There are so many questions around this Storm scandal
Columnist
By Brett McKay, 23 Apr 2010 Brett McKay is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- David Gallop, Melbourne Storm, NRL, Rugby League, salary cap scandal
The Storm celebrate Dane Nielsen's try. NRL Rugby League, Round 4 Melbourne Storm v St George Illawarra Dragons at Etihad Stadium, Friday April 2nd 2010. Digital image by Colin Whelan © nrlphotos.com
Like most Australian sports fans (and probably even most sports writers), I am absolutely stunned at the degree of complexity, the level of secrecy, and the time-frame involved in the massive salary cap breach by the Melbourne Storm. As far as bombshells go, they don’t rank too much higher than this in the history of professional sport in this country.
As I attempted to absorb the details as they came out last night, all I kept doing was thinking of questions. And questions. And more questions.
Obvious questions. Hard questions. Easy questions. Questions from other questions.
So here they are.
The Club
How is it that the board didn’t find about this until sometime this year? Are we to believe that the people involved in this scheme have done so off their own bat, or was there some level of approval? To what degree are coaching and/or recruiting staff, both past and present, involved?
Do Melbourne have the finances to pay back $1.1Million in prize money AND the $500,000 fine for the breach? What will happen if sponsors start walking away today? Can the club survive this debacle at all?
News Ltd
How is it that this sort of scheme could be set up within a News Ltd-owned company without their knowledge? Is it possible that the money being used to pay players outside the cap is actually News Ltd money, unbeknownst to them?
If News Ltd genuinely didn’t know about this, and it’s not their money, then where did it come from? Is this, or was this a factor in News Ltd’s apparently sudden move to hand over ownership of both the Melbourne Storm, and the NRL, that led to the Independent Commission talks?
The Players
Was this secret “second set of books” used to pay all players, or just the cream of the crop? Did the players involved essentially have dual contracts, one with their “official” salary, and another with the secret payments? If so, how would the players involved NOT know that some payments were outside the salary cap?
What level of knowledge about this do their managers have? Did any of the players do some mental arithmetic during locker room “ballpark” discussions about money? Is there now much more behind Cameron Smith’s Fox Sports deal than we were recently led to believe?
Brian Waldron
If he indeed was the main architect behind this scheme, as News Ltd chairman John Hartigan said in the press conference, did he really act alone, or was there approval from above? Did he resign from his Storm CEO position to distance himself from this practice, or did he think he’d gotten away with the perfect premiership play?
Could he have set up similar schemes in his previous position at St.Kilda? Can he now possibly hold onto his position as CEO of the new Melbourne Rebels Super 15 rugby side?
Can we be assured that all deals he’s set up for the Rebels are above board? Can he possibly be employed in Australian sport again?
Honestly, I just don’t know where to start with this mess, this cunning, calculated, stunningly shocking mess.
I’m sure Phil Gould would see the irony of me using his catch-cry on a topic that is one of his greatest pet hates, but frankly, there is no better way to describe my thoughts on this massive development: NO, NO, NO NO NO.
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sheek said | April 23rd 2010 @ 6:55am | Report comment
Brett,
A million questions & so few answers at present…..
One question now burning my mind from a point made by Gus Gould last night – “let the [any other NRL] club that is clean throw the first stone”.
So, how many other NRL clubs are rorting the salary cap, & to what extent?
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 6:57am | Report comment
yep, fair question Sheek – I’ll be surprised if yours if the last that comes back in response today..
berra boy said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:38pm | Report comment
Gus should know the Roosters would be the first place I would look…
Tones said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:45am | Report comment
Sheek, you are 100% correct. I am actually not to fussed at the “Rorting” because like you said, “let the [any other NRL] club that is clean throw the first stone”. And let me tell you, no Club in the NRL is clean!! If the Auditor was to truely do his job, their would be no Club playing in the NRL!! Each have their own way to “distort the truth”. I am disgusted that ex-Players and current Players would come out and slam the Storm when their Club is possibly doing the same right at this moment. Clubs will refuse to ban Players after they have been caught DUI or belted women yet will cast a stone at the Storm for rorting the Cap? You go figure which is the most important? The NRL and Clubs will protect their own and have always shown double standards. One Player is allowed to keep taking “Rec Drugs” because he is a “Star of the Game”, yet a lesser known Player will be delt with harshly? You would be amazed at how much happens at Clubs that is swept under the carpet by the NRL.
