DYLAN WELCH: Tandy was placing bets on racing and NRL games with jockey manager and former journalist John Shell. Shell's betting ledger shows Tandy's rollercoaster punting spree over a week in June, 2010, the same month he joined the Bulldogs. A string of losses left him owing John Shell more than $30,000. According to John Shell's evidence at Tandy's trial, when Tandy refused to pay, Shell started to chase Tandy's manager, Sam Ayoub. Shell texted Ayoub, warning he'd reveal Tandy's gambling activities to Bulldogs management if Tandy didn't pay up.
By Shell's account, the tensions over Tandy's gambling debt came to a head one night in July, 2010. Shell had gone to the Moorebank Hotel to watch a Danny Green title fight. There, he was approached by a man known to him and Tandy who delivered this warning:
MAN DELIVERING WARNING (male voiceover): "You'd want to drop off chasing Tandy for that money. He's tied up with people that you don't want to know. You don't want these types of blokes turning up at your front door."
DYLAN WELCH: Frightened, Shell texted Tandy to say the debt was forgiven.
RYAN TANDY (male voiceover): "Sounds good because I didn't want things to get ugly."
DYLAN WELCH: Shell's evidence was that a few weeks later, he decided to alert the Bulldogs. At a cafe in Sydney's Homebush, he met Bulldogs football manager Alan Thompson and the club's CEO, Todd Greenberg. Greenberg is now the NRL's deputy chief executive. Shell said he showed them Tandy's betting ledger, which lists a series of losing bets on racing and rugby league matches. Despite being presented with evidence Tandy was betting on NRL matches, Shell said the pair told him to take the issue up with Tandy's manager. Greenberg and Thompson declined to be interviewed. Via a spokesman, Greenberg denied being told about Tandy's NRL betting plunge.
JOSH MASSOUD: I don't think you can blame the NRL. The NRL aren't parents. The NRL aren't there to hold footballers by the hand.
DYLAN WELCH: Four days later, the Bulldogs played the Cowboys in Townsville, the game that would bring Tandy's league career crashing to an end.