RL with the kick at goal option giving penalties away, or taking penalities, can be easier to facilitate. Hesford was a terrible GK though, you're right!!
Well Rerver it's squeaky bum time. By 10pm on Friday evening the shield will either be in the bag or heading to Wigan. I believe home advantage and the fact that Wigan have the proven track record over the years will see them home. Good luck old shag.
Ok, I'm probably being a bit thick here but, why do super league teams play 27 games a season prior to playoffs? With 12 teams in the league 22 games would make more sense to me.
Hopefully be a great game with Rovers coming out on top. Don't put too much on the home advantage point, Rovers have won away at big clubs already.
For some reason some of the clubs play a team three times, I don't understand it. Play offs and Grand Final solely for money reasons, mainly the League favour.
