gambling

More than half of 14-year old Pacific youth were found to have gambled before, while nearly four percent of youth studied were problem gamblers.

Over half of Pasifika mothers studied had gambled with one in 28 identified as problem gamblers.

Auckland University of Technology researcher El-Shadan Tautolo said the incidence of gambling among Pasifika is increasing and needs to be addressed.

But what do we call the suits in charge who have encouraged this mad fixation on betting that now brings millions of dollars into the sport every year?

Clever?

Innocent?

Responsible?

Hold that thought.

As we’ve all heard by now, young Wests Tigers centre Tim Simona was stood down amid the latest NRL betting investigation.

The claims are that 25-year-old allegedly made a string of small bets on several games over a series of months.