If the NRL wants a level playing field, then two things need to happen:
1) Cap is either thrown out the door or increased?
2) Both the ARL & News LTD leave and an Independent Body runs the NRL.
And btw, what the Storm did was wrong and I don’t condone it and all the penalties are fine but not the taking away of future points for 2010. Let them pay the bill owed and then let them play for points. What the NRL has done is virtually condoned them to financial ruin!! The Warriors were allowed to play for points after their payed their bill, with the same Players, so why can’t the Storm?
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:07am | Report comment
so many questions Tones, thanks for your comments.
Does the NRL need a salary cap amnesty? Would the clubs come forward if they did?
duncan said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:54pm | Report comment
Have had a couple of beers so pls excuse the ramble.
It is interesting to note that the nrl is now in damage control regards the players and the extent to which they are complicit. Initial media reports stated that there were two sets of books, one official one under the table, the official included individual contracts which the player would have signed – logical given it is an employer employee contract . This contract sets in stone what the player was to earn and one can deduce was the documentation used to ascertain whether or not the salary cap was breached. To suggest that the players were not aware is to plead ignorance and can only be espoused to protect the nrl.
The decision by the NRL to distance the players is out of self interest, there is no doubt that the players were complicit, ask their accountants what they earned- no doubt it reflects what is/was agreed in the contract but if an audit was undertaken at the player level we would then see the extent of the deception. The only reason to justify the Storm playing out the season without points is to punish the players and retain them, under contract, to ensure a mass exodus does not occur. In regards to this element, I posit that the NRL in taking this action has endeavourd top protect itself with the view or asumption that the players will stay beyond this year. I think they are sorely mistaken – the storm as we know it are done and dusted and the nrl 2010 points penalty is one step to far.
But I must reiterate that to say that players were or may not be complicit is to plead ignorance.
jiggles said | April 23rd 2010 @ 7:07am | Report comment
And what about Craig Bellamy. Surely the coach must be aware of what a player is being paid. after all they are the ones who want certain players to come to the team.
I think a few players and coaching staff will find themselves in hot water over this.
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 7:11am | Report comment
jiggles, like the answers to any of these questions, it’s hard to know how far the “hot water” might go…
Lee said | April 23rd 2010 @ 7:23am | Report comment
See this link – I know it is a Kiwi site but appears to offer some clue as to how they got the cash without News Ltd knowing…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/3614636/Rugby-leagues-not-so-perfect-Storm
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:21am | Report comment
Lee, I’ve just read this on the SMH site. It just brings me back to several questions above, most notably Sheek’s – how many other clubs might be engaging in similar types of activity??
Lee said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:28am | Report comment
Agreed…surely this kind of creative accountancy isn’t limited to the Storm…on the plus side though it may make other sides think twice about it.
KGW said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:30am | Report comment
Certainly elaborate thats for sure, the truth will come out eventually.
kingplaymaker said | April 23rd 2010 @ 7:25am | Report comment
Brett that’s a fearsome list of questions for the Storm most of which will yield terrible answers.
Regarding Waldron, according to various websites he’s already fired. Doubtless the Rebels will check up on his signings to make sure they’re in order, but as the Rebels don’t really have much of a cap he would have little motivation to secretly abuse it.
So the Rebels will get off scot-free.
I just said on another thread the following ‘the forgotten news in all this is the most enormous boost to the Melbourne Rebels (especially as they have sacked Waldron). They’ll have the Storm’s fans, no competition from a similar sport, probably several of their players including perhaps some stars for publicity, a network of junior players who will jump ship to the Rebels academy etc..It makes the success of the franchise far more likely to succeed, and as a result will help Rugby in Australia a great deal.
It effects in one blow the absorbtion of league to rugby in Melbourne without a shot being fired. Isn’t that some news?’
I think it’s christmas come early for the Rebels.
