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The NRL have responded to reports about the North Queensland Cowboys, who have become the latest NRL club to become embroiled in questions about what constitutes breaches of the salary cap after news broke on Tuesday afternoon of property deals involving players at the Townsville club.
The NRL have responded with some extra detail about the nature of the issues at the Cowboys.
The statement reads:
NRL Head of Integrity, Nick Weeks said Salary Cap auditors had already reviewed some of the matters raised about the Cowboys today and had determined no further action was required.
“As any new information becomes available it will be reviewed by the auditors,” he said.
A Fairfax investigation looked into a relationship between the Cowboys and millionaire developer Laurence Lancini. Several Cowboys players including Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and Michael Morgan have acquired blocks of land from Mr Lancini, who is also the Chairman of the club.
Mr Lancini has denied any property deals were done to bypass the salary cap and there is no indication that any players have broken the rules.
Fairfax also reports that former Cowboys player Martin Locke was the builder for the various properties.
Rumours began circulating on social media on Tuesday morning after NRL’s head of football Todd Greenberg and Nick Weeks from the integrity unit flew to Townsville, but Greenberg later tweeted that it was part of a regular scheduled visit that the NRL undertakes to all clubs.
Enjoyed spending time with @nthqldcowboys in Townsville with the @NRL Exec team as part of our ongoing Club visits-5 clubs down …11 to go!
— Todd Greenberg (@Todd_Greenberg) July 28, 2015
NRL media spokesperson Peter Grimshaw told Fairfax that at this stage there is no concern from the NRL.
“There is no problem with someone from the club advising a player on investment opportunities that may interest them or providing specialist advice,” he said.
“However, it would be a breach if the player was offered a financial benefit which he didn’t pay for and which was not declared.”
Locke said no discounts were given to players.
“As a past player I would help them as I would help anyone else… but no discounts.”.
In 2002 the Canterbury Bulldogs were stripped of premiership points for salary cap breaches, and more recently the Melbourne Storm were famously stripped of multiple premierships following retrospective punishments for breaching their cap.
The Cowboys enjoyed a 42-point win against the Parramatta Eels on Monday night, leaving them just one win behind the ladder-leading Brisbane Broncos.
With strong form throughout the 2015 season, many are tipping the Cowboys to make a genuine tilt at a maiden NRL premiership after many years of promise.
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