Gold Coast defender Nathan Bock was suspended for the first two home and away games of the 2012 season and fined $10,000 by the AFL for leaking insider match-day information to a family member and a friend ahead of the round 24 game against Hawthorn in September, that the Suns would play him in a forward position.
Another family member was also informed, the shared information causing a betting plunge on Bock kicking the first goal of the game as he was backed from $101 to $21 with a number of bets winning about $40,000 in total. Bock knew on the morning of the game about the bets and he told the Suns soon after the final siren but the AFL had to wait for Bock to return from abroad before handing down the penalties.
Bock confessed to leaking the inside information only a few weeks after Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell was fined $5,000 and team mate Heath Shaw was suspended for eight games and fined $20,000 for betting offences. The AFL also banned Essendon development coach Dean Wallis for 14 games and fined him $7,500 in September last year for betting on the footy. Bock co-operated fully with the AFL investigation, which verified his version of events and was satisfied Bock did not intentionally break the AFL’s anti-gambling rules or was involved in any wagering himself.
