Richard Mathers : Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:01 pm  

Was I dreaming it, but no one on here seems to have mentioned our former hero's six-month ban for "betting irregularities" against the London Broncos? I suppose he's yesterday's news now.

Re: Richard Mathers : Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:10 pm  

Never happened. You must of imagined it

Re: Richard Mathers : Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:27 pm  

No! I wasn't dreaming. It's still on the BBC's Teletext RL page.

Re: Richard Mathers : Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:58 pm  

Can't see it from Mathers personally. I think he is a 100% on and off field genuine guy.

[PopTart]

Re: Richard Mathers : Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:11 pm  

It's a but tenuous at best.
He's seeking legal advice as he doesn't think he did anything wrong.
I have to agree.

In some ways I think the RFL do too as they have banned him mainly through the off season.

Re: Richard Mathers : Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:37 pm  

Yeah! Always thought Richie was a good, honest clubman.

[PopTart]

Re: Richard Mathers : Sat Aug 29, 2015 6:15 am  

He's accused of breaking the gambling in sport rules.
According to what is in the press he didn't bet and he didn't play in the game.

What he is supposed to have done is told people that London would be playing a weaker team..... giving them insider information.

The problem to me is 1) that doesn't make them bet, it's still their choice, and 2) but much more importantly, the bookies tend to post odds when the squad is announced so the info is public anyway.
I suppose they could have changed the team after squad announced but I still don't see how he is liable if he didn't play.

Hull KR played a weakened side against Widnes but they still won.

Seems unfair to me.

Re: Richard Mathers : Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:07 am  

If genuine then I have seen the group message he sent out and lets say it did not leave the RL much choice. Again if it was a copy of the actual message then he is 100 % guilty as charged and lucky to only get 6 months.

Re: Richard Mathers : Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:02 pm  

bellycouldtackle wrote:

If genuine then I have seen the group message he sent out and lets say it did not leave the RL much choice. Again if it was a copy of the actual message then he is 100 % guilty as charged and lucky to only get 6 months.

If you've really seen it then put it on here and we can form our own opinions!

If you include the necessary disclaimers I'm sure there'll be no AUP issues

Re: Richard Mathers : Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:32 pm  

It was a whatsapp group message sent to several RL players in that group, presumably one or more of those players then sent it on to mates and I presume that is how it got back to the RL. I am not an expert but I am not sure it would be wise for anyone who has the message , which was essentially a ` private group message ` to post it on a public forum. If I have seen it I am sure that it must be doing the rounds and everybody will get to see it soon. If you are a conspiracy theorist you may well even suggest that the RL leaked the message so that eventually everyone who was criticising them for imposing the 6 months ban would see the seriousness of the offence.