NRL chief executive David Gallop meted out $50,000 worth of leadership today as the league imposed a record fine on Melbourne for comments from their coach Craig Bellamy and chief executive Brian Waldron following the club’s 28-0 preliminary final victory over Cronulla last night.
In the post-match press conference, Bellamy said suspended skipper Cameron Smith had not been given a fair go, while Waldron criticised the NRL’s leadership and their system which allowed Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart to comment on Smith’s tackle on Brisbane forward Sam Thaiday before Wednesday night’s hearing.
The NRL today ruled the comments damaged the integrity of their judiciary panel and the game’s judiciary processes.
The game’s ruling body interpreted the remarks as clear accusations from the Storm that “judiciary officials were unduly influenced by the media, that the result of their hearing was somehow pre-determined and that other parties were somehow aware of this”.
“Last night, the Melbourne Storm coach and chief executive officer launched an unprecedented, premeditated attack on the NRL and its judiciary system, the accusations they made were irrational, baseless and at times bordered on hysteria,” Gallop said.
The fine is the largest ever imposed on an NRL club for making comments about the system.
Waldron said the club had received verbal notification from Gallop of the fine would and review its position after receiving written confirmation of the alleged breach.
“Given no formal notification has been received, we think it would be inappropriate to make any formal complaint on the matter until such time,” Waldron said in a statement.
“I have discussed with David some key points raised in the post-match press conference last night and we have agreed to address those relevant issues in the appropriate forum, that being the NRL CEOs conference at the season’s end.”
Bellamy told the media last night Smith had not got a fair go and felt the representative hooker had been “hung out to dry”, claiming some sections of the media had an agenda against Melbourne and the grapple tackle.
“It’s my player that misses out on a grand final opportunity and I think he’s been hard done by here,” Bellamy said.
Waldron was critical of the NRL’s system which allowed coaches and officials to make comments before judiciary hearings, as Stuart had done before Smith’s case and stressed that wasn’t allowed in some other sports.
“It questions the integrity of our game at the core and we need some leadership to fix it,” he said.
Gallop responded to Waldron’s comments about leadership by describing it as “a cheap shot”.
“Here’s some leadership today – $50,000 for stepping over the clear line in the sand that has been in place for many years,” Gallop said.
He said he didn’t believe the NRL should attempt to gag people.
“Opinion is part of the bump and scrape of rugby league, but when you step over the line and attack the integrity of individuals who work in the game, you will get a fine,” Gallop said.
While he said he was aware of subsequent comments retracting those made last night, Gallop suggested the damage had already been done.
“Once you put these types of allegations out there, they damage the integrity of the game, they damage the integrity of individuals who are charged with the task of conducting our judiciary process,” Gallop said.
While the NRL normally waits until after the end of a round to impose fines for critical comments, Gallop stressed action was taken promptly on this occasion because there weren’t eight games this week.
“This was a clear stepping over the line, in fact it was a world long jump record for this type of attack and we perfectly able to deal with this today,” Gallop said.
He said the punishment wouldn’t have any impact on any potential leave for appeal Melbourne might lodge on Smith’s case.
Gallop described as nonsense the suggestion that a high-profile player like Smith was being made a scapegoat and reacted similarly when asked if a possible striking charge on Storm prop Brett White for elbowing Cronulla’s Ben Ross would be treated any differently.
A lawyer by trade, Gallop said members of the judiciary could be entitled to look at taking legal action if they considered Bellamy’s comments defamatory.
Bellamy’s post-match comments about the betting market on the probability of Smith being suspended also attracted the NRL’s ire.
“The other thing that was very smelly about the whole lot was when I saw in the paper on Wednesday morning and there’s a betting market – $1.18 he’s going to be found guilty, $4.25 he’ll be found innocent,” Bellamy said.
“That’s a fair spread in a two horse race.
“Bookmakers and betting agencies, they don’t guess. They’ve got good information – take that as you may.
“As soon as I saw that on Wednesday morning … he was thousands.”
Gallop stressed the NRL couldn’t control what aspects of sports betting people punted on.
