Manly Sea Eagles star David Williams to be banned over bets, more suspensions to come
PHIL ROTHFIELD AND JOSH MASSOUD
The Daily Telegraph
July 10, 2014 12:00AM
THE look on the face of former Kangaroos winger David ‘Wolfman’ Williams says it all.
Williams is the first player coming to grips with being named and shamed in the NRL betting scandal — not that he was betting in big amounts or involved in match-fixing.
Under the NRL’s strict gambling guidelines, no player, official, coach or agent can bet on rugby league.
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After The Daily Telegraph named the Manly glamour winger as the first player charged, it can also be revealed a second Manly player — back-rower Daniel Harrison — has been contacted by the NRL about illicit betting, albeit to a far lesser degree than his teammate.
The NRL is pushing for Williams to be banned for the rest of 2014 after learning ‘The Wolfman’ made dozens of bets featuring rugby league options over a three-year period.
Williams received a breach notice last Tuesday advising that the NRL intended to stand him down for the remainder of this year. The breach notice also detailed every bet — both multis and stand alone — that breached the game’s code of conduct.
Williams has responded to the breach notice, claiming the proposed penalty is too harsh.
It’s understood there were up to 30 bets made from Williams’ Sportingbet account. They extend as far back as 2011, but tapered off last year. The bets also include wagers in matches involving his own team, which encouraged the NRL to hit him with such a heavy penalty. It’s understood he never backed the opposition to defeat Manly.
It’s also understood a player from Melbourne Storm, who joined the club at the beginning of the season, is facing a fine.
Harrison has only made a limited number of bets, none of which concerned a team he was contracted to.
Harrison played for Manly in 2011 and 2012, but spent last season at Parramatta before returning this year. It’s understood he’s likely to escape a ban or fine, with the NRL believing that a warning will suffice. Both players are currently in NSW Cup.
Williams turned up at the team’s Narrabeen headquarters on Wednesday to train, business as usual, with the NSW Cup team.
Williams’ manager George Mimis said the Sea Eagles winger would not be commenting until the NRL had released its findings.
“This has all been done confidentially and we can’t say anything until everything has been finalised,” Mimis said.
The NRL is expected to hold a press conference before the end of this week to reveal the findings of the month-long integrity unit investigation.
The AFL is renowned for taking strong action in the past.
Former Collingwood and now GWS Giants player Heath Shaw was suspended for 14 matches, six of those suspended, and fined $20,000 in 2011 for his part in a $20 bet at a TAB agency.
His Collingwood captain at the time, Nick Maxwell, was fined $10,000 — half of which was suspended — after members of his family placed bets on a game after getting information on the Magpies’ team line-up.
In 2007, Kieran Jack — then a teenager rookie with the Sydney Swans — was reprimanded by the AFL over two bets totalling $10.