News of the World and Melbourne Storm

Except there is a salary cap auditor and the Storm team was top of the table, kept on signing top players when others left, had 9 internationals plus 2SOO players. Sounds like the Raiders situation despite having an international team the salary cap auditors only stepped in after they won 3 premierships when it was obvious their talent was way over any salary cap limit..

Jaceman Apology accepted, I respect debaters with that sort of humility and goodwill. Champ my response was to your "hope you get $1,4bn"addressed to me and Matt S.My belief is there is zilch chance securing that figure,and that has been my stance from day 1. My arrows are aimed at one evasive AFL man GoGWS.The $1,4bn according to him was attributed to me.I have asked for the source,and am still waiting.

Aplogies I wrote a post earlier and then you said I claimed you thought $1.4bn was a goer which I never did - you have confused me with someone else. In my excitement to show you these articles I misspoke Ireally meant to point this out to Matt S who is more bold than you...

Jaceman Gee whiz champ,do I have to repeat myself .I have never stated the code will get $1.4bn.So stop suggesting or even hinting that view.I have the same problem with GoGWS ,who has not the intestinal fortitude to state he was wrong,by asserting I did. Have the article,buy the Australian regularly. The CVC story is not new. channel 9 needs rugby league regardless of them having no public float.They lose the code,and their ad budget drops dramatically,not a good look for their financial backers.ch 9 is not the only FTA to bid,another point. As to Patrick Delany nothing he has stated,detracts from the comments made by Smith from Lek,Gallop,and the various bods form media and marketing who have put their 50c worth in. He is talking aout trying to get all games live :tick He has hired Frykberg: smart cookie in the media world. The salient para:- "Foxtel and Austra have higher penetration rates in NSW and Qld because of relatively stronger NRL packages,and Mr delany said he was keen to ensure the Pay -TV NRL offering kept pace with the new AFL deal 'so long as it makes sense". That is stating the obvious ,it has to be financially viable. He mentions the negativity : "what happens if Fox Sports loses the NRL'and tries to bring a sense of calm to the argument,understandable.He however would very congniscant of the fact,losing substantial NRl subs,would not help his bottom line nor his standing within the organisation. The interesting para FTA and Pay TV will end up paying more for the 2013/17 rights and the total package(incl digital and contra ) could be up to $1bn.The base on which the scenarios were used. I cannot see where anyone suggested $1.4bn was a goer,yet you and the other flag wavers keep insisting we apparently did.Bending the truth is not a good look.

Matt S and CC, I hope you get $1.4bn - the health resources of this government couldnt cope otherwise...try these for size http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/patrick-delany-set-to-make-his-play/story-e6frg996-1226114841681 http://www.smh.com.au/business/float-may-sink-but-cvc-must-rescue-its-tackle-20110815-1iuvo.html

Pardon me,I have a reasonable understanding of business economics and newspapers are a business at last reports..Editors are answerable to their bosses. Maybe you should have a chat with D.T and SMH editors and spell out your proof. If that was the case and this is where you get shot down,News would not publish every hair brained act by a NRl player,behind the scenes.News ltd would not have bagged Roosters crowds and titans crowds and at the same time praised Swans and Suns crowds. Certainly not to a game which is 50% owned by the very organisation involved in spruiking the story. If they are under editorial influence,it sure as hell doesn';t show. because every stroy is damaging in its own way to the code. As far as the Storm were concerned the D.T gave them heaps,as well as the bods involved in the deception. And toing the party line LOL.Have a look at the Australian right wing and left wing views.Cripes Phillip Adams is involved with the Australian magazine and he is to the left of Karl Marx. For crying out loud Roy may be pro Storm,but look at the volumes of anti Storm stories ,emanating from his very masthead the SMH.The editor appears to not know where to turn.Open your eyes. Look if I have to shout it from the rooftops,or bang on your front door,I have never suggested the NRL will secure $1,4bn.Got it and do the courtesy of reading the various stories around on the subject.the words used were could and up to .Nothing definitive on the high end.No journo has stated it is a goer,no CEO has said it is a goer.My suggestion was $1bn as Smith used for his starting point. As it appears one has to lead some by the hand; http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-league-news/nrl-hopes-big-pay-day-broadcast-deal-4319452 the operative word HOPES then http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/06/report-ten-chasing-nrl-rights.html Opeative words"Looking for $1bn Tv rights then again http://www.consumeraction.org.au/downloads/CALC-credit-dealersnares-ASIClicencedespitereprimand-AFR-230711.pdf The heading Billion -plus deal out of league.sating $1.4bn out of reach plus http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/184007/nrl-could-trump-afl-in-the-new-rights-deal-consultant Again the words COULD are used Big pond throws in its money's worth http://www.bigpondsport.com/nrl-deal-may-trump-afl/tabid/91/newsid/74805/default.aspx The word MAY used. Globalmediasports http://www.globalmediasports.com/news.html Gallop when referring to the three scenario figures and I quote Ït was a MINIMUM level and should't be taken as anything other than that". Gallop said that not Masters,not Gould nor a rl journo .,not a NRL CEO ,not lil ole me. I could dredge up more reference points,but if the message hasn't sunk in now,it never will. Scenario by definition:A POSSIBLE sequence of events in the future. Show me where the actuality of $1,4bn is attributed. I just wish you AFL flag wavers would spend less time on either picking Masters pockets with one hand and patting him on the back with the other(when it suits),and look at other news outlets and journalistic opinion,instead of the tunnel vision that appears to be the norm,and actually readwhat they stated.

