A New Plymouth man is crying foul, after he won an Australian rugby league tipping competition but was denied his kudos – because he was a Kiwi.
Jason Chandler finished first out of 150,000 players in round 25 of NRL Super Coach - but while rules allowed him to enter, they excluded him from winning the $2000 AUD prize.
"Oh, I was fuming," Chandler told Fair Go from his couch in New Plymouth, where he’s watched many a league game, while carefully curating his online fantasy team.
The game involves Chandler picking a squad of players from different NRL teams, and earning points when they play well. In round 25 of the NRL, he came out tops.
However, when the winner was announced it wasn't him.
"I went straight on to Facebook saying, 'come on Super Coach, you could have at least acknowledged I won the round'."
Chandler understood as a non-Australian, he couldn’t claim the prize money. What he wanted was to be recognised as the winner.
"If they’d mentioned I had had the overall winning team for that round I would have left it alone, but because there was no recognition, I’m going to stand up for myself and make my voice heard."
Following Fair Go inquiries, a Super Coach spokesperson said while legally they couldn't pay out the prize money, they would look after Chandler with a $2000 acknowledgement of his efforts.
"The terms and conditions are clear that only Australian-resident players are eligible to win prize money. But as good sports, we are considering how we can acknowledge top scorers from outside Australia."
But Chandler said while he’s happy to receive the money, he wants New Zealanders to be awarded first place if they win fair and square.
"Imagine if the Warriors won the premiership and they said you can't have the trophy because you are not an Australian resident."
He hopes the Warriors have better luck with the rules this weekend.
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