If they could they would. Players always did what they could to get an edge. This “guys playing for the joy and love of the game” or “playing the good ole right way” thing has always been a lie, and the players themselves were the first to admit it (mostly when they were old and retired, of course).
This made me think that Doonesbuey is probably the only comic that I love where likable characters are almost perfectly balanced in numbers by insufferable ones
I just love Marcie