Gallop denied that the tackling dramas which have consistently surrounded the Storm were making them a “pain the arse” and said the NRL didn’t hate Melbourne.
chriskpy
Roar Rookie
I think people keep forgetting, Smith was charged with a dangerous tackle for making contact with the head and/or neck of a player, he was not charged with grappling, he was charged earlier on in the year for the same offence and had carryover points which is why he recieved 2 weeks. The tackle cleary showed Thaidays body moving to one side from Jeremy Smiths chicken wing tackle (which he duly pleaded guilty for) until Cameron Smiths pressured force to the neck quickly reversed Thaidays action twisting his body, spine and neck. There hasn't been a clearer case all year. I also think you'll find the tackle that Bellamy accused of being worse was a little silly considering the accused player had his arm around the neck a little, but also under the oppositions players underarm, not a hold completly around the neck.
Rupert Adams
Guest
re the furore over cameron smith's 2 week ban I counted at least 4 other occassions by bronco players where the tackle around the neck could be construed as the so called grapple tackle yet they were not penalised for such my 7 year old granddaughter would have been proud of the love touch that got jeff lima sent off for 10 minutes with 10 players they could still could not beat Storm,I have been following NRL for 10 years and although a Storm fan try to look at each game objectively,for consistency which like the AFL is very lacking in decisions made by the tribunal and referees and certain commentators on the NRL sports show who glory in putting the storm down and looking for reasons like the chicken wing which i have observed many times by players of various clubs while I don't condone tackles around the head it appears there is only one team guilty of it ,to everybody else it is a head high tackle to storm it's the grapple tackle,regardless of what people say Gordon Tallis is right in his statement that the ban on cameron in the inconsistency of the game today was ridiculous and will only continue the disrepute that th game suffers today since when is it a crime to question reasons storm
chriskpy
Roar Rookie
It was a disgraceful act by Bellamy and the CEO of the Storm, they should've have given a bigger fine, no coach that I can recall has ever accused the NRL of having fixed the result of a judiciary hearing, and NRL clearly state that an opposition coach can comment on the outcome of a judiciary hearing. We are not in a court of law. The tackle clearly showed he was attacking the head and/or neck of a player and thats why Smith was $1.18 or whatever it was to be charged. To blame the media for hijacking the press conference is a bit hypocritical when that was exactly what they did after the Sharks Storm match, it's no wonder people are always bagging the Storm with Waldron as CEO. They're a first class team but need to learn to abide by NRL rules (and I don't mean the players), they weren't singled out, Smith had carryover points and was rightly charged with a dangerous tackle
richard
Guest
who died and made david gallop king farouk ?? why not fine melbourne $500000 ? or $5m ? or even $500 ? from where did he pluck this figure ? doesn't he have to get the board's opinion first ?
Doug
Guest
David Gallop should know better given his previous job. In Australian courts you cannot comment publicly on cases under trial. This is so the person on trial gets a fair hearing. So that the trial is based only on the fact presented that the defendant can answer. Where wild speculation or misinformation that anyone can spout out might influence a magistrate or juror to make an incorrect judgment. This isnt a reflection on the poor character of the magistrate or jurors just that it is hard to make a fair decision with out having to try to disregard misinformation as well. Based on this it seems Craig Bellamy's comments that media reporting on Cameron Smith hearing may have influenced the outcome seems reasonable. While the NRL doesnt have powers to bring contempt of court proceedings against reporters or media outlets it could do more to get their cooperation. Maybe instead of fining the Melbourne Storm for a symptom of this problem it should try removing the cause. As a Storm fan I dont have a problem with Cameron Smith getting suspended during the finals if every one who makes a "grapple" tackle gets suspended during the rest of the season. The finals seems a really bad time to start introducing new rules, or new interpretations of rules, or even just enforcing old rules. I object to the Storm getting singled out because they are the best team in the competition. A number of people have commented that they think this a good thing and that it will get rid of the grapple tackle. They are wrong, if the NRL continues to ignore head contact during the season it will stay part of the game.