Pokies in the Eye Back when Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe took a majority ownership in the South Sydney Rabbitohs, they tried to get the scourge of poker machines out of the club venues. It didn't work. Today, James Packer, billionaire and casino owner, has bought out Holmes a Court. This is bad for the Rabbitohs, who already have far too close a relationship with gambling, and for the NRL, which is also far too invested in the betting industry. It's also bad because it's James Packer, scion of one of the most rapacious capitalist families in Australia, and whose casino in the Barangaroo development now being erected on the harbour foreshore is one of the finest examples of real estate and government collusion you could ever hope for; we may never know just how the approvals for this got done and the extent to which current and future modifications will continue to preference Packer and the developers over the rest of the city. Don't think for a minute that it's a coincidence that the public housing residences that overlook Barangaroo are being forcibly vacated and auctioned. As a long-time member, I am very sorry to see Holmes a Court leave, but even sorrier that it's come to this: selling out the club to the gambling machine of Australia. Sports gambling isn't the problem it's been in the States, or at least not the problem it's sometimes been. It happens, and players caught out get canned. But you can gamble on damn near anything in this country, so there's a lot of money in it, and therefore a lot of influence. It's still ethically challenging for South Sydney, though, as this is traditionally a club that prides itself on its community roots in an underprivileged and once-majority indigenous part of the city, with a history of social services commitment, and here they are playing into the hands of one of the most significantly socially damaging sectors of the economy. Every club needs money. They have to pay the players, the operation of the club has to mean the team can perform, and the NRL has to get its cut. Sure, the league has television, increasingly catering to the more moneyed cable end of town, at the expense of everyone who doesn't turn their hard-earned over the Murdoch's Foxtel, and the usual marketing gimmicks like home and away uniforms, variations on branding, etc. pull in plenty - you can buy a membership for your dog, you know, although he's not likely welcome at the ground - but it's still expensive, even with the salary cap. Russell can't support the club on his own forever, as he famously YouTube-ranted at us a few years ago. I still object. Packer is the last one I want with an ownership stake in the Rabbitohs. Well, one of the last ones. There are probably others I haven't even thought of. The Rabbitohs wear Crown Resorts branding, and Star casino, and it's wrong. They are promoting a social cancer that harms their base more than anyone else. All too late, of course. The money's there to stay.