Gambling allegations: West Tigers' Tim Simona is being investigated. Credit:Peter Rae

"There is a really strong balance here," he said during an interview with ABC News 24 aired on Sunday.

"I made some strong comments last year you'll remember about anyone involved in match fixing or gambling inside the game against the rules will face life bans and I stand by that because that really cuts to the absolute core of the integrity of the sport. For you and I to turn up every week to watch that contest, we need to know that's pure. Anyone who gets in the way of that will absolutely not be welcome back.

"But we do have to find a balance because people, particularly in this country, they love to have a bet. And we're not going to get away from that. So whether or not we have branding or not, people are still going to be looking to have a wager on the game.

"What we need to do, though, [is] we need to talk and market ourselves to those people who want to do that. We've got to make sure that we're very fundamental in how we have principles around those sorts of agreements. We're trying very hard in this space.