Sydney Swans footy star Tom Papley gets into trouble with gambling watchdog over his top-rated punting show – and his team has good reason to be furious with him too
Sydney Swans footy star Tom Papley gets into trouble with gambling watchdog over his top-rated punting show – and his team has good reason to be furious with him too
- Tom Papley’s podcast ‘The Early Crow’ is a huge success
- Content caught the attention of NSW Office of Responsible Gambling
- Sydney Swans confirmed they have spoken with cult hero ahead
Sydney Swans forward Tom Papley may need to revamp his content after the AFL star’s top-rated punting show sidelined the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling.
Papley, 27, who has previously stated he is ‘obsessed’ with betting, hosts a podcast called ‘The Early Crow’ with professional gambler Jack Dickens.
The duo discuss a range of topics – most notably AFL and horse racing – where they then reveal their personal friendships with jockeys, market movers and favorite track locations.
Their podcast launched last week and while it was an instant hit, Papley is now being tipped to adapt significantly to what listeners hear.
“While there is no connection between the Swans and (Papley) podcast, we have raised our concerns directly with the Swans, who take the matter very seriously,” a spokesman for the Office of Responsible Gambling said Wednesday.
Sydney Swans star player Tom Papley may need to revamp his podcast content after his top-rated punting show caught the attention of the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling
Papley quickly stated on his podcast that he never bets on AFL games as it would be a direct breach of his playing contract.
In 2019, then-Collingwood star Jaidyn Stephenson was suspended for 10 games and fined $20,000 for betting on three games involving the Magpies.
While Papley is not expected to be penalized, a recent podcast episode featuring Swans teammate Nick Blakey raised many eyebrows.
One line from Papley about horse racing in particular is said to have baffled club officials: “If the gates open and your a**e isn’t shaking a little bit, you haven’t had enough.”
Papley is also a regular on the SEN radio program The Track.
The Swans, famous for their ‘No Dickhead’ player policy, also work with GambleAware and the Reclaim the Game initiative, which aims to tackle the ‘normalisation’ of sports betting in society.
Papley’s love of a punt is well known – but the Swans also know they must protect their business partners, including GambleAware
Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham stressed that it was important for Papley to learn from the experience.
“We talked to Tom,” he said News Corp. “Of course we have many business partners and GambleAware is one of them.
“It is important to us that we respect those business partners.
“Everyone associated with the club and what they do in relation to our brand – we have no control over what people do outside our brand, everyone is a free citizen… but it is important that everyone shows compliance with what we support.’