Luke Bateman discussed NRL's gambling culture, losing $500,000 and facing financial struggles during his career.
Former Canberra Raiders lock forward Luke Bateman has lifted the lid on the NRL's gambling culture, admitting he was broke during his career.
A talented lock forward born in Toowoomba, Bateman broke through to debut in 2015 with the Canberra Raiders, but was forced to hang up the boots at the end of 2019 with a knee injury.
"Over the space of probably two or three years, I would have lost $500,000. I was on $400,000 per year in the NRL, and I was broke. My mum was paying my mortgage, and I couldn't buy groceries because I literally had no money. It was debilitating and horrible," he said.
Bateman revealed that gambling was part of the culture of rugby league during his career, and that half of his team would have had gambling problems.