Two men charged over alleged betting sting at the NRL's 2019 Dally M Awards

May 28, 2020
Craig Bellamy won the coach of the year award in 2019.

The chief executive and general manager of a Sydney sports software company allegedly used inside knowledge of the NRL 2019 Dally M Awards to successfully back a winner and also passed on information to other punters.

Josh Wilson, 29, and Ben Trevisiol, 31, worked for Stat Edge, who NSW Police say were contracted by the NRL and knew in advance the winner of the Coach of the Year gong.

Wilson and Trevisiol allegedly used that knowledge to successfully bet on the outcome of the award and passed on the information to others who did the same.

Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith says a flurry of late activity in the betting market raised eyebrows at NRL's integrity unit, which then alerted NSW Police.

Several betting companies originally approached the NRL integrity unit about the bets.

"I can say there were some bets as large as $10,000 placed on the outcome of the coach's award on the Dally M Awards," Mr Smith said on Thursday.

"These two individuals were involved in a company that had ownership of the integrity of the voting outcomes, they were hired by the NRL and provided the information.

"Obviously they used the information themselves and provided it to a number of others."

The arrests follow raids last Wednesday on separate residences at Paddington and Waterloo and a Surry Hills business, with documents, electronic devices and computers seized.

The police investigation centres on the timing of bets placed on the award, which was won by Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy in October.

The Coach of the Year award was at the time considered hotly contested.

Wilson and Trevisiol have been charged with using inside information to bet on an event and communicating inside information to bet on an event.

They are due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on August 20.

Mr Smith said police would now turn their attention to those who allegedly obtained information on the award from Wilson and Trevisiol and placed bets.

"The integrity of the NRL competition is paramount to NSW Police," he said.

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