Gold Coast Titans star AJ Brimson cleared by NRL over Melbourne Cup social media betting post
A text message trail and the NRL’s gambling partner has helped clear AJ Brimson of any involvement in the Melbourne Cup betting scandal.
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The NRL has formally cleared Gold Coast Titans star AJ Brimson following a $10,000 Melbourne Cup betting saga.
Brimson became the centre of an NRL Integrity Unit investigation following an innocuous social media post last week.
In the hours after rank outsider Knight’s Choice saluted in the race that stops a nation on November 5, Brimson posted a screenshot on Instagram of a winning bet on the 100-1 outsider.
The $100 wager landed a $10,100 windfall on the Sportsbet account.
“See you at Pav,” Brimson captioned the post with, a reference to his favourite watering hole The Burleigh Pavilion.
A haphazard attempt had been made to erase the bets below it but eagle-eyed punters noticed a “First Try-Scorer” bet on a rugby league game had been scrubbed out.
Under strict match-fixing rules, NRL players are banned from betting on fixtures and the Instagram post appeared to show historical bets, piquing the interest of the Integrity Unit after it went viral on social media.
However the NRL was able to confirm the bet was not placed by Brimson or on his account.
Instead, his mother Vanessa Brimson placed it.
Vanessa’s partner’s name is Kerry Knight – spurring the omen bet on Knight’s Choice at the juicy odds of $101.
The NRL was provided with a text message trail proving the bet was not placed by AJ and subsequently cleared him of breaching the code’s gambling rules.
“The Titans can confirm following all relevant enquiries relating to a social media post on AJ Brimson’s Instagram account, the NRL has found no evidence to indicate Brimson has breached the gambling provisions of the NRL Code of Conduct,” the Titans said in a statement.
The NRL’s gambling partner is Sportsbet, which helped head office with the contacts needed to get to the bottom of the saga.
NRL players and officials are forbidden from betting on rugby league games while they are registered with the governing body.
The standard playing contract specifically states that a player must not participate either directly or indirectly in gambling in relation to the NRL competition when it comes to the performance of a player or team, or the outcome or course of a match.
The NRL, which generates up to $80 million a year in revenue from gambling on the game, has agreements in place with bookmakers which allows them to monitor whether rugby league players are gambling on the game.
Brimson’s manager Jim Banaghan said last week the post was a prank gone wrong.
“It was a little bit of harmless fun that backfired,” he said.
“He was just pretending he won it when it was another family member.
“Unfortunately for those who want a good story, this isn’t one of them. I can fully understand everyone getting excited but there’s nothing to be excited about.
“Congratulations to his mum for backing a 100-1 winner – I wish it was me.”
A handful of players have been banned over the years for gambling on NRL fixtures.
The last player to be banned from the game for gambling on matches was former Wests Tigers centre Tim Simona.
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