Rugby league's most sensational match-fixing scandal is set to be played out again with three key players behind a massive betting plunge on a Bulldogs and Cowboys match to face a Sydney court on the eve of the NRL season opener.
Just weeks after the Australian Crime Commission released a damning report warning of the threat of match fixing in sport, the case involving rugby league identity John Elias, former Parramatta player Brad Murray, and Jai Ayoub, the son of Murray's manager Sam Ayoub, will be before the Downing Centre Criminal Court on Wednesday.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is seeking a joint trial for the three over their alleged role in the betting plunge on the Cowboys to open the scoring by a penalty kick in their match against the Canterbury Bulldogs in August 2010. The move to have them tried together follows last month's decision by Justice Elizabeth Fullerton in the Supreme Court overturning a November 2011 decision by a Local Court magistrate to dismiss the charges against Elias.
Justice Fullerton noted that the prosecution case was that Bulldogs player Ryan Tandy manipulated the game by giving away a penalty to the Cowboys early in the game.
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Tandy is the only person in Australian history to be convicted of match fixing. He escaped prison but was fined $4000 for attempting to ''gain financial advantage by deception''. He was also found guilty of lying to the NSW Crime Commission, for which he was given a six-month intensive correctional order that included community service work.
The prosecution case against Elias is that he ''dishonestly structured a series of cash bets with TAB betting agencies at Rozelle and Haberfield in the total amount of $5100 in the expectation of securing winnings in the amount of $98,455,'' said Justice Fullerton.
The betting plunge failed when Cowboys player Anthony Watts decided to ''tap'' the ball and run at the try line rather than attempting a penalty goal.
Cowboys coach Neil Henry's evidence before the magistrate was that Watts' decision to take a quick tap after the penalty did not surprise him because Watts was ''an impulsive player that is hard to coach, and he makes some rash decisions on the field, and for him to grab the ball … he's quite an opportunistic player''.
An expert betting analyst, Mark Phillips, gave evidence at the Local Court hearing that the probability of Elias, Murray (who was placing bets for Sam Ayoub) and Jai Ayoub all taking the same ''exotic'' bet was ''astronomical''. Mr Phillips concluded the three were either operating as a team or as individuals with the same information.
Elias, a noted big punter, plunged $400,000 - usually in single large bets - on horse or greyhound races between March and October 2010.
His range of exotic bets in the days leading up to the Cowboys match on August 21, 2010, were markedly different from his usual betting habit.
Justice Fullerton noted that the evidence of the expert was that Elias' bets were ''highly suspicious'' as they were placed at different agencies within a short time.
Murray, who was initially the prosecution's star witness against Elias and Ayoub, was arrested and charged with Jai Ayoub in February 2012.
Murray had done an about-face in the Elias case and Sam Ayoub, who had been arrested with Elias in 2011, also had the charges against him dismissed.
Murray's initial evidence was that he placed a number of multi-bets for Sam Ayoub in a form identical to those placed by Elias, at different TABs on August 19, 2010.
In addition to his present betting charges, Murray may face further charges of giving false evidence before the NSW Crime Commission.