Ken said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:06am | Report comment
Bit early to trumpet this as the Rebels taking all the Storm’s fans and absorbing the League support into Union. The Rebels haven’t even played a game yet and hopefully there’s a way for the Storm to survive this (although I suspect it will get a lot worse for them before it gets better). It’s going to be a real test of the character of the Storm supporters, they have always come across as a hardy bunch, the loyal core have been turning up for the last decade to that rundown stadium regardless of the weather or the fact that their team barely rates a mention in the consciousness of their city. We can only hope that their supporters resolve to see their team through the bad times like the Dogs fans did with their (many!) troubles of the last decade.
kingplaymaker said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:59am | Report comment
Ken remember they’ll be huge overlap of the fans anyway. Who will watch the Rebels next season when the stars are gone and the team is uncompetitive?
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:14am | Report comment
KPM, I had the thought while driving to work just now that the Rebels might do worse than now dropping ‘Melbourne’ from their name. Given the widely accepted stereotype that Melburnians (and plenty of others too) have trouble distinguishing the rugbies, perhaps it might be a smart move to create a bigger difference in naming.
So as to avoid any unnecessary confusion between the new team and the tainted, perhaps now it’s time for them to be known as the Victorian Rebels??
kingplaymaker said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Indeed Brett. By the way I wonder how they can carry on playing this season when they are so far over the cap? They’ll have to cut players from the first team, but which ones will satisfy the other clubs? The best ones? i.e. which ones will satisfy the other clubs that they don’t have an unfair advantage whether the matches are for points or not. Remember even if the Storm don’t take points from a victory it means the opposition WON’T GET valuable points to help them reach the finals. I really don’t see how they can play the rest of the season at all. Can’t the Warriors, for example, claim they are playing a team with an unfair advantage this weekend?
titus said | April 23rd 2010 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
If the stereotypical Melburnian hs trouble differentiating between the 2 rugby codes, what on earth would they make of next year possible match between the Rebels and the Stormers?
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
sorry Titus, but you’ve lost me here…
titus said | April 23rd 2010 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
bad attempt at joke…storm/stormers
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 3:33pm | Report comment
Ha, shows how well I read that, I had the two Melbourne teams playing some kind of hybrid game!! Sorry mate…
Go_the_Wannabe's said | April 23rd 2010 @ 6:15pm | Report comment
The Storm will need rebranding if they survive this fiasco…..The Bushrangers would be appropriate.
As for the Melbourne Rebels? I’m with you, it should be the Victorian Vikings or something else that starts with V.
How about the big V? White on a navy blue background would be good……that way we could hijack the AFL origin supporters and they wouldn’t even know.
As long as your average Melburnian is watching some sort of sport they don’t really care who’s playing do they? 50,000 turned out at the G the other day and there wasn’t even anything on.
PG said | April 23rd 2010 @ 7:49am | Report comment
What I find Disturbing is that people like Gus Gould are calling for the Salary Cap to be abolished altogether.The argument goes that we should give in to this abuse as it will always occur and let the market decide. I believe this would lead to the 2 tier system we had years ago when rich Clubs like Manly and especially Easts with a very poor Fan base could buy a Premiership and teams like Wests and Newtown languished near the bottom — Having said that this is exactly what it looks like Melbourne has gone and done — Bought two premierships — Without the Salary Cap the game Falls into the hands of the one owners type Clubs such as Manly Easts Souths and maybe Brisbane with its large corporate sponsership. The A league has proven that this type of structure without the fans supporting the clubs may mean that the game will languish even further.
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:16am | Report comment
PG, I guess Gould’s rationing this might be along the lines what would be the lesser of two evils, clubs breaching or cheating salary cap rules, or strong clubs dictated for free marlet rules?
Yikes said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:46am | Report comment
Sorry for opp-topic but Brett – is there a Roar meet up at ANZ tomorrow? If so where?
Can’t find any details anywhere.
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Yikes, at the bottom of the rugby articles and columns (and there are some today, somewhere!) the Contact Us link is still there, plus the time and place is mentioned to..
