And yet, where do the bookies get that money from, you mugs? Of course every red cent of it comes from the punter who put their hard-earned on the other team, on what they think is a two-horse race, not knowing that the fix is in and that one horse ain't trying. The NRL is quite right to ban for life any player proven to have been involved. Eddie Hayson. Credit:Kate Geraghty But, as to the NRL, perhaps they could spare us the hand-wringing and the stunned expressions of whoever thought this might happen? Let's start with me. It was always going to happen, just as it always has around the world when sport and gambling get in bed together. And as TFF has long banged on about, the NRL can't have it both ways. They can't take in money hand over fist from every gambling entity going – the NSW Origin team on Wednesday night was sponsored by Star casino – plaster the broadcasts with gambling ads and then claim to be stunned at the cancer of corruption arising in fixed game results.

Your columnist Peter FitzSimons. As I have said many times, taking the gambling money, is like sucking on Marlboros. It's fabulous! But the more you do it, the more you cough, and the more likely you are to get a tumour in your lungs. Sooner or later, either you die a miserable death or those who've spent too long around you do. We are seeing it – ALLEGEDLY – before our very eyes. Meantime, it is, of course, not just the two Manly matches under renewed scrutiny, and one or two players involved in that 2009 match between the Roosters and the Cowboys may well be shifting uncomfortably. Huge money was on the Cowboys to win by 13 points or more. The Roosters were ahead 16-0 at half-time, only to lose by – wouldn't you know it?? - 32-16! The Herald reported at the time that the team broke down entirely because of it, with fingers pointed, and allegations made that the players concerned were, among other things, getting free services at a particular brothel ...

Stand by for more on that game to come out this week. Seven tries for seven sets of brothers An extraordinary match of rugby league really was played this week, and I don't mean the State of Origin. Far more interesting was when the Beechwood Shamrocks, up Port Macquarie way, played the Harrington Hurricanes in the Hastings comp. For, taking the field for the mighty Shamrocks, including reserves, were seven – count 'em, SEVEN – sets of brothers! Rugby League Week quoted David Middleton claiming it for the doubling, and more, of the previous record. "The most I've come across is three," Middleton said, "Glen and Steven Hughes, Darren and Jason Smith and Ben and Simon Gillies at Canterbury in 1994, and Sione and Pat Mata'utia, Jacob and Daniel Saifiti and Korbin and Tariq Sims for Newcastle in 2016. There's also the famous Goldspink line-up at Tumbarumba in 1963. Every player in the Tumbarumba team that played a Group 13 match against Tarcutta was named Goldspink. There were brothers, cousins, uncles and nephews – but no record of the number of sets of brothers in that line-up. In a 17-man line-up, a record of seven sets of brothers can be beaten but until it is, the Beechwood 14 have set the bar high." Beechwood romped home to a 70-16 win.

A once-only warning Here at TFF, as regular readers will know, we like to regularly sneer unpleasantly at sportspeople who, with presumption enough to kill a brown dog, like to publicly thank their God for their own stunning God-given talents, the one who has picked them out ahead of EVERYONE in the world don't you know, to be given these talents – while ignoring the fact that the same God that has blessed them has also cursed the world with famine, war, pestilence and Pauline Hanson. And of course I take flak for writing that kind of stuff, but so what? Blowing raspberries at transparent absurdities can be no bad thing, particularly when lots of kids gets so lost in such mumbo-jumbo they never break free of it, and genuinely believe anything from a virgin giving birth, to 72 virgins waiting for them in heaven if they kill people who don't believe the same total twaddle as they do, to – and here's a special cheerio to you, Tom Cruise – the idea that the world was actually created by the dictator of the Galactic Confederacy, Xenu, 75 million years ago, a being who brought everyone here in spacecraft, before stacking volcanoes with hydrogen bombs, as ... As you do. But, this week, sports fans, I am going to come good. With no unpleasant sneering at all, I am simply going to pass on, without fear or favour, a warning given out by one of our fair city's religious leaders on an activity that more and more of you seem to be inclined to be involved in without realising its dangers. If everyone can step into the next item, I can give his warning some clear air. The evils of ...

