Former NSW and Australian player Fletcher and journalist Kent are both employees of Fox Sports which broadcast the end of season Dally M awards ceremony on October 2,three weeks after voting was finalised.
Kent,who fronts theNRL 360 program on Fox and writes for News Corp'sThe Daily Telegraph,and Fletcher backed Bellamy to win the award,according to sources with knowledge of the plunge.
Last week two executives of sports data company StatEdge,which compiled the voting results for the NRL,were charged with using prior knowledge to bet on the result of the coach of the year.
The NRL had been notified of the winners in four categories including coach of the year just after 6pm on September 13 via an email from Ben Trevisiol,the general manager of StatEdge. Police will allege within an hour of sending the email Trevisiol and Joshua Wilson,the chief executive of StatEdge,started betting on Bellamy to win coach of the year.
According to police facts,Wilson told the NRL integrity unit soon after the awards night that he had made a “stupid mistake” and admitted he had passed on information to mates at an eastern suburbs pub shortly after sending off the results to the NRL.
Betting information uncovered by NRL analysts found more than $20,000 was won on the Bellamy award including an individual bet to win as much as $10,000.