It’s a massive 80 percent over what was expected, and it’s also instant vindication for the hardline David Gallop took when handing down the initial punishments.
Gallop received plenty of abuse from the usual quarters, and from those in Melbourne, who have perversely blamed him for the crisis and claimed that his actions were “killing the game.”
Those handing out the abuse will be silent now, and it will be Gallop who’ll be asked to clean up another mess he didn’t ask for.
He has started by reaffirming the code’s commitment to the club.
The independent directors of the Storm have been promptly frogmarched.
Given the scale of the breaches, and their resistance to accept the punishments handed down, it’s probably only right they formed an orderly queue at the exit door.
Of course, their departure does mean that the Storm’s plans to move away from News Ltd have returned to the square marked “1”.
News Ltd’s John Hartigan claimed that the independent directors were sacked as a sign of “good faith” before moving on to talk about the need for concessions for the NRL so that the team isn’t four superstars and a bunch of “pub players”.
I’m not so sure about that.
Up until now, the Storm have been pretty effective at getting the message into the media that there was every chance they’d be able to balance the books and keep Slater, Inglis, Cronk and Smith.
A plan was already being drawn up, with rookies like Gareth Widdop, Justin O’Neill and Matt Duffie joining journeymen like Bryan Norrie (not sure how much he appreciates being called a pub player) in a side with the stars.
Suddenly it seems that it’s not that simple, and that the NRL will need to help out.
After the months of abuse Gallop has copped from south of the Murray, I thought he showed real restraint in agreeing to “work with the club” on their issues.
You can bet your last dollar there will be plenty of resistance from other NRL clubs to the notion that a club who so systematically rorted the cap are now assisted to keep their players.
One of these issues facing Gallop is what knowledge the players had in all this.
That they refused to co-operate with the investigators is a bad look, a very bad look. Although it was some blokes from Deliotte not the AFP.
The Storm scandal has now also arrived in Bondi after Roosters recruitment manager Peter O’Sullivan was named as being knowingly involved in the affair. The Roosters’ reputation of abiding by the cap has never been great, and you wonder whether the club will want to have O’Sullivan involved in future player recruitment despite his reputation.
Imagine the furore if the Roosters had landed Josh Dugan and then a week later we find O’Sullivan in the middle of the Storm fiasco.
Probably, most importantly, everyone seems committed to righting wrongs and “moving forward” – a phrase which is certainly in danger of overuse in today’s society.
However, it’s easy to talk about moving forward. It’s another matter to do so when you’re asking people to give up large sums of money.
Watch this space.
Jeff
Guest
If rumours are true , Broncos have 'snared' Inglis for a couple of seasons, Question -- Did they achieve this by getting his girl friend a job in Brisbane that pays $400.000 per year. Good Move Q/land
Jeff
Guest
Yup, but according to Ch None, Victorians would prefer to watch "Skippy does Dallas" or "Lassie goes Awol" -- the truth is, they are not promoting NRL because long term, they want AFL back. -- I think the term is "Sleeping with the Enemy" LOL
Ted Skinner
Guest
There seems to be more than a few RU zealots here who think the NRL should just abandon Melbourne. Here's why they won't. News Corp have a substantial interest in the NRL & wholly own the Storm & have a half interest in the Pay TV provider Foxtel. The Storm's games shown exclusively on Pay TV this year have rated as follows: 10 games (000s) 257 227 220 203 312 196 212 260 218 296 2401 Total By way of comparison the aggregate Pay TV Ratings (in Australia) for all the Australian RU teams combined for the season just finished was: Weeks 1 thru 14 -includes a split round) (000s) 334 237 252 385 313 (NRL starts) 133 180(AFL starts) 245 239 260 280 185 242 265 3550 Total So once again the Storm's Pay TV Ratings are on track to beat the Super 14 pay TV ratings of all the Australian teams combined. Note 6 Storm games have been shown on FTA & haven't been counted here: http://www.talkingfooty.com/tv_ratings_2009.php
Rikki-Lee Arnold
Roar Rookie
ha embarrassing. Pete - firstly I am not a PR type. I'm an unpaid intern and a uni student. So I have no alias really. I need my name on both Roar articles and Broncos articles for my portfolio. But yes, not a PR type, I only write match reports. I won't lie though I am a huge Broncos fan and very lucky to have been given the opportunity I got with their website. Nice to be recognised though I guess.... thanks
Jeff
Guest
Thanks Brett, but two comments both saying DG in terms of statistics this means that the fans are 100% in favour of this CLOWN., time to go, I must be way off track.
