Tim Simona bet on opponent Benji Marshall to score tries against Wests Tigers
Michael Chammas - SMH
Tim Simona threw his NRL career away gambling on rugby league and walked away $400 out of pocket.
Fairfax Media can reveal Simona placed $600 worth of bets on rugby league matches at an average of $12 per investment, winning just $200 from the bets that on Friday saw the Wests Tigers centre deregistered from the NRL indefinitely.
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As reported by Fairfax Media last month, Simona bet on opposition players he was marking to score tries against his club, but was also found guilty of betting against his team to win.
One of the matches he gambled on was last year's round 20 clash against St George Illawarra, placing a small bet on former teammate and then Dragons halfback Benji Marshall to score the first try against the Tigers in his 250th NRL appearance.
A leading bookmaker also took bets on Dragons fullback Adam Quinlan, who bagged a double in the Tigers' 25-12 win at ANZ Stadium on July 24, to be first try scorer in the same match.
Simona was unsuccessful in his bets, with Quinlan and Marshall – who spent three years with Simona at the Wests Tigers between 2011 and 2013 – combining in a backline play to set up winger Kurt Mann for the first try of the match.
Mann's try in the fifth minute of the game during the Men of League round was scored on the opposite side of the field to where Simona was defending.
The match was the first game played after Tigers coach Jason Taylor's controversial decision to axe Robbie Farah to NSW Cup.
This was just one of several matches Simona bet on opposition players or teams he was playing against, however not all of his 50-odd bets involved matches the Tigers were playing in.
After a thorough examination of the matches Simona bet on, the NRL found no evidence to suggest he was involved in match-fixing throughout his 79-game career at the Tigers.
"We don't have evidence that he changed his performance to try to win those bets and that's something the player denies," NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
Greenberg and new chief operating officer Nick Weeks announced Simona's deregistration on Friday afternoon, and while they didn't slam the door shut on an NRL return, they admitted it would be unlikely Simona would be allowed to return to the competition.
"This is an extremely sad situation," Greenberg said.
"Tim Simona has a serious personal problem and he has expressed some remorse. He has worked very hard to become an elite athlete and an elite rugby league player. He has now thrown that away. The game will continue to care for him. He will be provided with the welfare and assistance he needs in this very difficult time.
"But based on the evidence we have identified, it is very hard to imagine that Tim Simona will be registered with the NRL any time in the future. Our fans must have trust in the game and our fans must have trust in the players. Our assessment is this is an isolated incident and Tim Simona acted alone. But when someone considered breaching that trust, we will ensure they are removed form the game."
The NRL issued Simona with a notice of intention to deregister his contract last month after a tip-off from his ex-girlfriend, who is believed to have placed the bets on his behalf.
A series of text messages between the pair was central to the NRL's investigation, which concluded on Friday when Weeks informed Simona – who was deemed to have been untruthful in interviews with the integrity unit – of the governing body's decision to deregister his contract indefinitely.
"His reaction was as you expect it to be. He was devastated," Weeks said.
"Clearly the type of news we delivered to Tim today, for a young athlete who has worked his whole life to become a professional NRL player, the news is about as bad as it gets. It's not an easy decision for Todd to reach, it is not an easy message for us to deliver.
"He has expressed remorse for what he has done, he realises he has made a terrible error and he realises he has a long road ahead of him in terms of addressing some of the issues he has off the field that have caused him to get in this position … whenever we deal with a matter the more honest, the more quickly people come forward, that helps them."
The English Super League and the NRL has a gentleman's agreement in place that sees both competitions enforce any bans imposed, leaving European rugby union as Simona's most likely choice of employment.
The Wests Tigers issued a statement on Friday afternoon, backing the NRL's stance against the player who had been shopped around all summer to ease the club's salary cap woes.
"I fully support the comments of Todd Greenberg that the integrity of the game must be upheld above all else," Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe said.
"I believe it's a privilege to work in this game and it's the responsibility of everyone involved to uphold its integrity. As a club we pride ourselves on our standards of behaviour and after discussions with the NRL I'm 100 per cent confident that this is isolated to Tim Simona."
