The recent press conference held by News Limited was an enthralling 45 minutes. News Chairman, John Hartigan, revealed the Storm were almost 80 per cent over what was initially predicted by the NRL audit.
The Storm were found to be $500,000 over the cap in 2007, and $1m over in 2009; their two most recent premiership seasons.
There is no doubt the football players involved in these victories were superior to their respective opponents. They did not manipulate any rules, play unfairly or cheat on game day to my knowledge.
My point still remains that the combinations of players they fielded were illegal and being stripped of these titles was deserved.
Thirteen players – essentially a run-on team – have been named as being recipients of the cheating since 2006. Many have since left the club but seven still remain.
Players named:
Will Chambers
Michael Crocker
Cooper Cronk
Matt Geyer
Ryan Hoffman
Greg Inglis
Dallas Johnson
Antonio Kaufusi
Anthony Quinn
Billy Slater
Cameron Smith
Steve Turner
Brett White.
The fact that not one of the current players co-operated with the audit indicates to me an acknowledgment of guilt; it is guilt by association and it stinks.
Players were concerned their private contract arrangements would be made public, which would be an uncomfortable situation in any business organisation so I can understand their hesitation. But if you have nothing to hide, what do you have to lose?
Prove your innocence with full disclosure.
If you were asked to sign two contracts, had your house renovated for free, were given a $5,000 Harvey Norman gift voucher or had a speedboat appear mysteriously in your garage, I refuse to believe that you were unaware that something dodgy was going on.
It’s my understanding that if you find a bag of money on the street and don’t disclose it to the police; you could be found guilty of theft by finding. Whether they knew it or not, the payments, boats, petrol money and gift vouchers are at the centre of the scandal, and the recipients should be held accountable.
I can’t see how an independent auditor can prove a player ‘had no knowledge’ of the cheating. I guess they have no physical proof, no emails or paper trail to follow?
Even Hartigan admitted they (Deloittes) are not forensic psychologists and knowledge is hard to prove. I’m sure when the Victorian police and the tax office become involved, these flimsy details will be revealed.
Bring it on.
We should demand nothing short of full disclosure.
How can an audit commissioned by the owner of the fraudulent company be fully transparent when the players themselves, and their managers were not compulsorily interviewed? I just don’t get it!
The current Storm players must be separated. I read today in the paper that the NRL failed to ensure this happened following the last salary cap scandal involving the Bulldogs in 2002.
The Bulldogs on this occasion were stripped of all their points to that date, I believe it was 36 odd points, but the team was not disassembled and they went on to win the competition in 2004. It could be argued that this was still an illegally assembled team even if in 2004 they met the salary cap requirements.
This just cannot happen again with the Melbourne Storm. Every other single club in the NRL has been denied the opportunity to pursue and sign these players in a fair, open market.
As I said earlier in the week, before the release of today’s report, the Storm’s so called big four – Inglis, Slater, Cronk and Smith, should be the players who are forced to separate from the Storm and from each other next year and beyond. These are the players who were the main beneficiaries of the scam.
I believe they should be forced to find new clubs for whatever amount of money those clubs can find under the cap.
The problem for Melbourne is they have to cover any difference between their current salary and what the other club can offer. Say the Roosters want to pursue Cameron Smith. They need to pay the full price of his current salary at Melbourne (per season) or the Storm have to cover the difference and count that cost in their cap next year.
There would be few clubs in the financial position to be in the market for such a player of his value, so the Storm are likely to continue paying the price for this cheating even after their players are gone.
The big four cannot take reductions in their salaries because they have effectively been taken out of the open market with huge, illegal contracts. This can’t then be covered up by allowing them to take pay cuts the next year – to paraphrase David Gallop.
The Storm will now have to go through the inevitable rebuilding stage which happens to every successful club – this is the natural cycle of competition and the player market. This is the basis on which the salary cap is supposed to work and it is the exact system the Storm were manipulating.
The NRL needs to find a fair way to ensure the big four are being paid fairly and that they can play football in a team playing for competition points next year, but this cannot be together playing for the brand Melbourne Storm. I’m not really sure what the answer to this is, but the NRL needs to act now and make some tough decisions.
If nothing else, the dismantling of the Melbourne Storm could uncover a group of young players biding their time to make the grade in QLD Cup, and they will grab any opportunity they are given. Most of them will play on the minimum salary and will have to earn their keep to deserve contract extensions.
That is what the Storm management and board should focus on: actual player development, the discovery of the next Billy Slater or Cooper Cronk.
