Former St Kilda coach Scott Watters accuses AFL of ‘hypocrisy’ over gambling deals

Former St Kilda coach Scott Watters has accused the AFL of “hypocrisy” and “poor leadership” as it accepts money from wagering companies while painting itself as a moral arbiter on other social issues.

Scott Watters: “We can sugar-coat it anyway we like, but it is really poor leadership from the AFL who choose to stand on moral issues.”

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Former St Kilda coach Scott Watters has accused the AFL of “hypocrisy” in accepting money from wagering companies while painting itself as a moral arbiter on other social issues.

As the AFL negotiates a new long-term sponsorship deal with a betting company — which is likely to yield more than $10 million a season — Watters called gambling “a thorn that needs to be ripped out” of the game.

“Good men need to stand up, gambling should not be anywhere near our game,” said Watters, who is CEO and founder of the LifeChanger Foundation, along with ironman Trevor Hendy, which develops mentors and programs for teenagers across the community.

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“It is not acceptable that the AFL is allowing that (sponsorship) money to drive the game.

“We need to protect our game, we need to protect our players, we need to protect the kids that are coming into the game.

“We are not doing that. We can sugar-coat it anyway we like, but it is really poor leadership from the AFL who choose to stand on moral issues.

“But while it (gambling) sits in their backyard the hypocrisy that sits around this is like a thorn that needs to be ripped out. We need stronger leadership.”

Jaidyn Stephenson is serving an AFL ban for gambling on matches. Pic: AAP

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Watters comments came as Essendon star Jake Stringer this week detailed his battle with a gambling addiction and just over a month after Collingwood young gun Jaidyn Stephenson was banned for 10 weeks after confessing to a handful of bets involving Magpie games.

He said his greatest concern was how vulnerable teenagers reacted when faced with exposure to gambling, which hasn’t been helped by the promotion of odds leading into games or the AFL’s lucrative deals with betting agencies.

“Statistics show right now that if you walk into any teenage classroom in Australia one kid in that room has already got a fully-fledged gambling addiction,” Watters said.

“That’s a fact. You think about the exposure of the AFL and again we are hearing more and more players (are having issues with gambling).

It’s hard to avoid gambling signs at AFL matches. Pic: Michael Klein

“They (players) have idle time … they need to have time to rest and recover … we need to give them more meaningful things to do in the community (than to gamble).”

Watters, a former juvenile detention officer, and Hendy have worked in numerous communities across Australia trying to engage and assist teenagers through workshops and introducing them to mentors.

“Kids are getting really isolated in communities and we help with the framework in those communities,” he said.

“We have just finished a program in Mount Gambier … (we had) mentors, parents, coaches, wellbeing officers, teachers who go through that mentoring program.”

Watters brought Hendy into the St Kilda program for a period when he was coach.

After Watters was sacked, the former ironman champion re-emerged at Collingwood and worked closely with Nathan Buckley during the Magpies’ 2018 season.

He has also spent time with Melbourne’s Simon Goodwin this year.

Originally published as Former St Kilda coach Scott Watters accuses AFL of ‘hypocrisy’ over gambling deals