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A concerned Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis has contacted the NRL over reports that a police investigation could be launched into an alleged betting scam surrounding his club's final home game of the regular season.
Rumours have been rife about the Roosters' performance against North Queensland at the Sydney Football Stadium on September 6 after a successful betting plunge on the Cowboys to win the match by 13 points plus.
The Roosters led 16-0, but capitulated under a glut of unforced errors in the second half to lose 32-16.
However, Politis said on Sunday he had contacted NRL chief executive David Gallop on Saturday to check on the rumours about a police investigation before receiving reassurances they weren't true.
He also dismissed reports police had contacted a senior Roosters official about the matter, saying he and chief executive Steve Noyce had heard nothing about it.
"I rang Gallop to investigate it and I think he got (media director) John Brady to check it out and there was no police investigation," Politis said.
"I'm not a betting guy. I don't understand it, but if it was true well somebody needs to come up with some proof. But I doubt it very, very much."
Although bookmakers had their suspicions, none came forward publicly and made an official complaint to the NRL.
Gallop did not want to talk about the betting allegations yesterday but confirmed he had spoken to Politis on Saturday.
"I'm not speaking any more on it," Gallop said.
The Roosters, chairman urged anyone with evidence, including players, to come forward and disclose the information confidentially.
"If it's true, I'd love to know and I'd love to find out who it is so we can get rid of them," Politis said.
"But they won't because they've got no proof either. It's just a gut feeling and players are players. Sometimes they get on, sometimes they don't like each other.
"It's a hard thing to prove and people have got to be careful because it's a very dangerous area we're going down.
"It's hurting our image and it's bad enough on the field coming last without this sort of stuff coming out without proof."
Politis said he was horrified that the accusations were levelled at his club but understood the reasons behind them, given it finished with the wooden spoon this season.
"If you study our form for the last four or five weeks we were getting thrashed by 20 or 30 points every game," Politis said.
"If you come last everybody bags you. What's new? It happened to the Bulldogs the year before. Unfortunately someone has got to come last and it was us this year."
Rumours have been rife about the Roosters' performance against North Queensland at the Sydney Football Stadium on September 6 after a successful betting plunge on the Cowboys to win the match by 13 points plus.
The Roosters led 16-0, but capitulated under a glut of unforced errors in the second half to lose 32-16.
However, Politis said on Sunday he had contacted NRL chief executive David Gallop on Saturday to check on the rumours about a police investigation before receiving reassurances they weren't true.
He also dismissed reports police had contacted a senior Roosters official about the matter, saying he and chief executive Steve Noyce had heard nothing about it.
"I rang Gallop to investigate it and I think he got (media director) John Brady to check it out and there was no police investigation," Politis said.
"I'm not a betting guy. I don't understand it, but if it was true well somebody needs to come up with some proof. But I doubt it very, very much."
Although bookmakers had their suspicions, none came forward publicly and made an official complaint to the NRL.
Gallop did not want to talk about the betting allegations yesterday but confirmed he had spoken to Politis on Saturday.
"I'm not speaking any more on it," Gallop said.
The Roosters, chairman urged anyone with evidence, including players, to come forward and disclose the information confidentially.
"If it's true, I'd love to know and I'd love to find out who it is so we can get rid of them," Politis said.
"But they won't because they've got no proof either. It's just a gut feeling and players are players. Sometimes they get on, sometimes they don't like each other.
"It's a hard thing to prove and people have got to be careful because it's a very dangerous area we're going down.
"It's hurting our image and it's bad enough on the field coming last without this sort of stuff coming out without proof."
Politis said he was horrified that the accusations were levelled at his club but understood the reasons behind them, given it finished with the wooden spoon this season.
"If you study our form for the last four or five weeks we were getting thrashed by 20 or 30 points every game," Politis said.
"If you come last everybody bags you. What's new? It happened to the Bulldogs the year before. Unfortunately someone has got to come last and it was us this year."
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