However, mud sticks, and the Storm are going to be remembered as a cheating club for many years to come.
I’ve heard Jack Gibson, one of the most successful coaches in the game’s history, used to say success starts in the front office. The success will come when the on field commitment, drive and fair play of the players is matched by the business side of the club.
The players were performing well without being brilliant in the years preceding the scamming which began in 2006. That year the players began pushing the boundaries on the field with grapple tackles etc, which I’ve mentioned in previous posts. At the same time those in the inner sanctum of the club began preparing an elaborate system of cheating.
On field performances became grubby and the goings on within the club even dirtier. Sadly, there were a few ‘rats in the ranks’ who were prepared to put the reputation of the entire club on the line for the cash and the glory. These people, management and players need to be held accountable.
The club has flushed out the rats in management and now it remains to be seen just how innocent the players were in the cheating.
This whole situation still makes me angry; it hits a nerve with me personally for the loss the Storm in the 2007 grand final. Never knowing what may have been should the opposition have been playing fairly for that season.
The game has been robbed of a level playing field for almost four seasons. I am bewildered that there is an NRL team in Melbourne to start with. Ask any ex-North Sydney Bears supporter who is even still supporting the game if they deserve to be there.
I will, however, have no problem in years to come if the Storm bounce back from this scandal and have successful seasons in the future, but I hope they have to rebuild from scratch and see what kind of struggles most clubs have to go through each year, losing loyal and deserving players to other clubs and English Super League each year because of salary cap issues.
Develop some talent, recruit well within your means – from the bottom up – but most importantly, to play in the spirit of the game and good sportsmanship.
Les from Liverpool
Guest
To Dave I agree with alot of what you said but I dont agree with Clair Simmo who I feel does not know what she is talking about it was utter rot. Further Clair Simmo is a North Sydney fan not a Manly supporter NO Manly Supporter Wants the 2007 Grand Final handed over to Manly because the Best team on the night WON and that is the end of it . Manly got their revenge the next year with a 40 to nil WIN in 2008 the NRLs 100th year which was BETTER. As for the Storm All the NRL Teams should be rechecked back By the TAX office and any undeclaired Fringe benefits found should be delt with by the Law I will be glad when people stop bashing the Storm and let the Law do its job.
Jeff
Guest
Hey Stormy, No need to worry, good teams like Manly and Storm will always draw a good crowd, people want to see THE BEST. this is why salary cap is not working, potentially great teams are continually being destroyed,
Stormybill
Guest
Sounds like a Manly Supporter trying to get a crowd at next weeks game against the Storm!.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Provided the players have declared to the ATO everything,and none of us know yeah or nay,there is no problem .And we should move on.The player mgrs would be the ones involved in organising appointments for tax returnson you would think.
Anakin
Guest
ROFTLMFAO. Give yourself an uppercut ClairSimmo - shot down severely!!
Jeff
Guest
Some pretty strong suspicions here Dan. but can you really imagine anyone pursuing them, Nope, STORM are the only cheats EVER, You only have to read the Daily Telegraph and listen to Eels supporters to know that it is an indisputable fact. it's called TOS (The Ostrich Syndrome) and is prevalent at NRL board level.
Stormin Red
Guest
Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence. Any player who is found to have known should be kicked out of the game but despite the audit saying their is no evidence you want to punish them. What you are suggesting sounds like finding out your accountant at work has been taking a little extra for himself. Then when he is caught and fired, you are fired because he was using your pay cheques to hide his operation . But now you also have to uproot your family and get a new job in another city. They cheated. The perpetrators are being rounded up, News and the agents time will come. Unlike the Bulldogs who kept the majority of their top players, the Storm looks like they will lose about 10 players including GI, 5 origin players and as many as 4 internationals (if all the rumours are true). BTW - Panthers fan??? These articles seem to pop up every week the Storm win a game. I have noticed the same thing on the Roast, only seeming to whine about the situation after we win a game.
Kate
Guest
For goodness sake, get over it. It's over, its done, they cheated and have been punished and as long as they get under the cap in 2011 like every other club in the comp then who cares who they put on the field. This anti-Storm rhetoric is getting ridicoulous and I for one am sick of seeing constant headlines about the Storm, the salary cap drama and what should or shouldn't happen to them.
hanzo
Guest
Agree mitch, just mmmoooovvveeee on people....
