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Australian sportsbook Sportsbet has lost over A $ 5 million (NZ $ 5.3 million) in a costly NRL grand final mistake.
With Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith pulling the strings in an impressive first half of the 2020 NRL decider against the Penrith Panthers, the Storm took a 22-0 lead at halftime.
When Ryan Papenhuyzen scored to extend the lead to 26-0 with just six minutes into the second half, the deciding match of the first half was apparently over.
Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
Ryan Papenhuyzen received the Clive Churchill medal as man of the match in the final.
Smith, who had been at the center of most of the good things for Melbourne, was playing house despite being 37 years old and widespread speculation that he was playing in the last game of his career.
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Sportsbet was obviously impressed and with around half an hour left in the game, it paid off punters who had supported Smith in a market to win the Clive Churchill medal for man of the match in the grand final.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
An exhausted Ryan Papenhuyzen hugs Cameron Smith after the Panthers’ last attempt.
But after the Panthers launched a spirited comeback to eventually drop 26-20, it was Papenhuyzen’s name that was called up to collect the Clive Churchill Medal.
That forced Sportsbet to pay both Smith and Papenhuyzen.
Smith, who was a pre-game $ 3.50 favorite, carried a large number of bets on his shoulders, meaning Sportsbet’s early raven was a mega million dollar mistake.
“After 430 NRL games, including eight decision-makers, we thought he (Smith) would know how to play a full game,” said Rich Hummerston of sportsbet.com.au Fox Sports.
The final big mistake wasn’t the first time an advance payment came back to bite them.
“The silver lining is that the $ 1.3 million we paid at the start of the Labor Party to win the 2019 election doesn’t seem so bad,” Hummerston said.
New Zealand fans missed the trophy presentation, much of the celebrations and Papenhuyzen received the Clive Churchill Medal due to a broadcast error.