I refer, of course, to the the Rector of St Marks Anglican Church, Dr Michael Jensen – who seems like a nice enough bloke, incidentally – and his lengthy blog post studying warnings against people of his own religion practising ... yoga. Tell them, Dr. I will not interrupt! Here, he quotes, before reaching a very different conclusion, Rev Dr Albert Mohler... "When Christians practice yoga, they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitment and their embrace of yoga. The contradictions are not few, nor are they peripheral. The bare fact is that yoga is a spiritual discipline by which the adherent is trained to use the body as a vehicle for achieving consciousness of the divine. Christians are called to look to Christ for all that we need and to obey Christ through obeying his Word. We are not called to escape the consciousness of this world by achieving an elevated state of consciousness, but to follow Christ in the way of faithfulness …

"Christians who practice yoga are embracing, or at minimum flirting with, a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a 'post-Christian,' spiritually polyglot' reality. Should Christians willingly risk that?" THEY SAID IT Reader Phil Stefans tweets in response to the NRL match-fixing allegations: "Anyone know the odds of which #nrl players are fixers? Are Sportsbet setting a market? Where can I get on? #getgamblingout"

Anthony Leach makes reply: "@PhilStefans If your selected player isn't one of the match fixers – CASH BACK! #SportsBet" Yes he said that: Sam Thaiday. Credit:Jonathan Carroll Sam Thaiday after the win in the first State of Origin game: "It was a bit like losing your virginity, it wasn't very nice but we got the job done." Twitter noted an interesting division in reactions. Such outrage as there was, came mostly from women, while men appeared to be mostly mildly amused. Michael Cheika on selecting Karmichael Hunt in the Wallaby squad: "Things go wrong sometimes. Forgiveness is also a very Christian value too. It's not always that you've got to be number one son all the time. I certainly know I'm forgiving my kids all the time for driving me mad." Nick Kyrgios returns serve after Pat Cash said he should stay off Twitter: "Haha. 'ditch social media – can people keep their opinions to themselves please. Leave me alone. This is my last tweet for you Cashy."

Paul Gallen, on whether or not Cooper Cronk was going to play in Origin. "It was a pawn in a mind game." Me? No clues. Choice words: Laurie Daley. Photo: Getty Images Credit:Mark Kolbe/ Getty Images Laurie Daley: "Awwwww, ref!" That's not exactly what he said, but what it boiled down to, after the Blues lost by two points. Canadian tennis player Milos Raonic takes it to a whole new level, explaining why he's decided to add John McEnroe to his coaching staff. "I'm the CEO of the Milos Raonic Tennis . . ." Australia's Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo: "I believe a lot in my ability, let's just say that. And I should be getting more rewarded. I'm 27 very soon and I don't even have anything close to a world title and I believe I should have something like that very soon. Two weeks now, it could have been two wins and it's not. It's getting a little bit long in the tooth."

Adam Goodes a year on from his Indigenous war dance: "I think there's a lot more people out there who aren't too scared of imaginary spears." Former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou on the Giants: "I remember someone saying it would be my Vietnam ... We took a generational view. Talk to us about GWS in 30 years, when you will see the benefits, just like the Swans. I'm not surprised by their success. The only surprise is that it's ahead of schedule." Dermott Brereton unhappy with players milking "frees": "It was new ground and he actually thought: 'Where is the tackler? I want the tackler, because I can milk a free out of this'. That is not the spirit of our game." Des Hasler not happy – is he ever? – with the influence of Origin over the NRL: "In this day an age, in an NRL competition, it's almost as if it's second fiddle, which is not a good thing." Famed former American baseball player Derek Jeter. "Baseball in my opinion mimics life. It's every day. It's 162 games, plus 30 games in spring training, plus the post season. There's a lot of work that goes into it." Deep.

Team of the Week State of Origin. It was dull. Don't know why. Just couldn't get into it. Could you? What was missing? Big personalities? The biff? The tiniest chance that NSW might actually win? Tries? Discuss. Waratahs. Their second half last Saturday night, to flogging the Chiefs was a wonder to behold. If they could put that together for 80 mins, week after week, they could win the whole thing. Their next home game for the Super compa is against the Hurricanes on 9 July – after the hiatus for the visit by England. Sunrisers. Led by David Warner won the IPL.Hull. Won the richest game in sport when won promotion to the EPL. Freo Dockers. Worst ever start to a season by the defending minor premier. Of the 10 matches they have played, they have won – dot three, carry two, subtract one – NONE.

Pearls. The Australia Women's Sevens side won the Sevens Series title and is in good shape for Rio. They are an ornament to the game, and fabulous to watch. Quirindi Lions. Won there first game in 1021 days beating Scone 62-7. The Lions boast two Wallabies, father and son, Dave and Sam Carter. Punter X. An Indian man from Govind Nagar area put up his wife at stake in an IPL betting game and lost her. Mrs X was very grim indeed when her husband's fellow gamblers came to collect and called the police. Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith, left, reaches for a loose ball under Golden State Warriors centre Andrew Bogut during game one of the NBA finals in Oakland, California. Credit:Ben Margot Matthew Dellavedova and Andrew Bogut. Once again Australia represented in both sides of the NBA finals. Dellavedova comes across as a very likeable character.