Dan
Guest
This article is nothing but slander, but is a beautiful insight into how sydneysiders feel about "their" game. Let me guess... kick out those trouble makers up in Queensland too? The reason that the NRL is being made a fool of my the AFL is that they (the AFL) have no conflicts of interest at the highest level, and the administrators have the best interests of the game at heart. you want the big dollars in your next TV deal? never going to happen with a sydney only comp. the deal will be less that it is now with no melbourne. The value of the TV deal is determined by how much the network(s) can generate from advertising when showing the game, there are more spaces for ads to run during AFL games, so it is inherently a more "valuable" product, it also has penetration to every major city in australia... so if as a company you know that you are going to get access to every major city in the country, you'll play more for the ad space. you think the NRL has problems competing for talent now? no melbourne audience (4 million pairs of eyeballs) means that the game is worth 20% less (based on the percentage of the national population that lives in melbourne)... Payment In Kind (PIK) is a part of professional sport. It is cheaper for car company A to give player Y, car X, than it is to give player Y the value of car X in cash. so if greg inglis wanted a boat, then the storm will source a sponsor to provide him with one, greg inglis is going to assume that this all done in accordance with the NRL salary cap requirements. 3rd party deals are not illigal, not reporting them is. before you start picking up the stones you found on your north sydney beach consider the following... the roosters were 600k over the cap when they won their last flag, and were over for each of the 3 minor premierships in a row they won... any thing happen to them? Jason Taylor lets slip that he was present at a meeting where crowe and holms a court discussed ways to "actively circumvent" the cap, is there a forensic investigation into their books? Then South Sydney signed possibly the best player in Brittan on 150k, 250k, 250k, 350k, over four years, when he could have earned at least five times that amount staying in the UK. nothing suss? south sydney are now actively pursuing Greg Inglis St George have been able to re-sign Mark Gasnier for 100k when he was earning 10 times that amount in french club rugby and 5 times that amount before he left st.g the first time. Manly lured Brett Kimorley away from Melbourne, then he and his parents move into brand new beach front mansions in Terrigal built by Delmage, who just also happened to be the major sponsor of the club... Manly lured Matt Orford away from Melbourne, the he moves into a new beach front mansion built by Delmage (seeing a pattern?)... Scott Prince gets a $500,000 house given to him for free by a "friend of the club" but everything goes all quiet on that front too... and the "Friends of the Broncos" have been "lending their assisstance" to the club in who know what ways for who knows how long, but they have able to maintain the strongest roster, for the longest time out of any NRL club. you are in a glass house buddy, better put down that stone... reeks of double standards. the NRL doesn't want full, independent, audits of the clubs because it will show that what the storm have done is common place throughout the league, so they'll either have to re-instate the storms trophies, or strip every dodgey premiership that has been won (potentially all of them since the end of super league). the smart thing to do is to have an amnesty, like the AFL did after Essendon "cheated" their way to the 93 flag (which wasn't stripped by the way), wipe the slate clean and work out the best way forward for the game as a whole.
Redback
Guest
I hope the taxman gets these blokes. They should not have been able to play rep footy this year unless they cooperated.
Jeff
Guest
Quotes from other subscribers " . “I’m sure when the Victorian police and the tax office become involved, these flimsy details will be revealed. Bring it on” – Yes, pleae do bring it on. The ATO have indicated they will do full audits on all NRL clubs and players. Are you still sitting comfortably in your chair? Maybe it wil be that we won’t have had any premiers for the last 4 years?!!! The Victorian police will be investigating corporate fraud not the players." Wow I bet there are a lot of uncomfortable Clubs, Managers and Players league wide, Or will it all get hushed up for the sake of the game, I have wondered how this whole season would end -- MAYBE NO Premiers???.
Brett McKay
Guest
exactly Mitch. There will be no "forced" seperation, but as we've already seen with the trio heading to Wigan, and Inglis likely to head north, seperation will still occur. As long as they come in under the cap, they can have all the best players in world for all I care..
ptovey01
Roar Pro
Here here. MOve on and let the powers that be sort out any further legalities. Once that happens players will start to asking questions.
M1tch
Roar Guru
As long as the club is under the cap for 2011..who cares who is in the team its time to move on people!
ptovey01
Roar Pro
I only read 50% of the article, as it started to bang on, but agree with the issue of Storm having been dealt with corretly as well as now waiting for the ATO etc to give teh players a swift kick in the bot bot. BUt a full disclosure of the players salaries and earnings is not for the public record. The same way yours or mine is not.
KH
Guest
If the NRL conducted to the investigation from the beginning then the players would have cooperated but since the report was being done outside of the league then I agree with the players.... It's not anybody's business...
