Rising Support for Broncos Players After Slots Shame

Brisbane Broncos

Rising support has emerged in the market for the Broncos players caught on slot machines before being dumped out of the Finals. Other professionals in the game have defended the actions of the shamed players, insisting that they’ve done nothing wrong.

With the Broncos losing out to Parramatta in what many have described as an absolute drubbing, the sight of the players in the gambling lounge the night before has raised many eyebrows. However, players and coaches from other teams believe that their conduct wouldn’t have been the cause of the embarrassing defeat.

Caught red-handed

The Broncos have been in the headlines as they failed to make an impression on the Finals and lost to Parramatta 58-0 in a game that was shamefully one-sided. A match that many fans – and players – would prefer to forget, controversy hit the headlines when it emerged that a number of the players were seen up late the night before playing on slot machines.

Six Broncos players in total were involved – Payne Haa, Anthony Milford, Matt Gillett,David Fifita, Corey Oates and Andrew McCullough. They were snapped later on in the week being called in for crisis meetings with the coaching staff after pictures emerged of their late night play.

Being dubbed as the Slots Six in the media, things went from bad to worse for the Broncos players when their own coach admitted he didn’t know they’d been up playing slots. The club later released a statement criticising their lack of professional conduct before the big game.

Perfectly normal behaviour

However although their own fans and club alike have piled in to accuse the players of acting poorly, not everyone agrees there’s a problem. Josh Reynolds from Wests’ Tigers and Craig Bellamy, Melbourne coach both believe that it’s entirely natural conduct and not worthy of the attention it’s receiving.

Bellamy suggested that playing simple slot games may have been the players’ way of relaxing their nerves ahead of the finals. He admitted that it wasn’t ideal preparation but pointed out that the players may have been relaxing ahead of the game in the same way all year round, but until it was noticed, it hadn’t caused a problem.

John Reynolds agreed with the experienced coach confessing that often before a big game he’s up until at least 1am as he’s unable to sleep. The player said that as the Bronco stars weren’t drinking or “tearing up the place” it’s hard to see exactly what they did wrong.

No doubt the footballers will be grateful for some public support but with the club expected to take this episode into account when they carry out their end of season review and agree their future roster, it’s doubtful that the Bronco bosses will take the same lenient approach.