NRL reopens investigation into potential stats rort from Tigers-Panthers game in 2008
THE NRL has resurrected an investigation into a decade-old allegation of statistical manipulation that led to a $100,000 windfall. THERE IS NO SUGGESTION ANY OF THE PLAYERS PICTURED WERE INVOLVED.
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Punter placed $30,000 bet on Nathan Smith to top the tackle count in Tigers-Panthers match in 2008.
Full-time statistics show that Luke Priddis made the most tackles.
A recount elevated Smith to top tackler.
Bookmaker forced to pay out, NRL launches investigation but no action taken.
THE alarm bells began ringing inside the offices of Australia’s biggest corporate bookmaker on the Monday afternoon of April 7, 2008.
That night the Wests Tigers were playing the Penrith Panthers at Campbelltown Stadium.
Out of the blue a punter places a $30,000 bet on Panthers lock Nathan Smith to top the tackle count with the Alice Springs agency Centrebet. At odds of $3.50, he stands to collect just over $100,000.
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Ten years on bookmaker Con Kafataris insists it was a rort, although there are no suggestions any players were involved in the sting.
The NRL has now resurrected an investigation into the alleged scam involving a group of punters who won hundreds of thousands of dollars on exotic bets over an eight-week period.
The scandal was first reported in The Sunday Telegraph in 2008 when bookies scrapped betting on tackle counts and most metres gained after it was alleged official data on games was being doctored.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the new investigation will involve a senior NRL employee, who was working for the stats company at the time of the alleged scandal.
At full-time in the Monday night game in question, Panthers hooker Luke Priddis had more tackles (36) than Smith (32). The next day on a recount the stats were altered to give Smith 35 tackles and Priddis 34 tackles. The punter then collected. Again, there is no suggestion any players were involved.
Recounts are common to ensure statistical integrity and to check if any information was missed during live analysis.
The NRL integrity unit last week contacted former NRL stats boss Andrew Moufarrige, who for years, has been asking officials to investigate suspicious activities from the time.
He claims there has been a decade-long cover-up.
The bookmaker reported the incident to NRL management straight away.
“I rang them (the NRL) and told them on the quiet when it happened,” Kafataris said on Friday.
“It was a rort. The money they put on was huge. This wasn’t a $50 or $100 bet from the man in the street. I told them someone was manipulating their stats and betting on it.
“Three times they were manipulated. I can’t remember the exact details. But a tackle count for a player was say 40, the second count went down to 30 and for the third count it went back up to 39.
“We always paid out on the second count.”
Kafataris recalls he suspended betting on exotics before the kick-off.
The NRL looked into it at the time but no action was taken.
“We had a couple of phone calls from John Brady, the media manager but that was about it,” Kafataris said.
“We had screen shots of the changes in the tackle counts but I didn’t want to bring sports betting into disrepute so in the end I didn’t make a big thing of it. We paid out and it eventually went away.”
Interestingly a spokesman for the NRL said on Friday the matter had been looked at previously by police and the NRL with no findings to warrant further action.
“The NRL has been approached to examine further material and naturally we will do that before determining whether any investigation is warranted,” the spokesman said.
However when pressed on the previous police involvement, Nick Weeks could not recall when officers examined the case.
“You need to check that one with police to ensure the answer is accurate.”
Kafataris has confirmed he was never interviewed by police.
Former NRL boss David Gallop and media man John Brady also could not recall any police involvement.
The Sunday Telegraph has obtained emails exchanged between Moufarrige and the NRL integrity unit officers in recent days.
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Moufarrige complained to the NRL in 2014 and 2015 but nothing came of it.
The NRL’s senior intelligence and wagering analyst David Lockley is running the new investigation alongside integrity unit chief Karyn Murphy.
He sent this email to Moufarrige last week:
“We’ve had a look at this and got the betting data from back in 2008,” he wrote.
“Let’s catch up and I’ll run a few names past you. Karyn my boss will come with me.”
Lockley added the integrity unit was now better resourced to investigate such allegations.
Moufarrige says he is looking forward to meeting with the integrity unit next week.
“It’s interesting that they’ve contacted me now after all that time,” he said.
“Maybe it’s the fact Peter V’landys (Racing NSW boss) is now on the independent commission and was alerted recently about what we suspect happened.
“This was first raised with the NRL back in 2008 and I contacted them again in 2014 and 2015.
“There is no benefit in it for me. I’ve just want them to thoroughly investigate it.”
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