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Lockyer admits to gambling problem
Brisbane Broncos great Darren Lockyer has admitted to beating a disturbing gambling problem so bad it prompted his concerned parents to ask Wayne Bennett for help.
Lockyer makes the stunning revelation in his self-titled autobiography which goes on sale on Wednesday in which he gives his version on a number of controversial issues on and off the field during his 17 seasons with the club.
Lockyer's parents David and Sharon became increasingly worried with their son's betting habits in 1996-97 as they escalated from $5 to $500 a race.
They telephoned the master coach out of desperation.
As his bets kept increasing and he suffered a run of heavy losses in the thousands of dollars, Lockyer says he was left "just shattered".
"It took a run of outs for me to finally confront the fact that I had a bit of a problem which needed addressing before it spiralled out of control," he writes.
After a particularly bad run of losses, Lockyer went home, turned out all the lights in his house and sat in the dark with his head in his hands.
"I got home after the last time and was just shattered. I was a wreck, stressed out and angry and significantly out of pocket."
Lockyer was a punter before he joined the Broncos.
He walked into a betting culture at the club with a number of senior players, including former captain Allan Langer and Wendell Sailor known to love a bet.
"When I lost, it wrecked my day, sometimes my week, depending on how big a hit I had taken," Lockyer writes.
It was Lockyer's mum Sharon who eventually became so concerned that she picked up the phone and called Bennett for help.
"There was only one time after he left home that we felt the need to ring Wayne and speak to him about what Darren was getting himself caught up in," she said in the book.
"That was when we felt his betting on the horses was getting a bit out of control."
In his book, Lockyer opens the lid of an number of hot topics.
He criticises the Broncos for their treatment of Bennett, the way returning prop Petero Civoniceva was allowed leave when he wanted to stay and why, in his opinion, Ivan Henjak, the only coach to be sacked by the club, was not the right man for the job.
He also reveals he has spoken with Queensland coach Mal Meninga about being part of the 2012 Origin campaign to help the Maroons keep winning.
Lockyer, 34, will retire at the end of the year after one last hurrah for the Kangaroos with almost every single individual record the game has to offer.
He's hoping to go out on a high with Brisbane chasing a seventh premiership in October under rookie coach Anthony Griffin.
Lockyer makes the stunning revelation in his self-titled autobiography which goes on sale on Wednesday in which he gives his version on a number of controversial issues on and off the field during his 17 seasons with the club.
Lockyer's parents David and Sharon became increasingly worried with their son's betting habits in 1996-97 as they escalated from $5 to $500 a race.
They telephoned the master coach out of desperation.
As his bets kept increasing and he suffered a run of heavy losses in the thousands of dollars, Lockyer says he was left "just shattered".
"It took a run of outs for me to finally confront the fact that I had a bit of a problem which needed addressing before it spiralled out of control," he writes.
After a particularly bad run of losses, Lockyer went home, turned out all the lights in his house and sat in the dark with his head in his hands.
"I got home after the last time and was just shattered. I was a wreck, stressed out and angry and significantly out of pocket."
Lockyer was a punter before he joined the Broncos.
He walked into a betting culture at the club with a number of senior players, including former captain Allan Langer and Wendell Sailor known to love a bet.
"When I lost, it wrecked my day, sometimes my week, depending on how big a hit I had taken," Lockyer writes.
It was Lockyer's mum Sharon who eventually became so concerned that she picked up the phone and called Bennett for help.
"There was only one time after he left home that we felt the need to ring Wayne and speak to him about what Darren was getting himself caught up in," she said in the book.
"That was when we felt his betting on the horses was getting a bit out of control."
In his book, Lockyer opens the lid of an number of hot topics.
He criticises the Broncos for their treatment of Bennett, the way returning prop Petero Civoniceva was allowed leave when he wanted to stay and why, in his opinion, Ivan Henjak, the only coach to be sacked by the club, was not the right man for the job.
He also reveals he has spoken with Queensland coach Mal Meninga about being part of the 2012 Origin campaign to help the Maroons keep winning.
Lockyer, 34, will retire at the end of the year after one last hurrah for the Kangaroos with almost every single individual record the game has to offer.
He's hoping to go out on a high with Brisbane chasing a seventh premiership in October under rookie coach Anthony Griffin.
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