True Tah said | April 23rd 2010 @ 8:40am | Report comment
Gus Gould made it clear that he thought the real issue here was not so much the Storm’s unethical behaviour, but that the salary cap made them engage in such behaviour.
The salary cap wasnt really an issue until overseas rugby clubs started offering mega bucks.
Lee said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:04am | Report comment
I knew it was unions fault lol
It’s a bit of a strange arguement – akin to no one would cheat on their taxes if we didn’t have to pay any taxes…
No one made the Storm do anything, they made a choice.
Hombre said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:15am | Report comment
seeing the club has been stripped of their 2 premierships – what of the individual awards – as the 2 games are now voided I assume the players hand back their rings and Inglis and Slater are stripped of the Clive Churchill medals as well
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:28am | Report comment
Hombre, I believe all individual awards stay in place (Churchill Medals, Dally Ms, etc), and stay recognised as such. Only the premierships have been stripped, and the records adjusted accordingly…
LK said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:17am | Report comment
The Storm had three of the best four players in the game. They signed Origin player Brett Finch last year and were in the market for Willie Mason in the off season. If all clubs were rorting why did the Storm have all the top players?
And what of Bellamy? He holds the NSW coaches position, should he be stripped of that?
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:30am | Report comment
LK, I thought of Willie Mason last night – how must he feel after the Storm couldn’t find room under the salary cap for him?!?!
Hombre said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:44am | Report comment
yeah but Brett – that’s perhaps how they were able to glide through the cracks for so long – they didn’t really bring in big names – just retained most of those they had developed – bringing in high earners from other clubs whilst also retaining the stable they had would certainly have had the alarm bells ringing
vinay verma said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:49am | Report comment
Brett, unlike you I am not the least bit surprised this has been happening. And if truth be known is still happening. What depresses me is that the millions that play the game and the army of volunteers and everyday mums and dads have been duped. And the spectator. At home and at the ground. They pay hard earned and heavily taxed money to take their kids to the game. The win at all costs mentality of administrators forgets the reasons why people play the game. Not everyone makes it to grade or rep teams. They play because they love the game.
On the same note the recent dirt in the IPL again highlights the cheating and conniving that goes on in Cricket…usually the greed of corporates and administrators and in some cases broadcasters.
But all this is not going to make the game disappear. It has been proven the game,in this case league is bigger than the administrators and players. This will clean up the salary cap and put administrators on notice in all sports. Sports mean a lot in our pressured world. It makes us forget about politicians and the dreary parts of life. It is a chance to sit around the BBQ and talk about the games we love. And no pettifrogging administrator is going to take this away from us.
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 10:47am | Report comment
Vinay, I should clarify, because perhaps I didn’t make it clear, I’m not surprised it’s happened either, my shock and disbelief is more over the size, complexity, and length of time this has gone on for.
I agree, this is just a fairly bloody big speedhump on the road for the NRL, but it will survive. I note the ever-opportunistic Central Caost Bears have said today they’ll be ready to go next year if required, but in truth, I expect Melbourne to survive in the long run. No doubt it’s going t obe a tough few years ahead though…
JK said | April 23rd 2010 @ 9:57am | Report comment
Off topic, but I have a 2007 signed Storm jersey for sale, slightly stained, size medium but with a secret panel at the back to make it larger, over valued at the time, going cheap, also a Storm cap, it’s a small one, but with creative accounting it should fit
simonjzw said | April 23rd 2010 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Brett I’d like to see all those questions answered to, but there’s another couple of questions I want to see answered as well.
Just who was placing money on the Storm to win the wooden spoon from late Wednesday night through to mid-morning on Thursday (when betting agencies stop taking bets) and where did they get their information from?
Insider trading is just as much cheating as salary cap rorting
Brett McKay said | April 23rd 2010 @ 10:55am | Report comment
Simaon, I had a whole heap of questions regarding betting too, but they didn’t survive the self-edit last night. It’s been said one of the bigger agencies had suspicions two week ago, but it wasn’t really until yesterday that markets started getting suspended.
Will those bets yesterday be honoured? If Melboure premiership bets are being refunded, will wooden spoon bets for all other clubs be similarly refunded? Can the bookies just cancel the wager and return the money outlaid?