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Parramatta Eels legend Nathan Hindmarsh estimates he lost as much as $300,000 as a result of an out-of-control gambling addiction spanning most of his NRL career, a Clubs NSW event in Newcastle heard yesterday.
In a question-answer session at Souths Leagues Club yesterday, the former rugby league international and State of Origin star admitted he could spend as much as $3000 a night on poker machines during an addiction that began when he moved to Sydney to play professional rugby league in 1997.
‘‘I wasn’t ever concerned about losing the money – the issue was I couldn’t stop,’’ he said.
‘‘I’d come to a venue like this and I’d be talking to myself: ‘Don’t play the pokies, don’t play the pokies’, and I’d be sitting at a table with some friends [but] I wouldn’t be hearing the conversation. All I’d be hearing was the sound of the poker machines.
‘‘I was in control of everything else in my life. I pushed myself to the limits on the footy field, at training, at game day.
‘‘But this I couldn’t stop – such a simple thing as pushing a button on a poker machine.’’
Mr Hindmarsh is an ambassador for the lobby group as part of its ClubSAFE campaign, which encourages gamblers to admit when they have a problem.
He was speaking at a ‘‘post-election summit’’ held at Souths Leagues Club and attended by representatives from more than 100 clubs in the Hunter and Cental Coast.
Earlier in the day Clubs NSW chairman Peter Newell addressed the crowd and said he was confident the newly elected Coalition government would act to scrap the National Gambling Reform Act introduced in the previous parliament.
‘‘Before the election the Coalition committed to poker machine, pre-commitment being voluntary [and] venue-based. So it follows that there should be no trial of mandatory pre-commitment in the ACT,’’ he said.
‘‘At some time, either sooner or later according to its legislative priorities, the government will seek to reform the National Gambling Reform Act legislation.’’