Rival AFL clubs, Melbourne Racing Club eye Western Bulldogs’ 70 poker machines

AFL clubs and the Melbourne Racing Club are circling 70 poker machines set to be sold by the Western Bulldogs.

AFL clubs and the Melbourne Racing Club are circling 70 poker machines set to be sold by the Western Bulldogs.

The Dogs are offloading the machines after a proposed pokies development in Maribyrnong went belly-up.

Geelong has inquired about buying the machines, sources have now revealed.

At least one other club is also believed to be interested.

Earlier this year, Geelong president Colin Carter told the Herald Sun he would like to extract the club from the lucrative pokies industry, which has been linked to social harm.

“I think the AFL has become … seriously off the mark with (pokies),” Carter said.

“But we are all complicit in it. And there is no doubt the incentive at the moment is for the clubs to stay in it rather than get out.”

The Herald Sun on Wednesday revealed Collingwood had applied for 10 new pokies just days after telling the Melbourne City Council it would seek to exit the industry within a decade.

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AFL clubs and the Melbourne Racing Club are circling 70 poker machines set to be sold by the Western Bulldogs.

An embarrassed council said on Wednesday night it would push on with a commercial deal with the Magpies, despite the club appearing to have acted outside conditions set out in the $3 million, 10-year agreement.

Collingwood’s deal with the council for limited public access to the club’s facilities requires the Pies to seek to reduce their reliance on gaming machine revenue.

The council would not say on Wednesday if it would seek to have Collingwood withdraw its application for new machines.

“We are working closely with Collingwood to negotiate a partnership that will provide the community with greater access to high quality open space,” a spokesman said.

“Council passed a motion seeking a commitment by AFL clubs to reduce their reliance on gaming machine revenue.

“We will continue to negotiate with Collingwood to reach an outcome that is both socially responsible and mutually beneficial.”

Tim Costello, chairman of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, said Collingwood’s conduct was “totally hypocritical”.

Former Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold — who now sits on the AFL Commission — has also admitted to serious misgivings about the club’s involvement in pokies.

“It is something we have wrestled with,” Mr Newbold said of Hawthorn’s gaming operation, which generated $20.5 million revenue in 2015.

North Melbourne is the only Victorian club without pokies. The other nine take about $90 million from gamblers’ pockets every year.

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said this month: “I don’t think there is anybody in our industry who loves having the machines … it’s challenging.”

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