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?

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

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lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

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Sport is made for betting

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