Dave
Guest
A couple of points: 1. "Players were concerned their private contract arrangements would be made public, which would be an uncomfortable situation in any business organisation so I can understand their hesitation. But if you have nothing to hide, what do you have to lose" - If there's nothing to hide, then maybe all NRL clubs should reveal what players are being paid and how they are paid, then everything would be transparent. Why should one club be forced to reveal the players salaries? 2. "Thirteen players – essentially a run-on team – have been named as being recipients of the cheating since 2006. Many have since left the club but seven still remain" - Thirteen players were named, including the seven still at the club, what about all the other players, such as Matt King, Matt Orford, etc., who although not receiving any extra payments, have still left the club. Look back over the years 2006-2010 to see how many players the Storm have released over that period. 3. "The fact that not one of the current players co-operated with the audit indicates to me an acknowledgment of guilt; it is guilt by association and it stinks" - I believe that you still have the right to remain silent unless ina court of law in Australia? 4. "How can an audit commissioned by the owner of the fraudulent company be fully transparent when the players themselves, and their managers were not compulsorily interviewed? I just don’t get it!" - More to the point, how can it be declared as being an independant audit and report? 5. "There would be few clubs in the financial position to be in the market for such a player of his value, so the Storm are likely to continue paying the price for this cheating even after their players are gone" - So basically another team can get a player cheaper than their actual worth? Correct me if I am wrong, but hasn't Mr Gallop already said that a player must be paid their real value? Although it must have slipped his mind when Gasnier went to the Dragons for $100,000 a year?!! 6. "That is what the Storm management and board should focus on: actual player development, the discovery of the next Billy Slater or Cooper Cronk" - You mean like O'Neill, Proctor, Duffie, Widdop, Bromwich, Kelly, Rogers, Chisholm, Morseau, Rochow, etc? Or, in the past, Smith, Inglis, Cronk, Slater, Blair, Manu, Hoffman, etc? 7. "The players were performing well without being brilliant in the years preceding the scamming which began in 2006" - Funnily enough, that was the year a News Ltd employee took over the CEO position, answerable only to News Ltd, that person was Brian Waldron. 8. "On field performances became grubby and the goings on within the club even dirtier" - Won't even dignify that with an answer. 9. "This whole situation still makes me angry; it hits a nerve with me personally for the loss the Storm in the 2007 grand final. Never knowing what may have been should the opposition have been playing fairly for that season" - Ah, a Manly supporter, I might have guessed. Do you believe that you should be entitled to two premierships for 2008 becasue you beat an illegal team then? By the way, how exactly was Orford paid? Was it the paper bag or the appartment on the beach? My point? Don't be so self righteous unl;ess you are sure your own house in order! 10. "I’m sure when the Victorian police and the tax office become involved, these flimsy details will be revealed. Bring it on" - Yes, pleae do bring it on. The ATO have indicated they will do full audits on all NRL clubs and players. Are you still sitting comfortably in your chair? Maybe it wil be that we won't have had any premiers for the last 4 years?!!! The Victorian police will be investigating corporate fraud not the players 11. " I am bewildered that there is an NRL team in Melbourne to start with. Ask any ex-North Sydney Bears supporter who is even still supporting the game if they deserve to be there" - And I used to wonder why the AFL is making such inroads into NSW and Queensland!! Let's get rid of the Storm and the Warriors and go back to our cosy, insular, insecure, little world. Let's still have a National competition that isn't national - pretty much the same as the joke world series in the USA when the only team competing are from the USA!!! I'd be far more concerned about finding out what News Ltd and Mr Gallop knew about all of this, that is much more important to the future of the game, especially since Gallop is touted to be the CEO of the "independant" (and if you believe that News Ltd are going to allow a truly independant commission to govern the game and negotiate TV deals you are sadly mistaken). It's happened, we're guilty of rorting the system, the punishment has, and stil is, being dealt out, the Storm will field a squad for 2011 that is under the cap. Articles such as this serve absolutely no purpose other than to try and fan the flames a little bit, they certainly don't have influence over the NRL, so what's the point? Oh that's right, there isn't one!!
MJ
Guest
I have not read such rubbish before. Build from scratch! Where do you think they started. Who found these players? Who developed them in the first place? They Storm have been victims of their own success, in many ways. You only have to look at the amount of players they have released to these other poor struggling clubs. There is nearly 2 other first grade sides releaseed in the last 5 years from this club.