Katipo
Guest
How about the NRL forces all Storm players to stay - no one is allowed to leave - and they have to operate $3.2 million under the salary cap each year for the next 3 years! See if the players are so loyal then...
apaway
Guest
Of course they did. They are the charlatans of rugby league. For a really funny take on it all, podcast Roy and HG's "The Life" today from MMM. Very funny but oh so true.
apaway
Guest
Not sure Brisbane have been that dominant. Sure, they've won 2 GFs in the decade, but that's only 1 more than Newcastle, Roosters, Penrith, Canterbury, Wests Tigers and Manly. Given that the Storm have now officially won nothing, that means 7 sides shared 8 premierships. Maybe this salary cap thing is working.
Droppa
Guest
3rd party sponsorship deals are not illegal....get used to it.
Duds
Guest
Billy Slater knows he's earning $xx, he also knows Inglis,Cronk, and Smith have a similar ability and thus must be earning approx $xx. He also knows how much the salary cap is. Are we to believe he is either so stupid that he could not do the maths or did he think the other 25 odd contracted players were on 50 BUCKS a win. I dont believe either, I think they knew exactly what was going on.
titus
Guest
Not sure, but with Chch at least average people in the street have some idea of rugby league and what it actually is. Media coverage in NZ is pretty uniform throughout, there's little regional differences and even though Canterbury is a very strong rugby union area, RL would get a fair go as Cantabs are very parochial, passionate people who support their province. Whether or not they'd actually choose a NZ team over and above another Australian team is another point.
soapit
Guest
but they'll scan through and check enough of it to satisfy themselves that its all hunky dory. if by scanning too quickly they miss something important that they shoulda picked up they cant go crying to the bank. its a pretty simple concept guys. kinda surprised that some adults dont realise the implications of signing a document. that'll do me for now on this topic.
Gob Bluth
Guest
Wherever GI plays next he'll need it will have to be coastal as he'll need somewhere to park his boat. The Bears perhaps?
oikee
Guest
Yes, we have 2 games to watch FTA tonite, enjoy your 1 jolly. By the time you watch your second, we will be rocking the cradle, singing sweet lullabies. :) You will enjoy eddie complaining that he cant have any ranga on his banger because he is not allowed to buy this product. :) Hahhaa, hahhaha. Sweet dreams. Oh the joys of living in rugby league heaven. Cheers Repub.
oikee
Guest
They have a rugby union person in charge of growth in the South Island now. He seems to be doing a fairly good job. He is restarting clubs that have been dormat for over 2 years and is spreading the word. Look, i agree, if you have another team in NZ, its a must for the South island, but that wont happen for at least 10 years, maybe 15. Rugby league has got to focus its statagies on areas that want, or need a team, at the moment its Bears and Perth. Brisbane looks like a second team is viable, but you cant run a 20 team comp without cattle, so unless we see major inroads into areas where we can find cattle, dont expect expansion. I am loving rugby league because of one thing at the moment, i dont know weather my team can beat the bottom team. If you destroy this, you might as well flush progress down the toilet.
ilikedahoodoogurusingha
Guest
Makes no difference if you read it or not, if you signed it you are responsible......check your next tax return, you sign , it makes no difference if you or your accountant made an error or tried to cheat...you are responsible. I am fairly certain that the managers will have been smart enough to leave themselves an escape route and leave the player holding the baby.
titus
Guest
Well certainly not in NZ overall nowadays but certainly on the South Island back in the day.
allblackfan
Guest
There are two heartlands of RL in NZ: West Coast is not one of them
Stormin Red
Roar Rookie
It's good to see Gallop's decisions have been vindicated. He has copped a lot of crap for this whole situation and it wasn't any of his doing. He seems to be like the referee in this whole fiasco. He has seen the storm are about 12 metres offside and he is getting abused by everyone in the stadium for having the hide to penalise them. Good to see the directors that had a part out the door. GI and Cam have some questions to answer about those second agreements they signed but other than that it is good to see the players weren't in on it. The players agents also have some questions to answer. The reason the players didn't speak to the auditors was on the advise of those managers, could this be because the managers know something they shouldn't? Somebody needs to audit News though. You cannot tell me that if part of highly successful business is losing 6 million a year you just let it happen without keeping an eye on what they are spending. Convenient too that they have only released an edited version to the public that completely absolves them of any wrong doing. I still smell rats in the club and until all of them are cleaned out (board, news, players) the club can't move forward. At least now though they can start the clean out and build for next year where the Storm will be back. Maybe not as good as before but they will be a force to be reckoned with again. GO THE STORM
Republican
Guest
Gob Bluth Perth and NZ are hardly League heartlands mate - logan fits the bill though! Oikee I believe the Cane Toad will have its day - eventually. Is it metho that does them in. I am searching for a metaphor here, can anyone help me out? Have a good weekend one and all, whatever your preferred code.