NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has fined Parramatta $1 million for salary cap breaches in five of the last six years, $250,000 of that fine is suspended, and all 12 points the Eels have accumulated this season have been docked.
Three Parramatta board members and two senior executives have been cited, and the Eels won’t be able to play for any points this season until the board complies to the NRL’s rulings on the breach.
Parra salary cap scandal
» Parramatta docked 12 points, fined $1 million for salary cap breaches
» Read the full statement from the NRL
» Will the Eels take the NRL to court?
» How Parramatta’s punishment compares to previous NRL salary cap breaches
Greenberg didn’t specifically name the five Parramatta officials during the press conference, and stressed that “the findings are provisional in nature”, and that “both the club and officials will be afforded an opportunity to respond”.
This could lead one to speculate that the principal offenders to the breach may somehow manage to appease the NRL in the short term, and walk away.
That would be a disgrace.
The Parramatta decision-makers have systematically rorted the system, and must be banned from holding any position in any rugby league club for at least a decade.
Why should the players and fans be the ones to suffer most when both are innocent of any wrong-doing?
It was much the same with the three other clubs who saw fit to rort the salary cap – the decision-makers got off relatively scot-free.
In 2002, the Bulldogs lost 37 points and fined $500,000 for breaching the salary cap by $2.13 million over three years.
In 2005, the Warriors were docked four competition points at the start of the 2006 season, and fined $400,000 for their salary cap breach of $1.1 million over two years.
And in 2010, the Storm was stripped of two premierships in 2007 and 2009, three minor premierships in 2006, 2007, and 2008, played 75 per cent of the 2010 season for no points, and fined $1.689 million for their salary cap breach over five years.
You would think every other NRL club would get the message after the hefty fines dished out to the Storm, but obviously the Parramatta bigwigs didn’t pay any attention and the club has paid the penalty.
But in all four cases, the guilty have not been punished to the extent of the innocent.
There’s something drastically wrong with the system that allows that to happen.
Jamayne Isaako missed five out of nine conversions in a huge win over the Eels - with the Channel Nine team having some fun…
The Eels led 8-4 at half-time. They lost 44-16 in a Dolphins onslaught.
Who is this team and what have they done with the Dolphins? With Wayne Bennett consigned to his sick bed back in Redcliffe, the…
The ball kept falling off the tee for Gutho's penalty kick and the fans were giving him heaps.
The Dolphins were playing with fire on their own line as Kodi Nikorima went for a reckless offload.
Jack Bostock stayed down after Clint Gutherson's attempted tackle and the Eels' skipper gave him plenty of lip about it.