He would have had no problem getting offers from other NRL clubs,and coaches leave before the end of their tenure,it's hardly a new phenomenon.

Jaceman, Roy Masters estimates on the AFL TV income were in line with every other non AFL media analysts/journalists. What these analysts cannot predict, is the power of the AFL to negotiate favourable deals with AFL sympathetic execs who put the interests of the game ahead of their businesses. This new deal is all based on assumptions that the growth will be this & that. Pretty amazing in this economic climate. The NRL are then being told not to be rewarded for actually providing results/subscriptions/ratings.

he had a contract till 2015

You dont understand newspaper economics - Editors dont pressure journalists, they just give more prominence to/hire jounos who write the company line. Fairfax will be using News facilities so News has all the leverage...Roy Masters hasnt written/published an article on the undervaluing of the last NRL TV rights deal for some time and hasnt tried to boost the NRL TV rights number in Fairfax papers since he bungled the AFL estimate. Roy is in a vexed position as he is an apologist for the Storm as its his new team but owned by the enemy...Talking up the Storm up actually boosts the chances of News selling the team at a reasonable price.. Roys big chance would be for Fairfax to print articles saying the NRL TV rights is way undervalued especially in light of the AFL value (as he has done repeatedly for the last 3 years) but its been 4 months since the AFL deal and nothing. The Australian has downplayed the NRL number and the NRL screaming headlines of $1.4bn were met with plenty of contrary opinion the next day.

Great article, Dara, with a nice tying in of the News Ltd corporation and the Storm. However, much as it may be hard to digest for Storm fans, the club got exactly what it deserved. The players and coach might have been at best pawns in a game of brinkmanship and the way they have bounced back this season, while admirable, is not surprising. The feeling of being wronged is a great motivator. And they are doing it having retained 3 of the 4 stars who were in the spotlight when the cheating was revealed last year. That's not to take away from their results or the work of Craig Bellamy, they deserve their premiership favouritism. The way the club was punished may well have been a way for News Ltd to display some Mea Culpa but it was very convenient for the club to lump the entire scheme onto the head of one man, in order to proclaim innocence across the rest of the club. I am curious as to why you think David Gallop will be watching with "interest and a little anxiety" as the competition concludes. Do you think that he thinks the Storm might be covering something else up?

Well said 'trooper'.. The whole issue was conjured up to sell newspapers. Melbourne's fans and players got abused every away game they went to. It is so nice to see Raiders and Eels (Who's fans gave us the most CRAP), now languishing at the bottom of the league and receiving 'thrashings from teams not even in the top eight. I think this is referred to as 'KARMA"!! and it is Ooohhh so sweet.. -- and yeahhh, I am bitter!

About the time it was a certainty the new i.C would be up and running with no News ltd partnership in the NRL.,it could also be argued. If you believe that having a common printing joint venture is going to prevent open criticism within two competing newspapers,you know little about journalists and their editors.The latter are continually pressured by owners and shareholders looking for results in growing readership and profitiabilty. They are not sharing journalists,they are not issuing dividends to the same shareholders,they are in one of the most competitive environments(albeit shrinking) in the commercial world. The sharing of print facillities is just a means to an end,ie rationalistaion of costs.

if it were that simple. The same questions have been asked in the past of Brisbane as to how they kept under the cap.Or the Roosters at times,or the Dragons.About the only club that hasn''t had queries is the Sharks. Some players will play under a certain coach for less money than under others .Other players prefer the anonimity in cities such as Melbourne or the family environment. You forget many of the non intnl players were run of the mill first graders that Bellamy brought out the best of. The buck stops with Waldron and his associates and a couple of player managers. If people can cheat the tax system such as the old cash in the brown paper bag trick,they can cheat in any sporting code.Even as overtly as tanking. if Bellamy had no idea of the cheating and he had agreed to be questioned openly and was found not to be involved,then what chance the NRL. it appears not only News ltd are bullies but other print media in the UK are now being accused of hacking.. You had better hope the News edifice doesn't crumble,else the Foxtel deal with SANZAR and the AFL will also crumble and vlad will not be a happy man.

The fact they are leading the comp this year,without cheating the cap,suggests the situation is a thing of the past.Unless one wants to dredge up the past. The code and the club are more than happy as to their current situation. You punish a child for misbehaving and then get over it.It appears some want to continue the death of a thousand cuts of what happened last year.Says a lot.

Thanks for that link Jaceman, but Roy has still been at the throats of NEWS from what I have seen of his articles. And rightly so in most cases.

If you need any more evidence that the fairfax papers have stopped criticising NewsNRL//Storm after the salary cap disaster - February is about the time the SMH stopped bagging NRL/News openly and toned down the rhetoric... "THE chief executives of Fairfax Media and News Limited plan to meet this week for further discussions about a potential printing joint venture, with both sides confident a formal agreement can be struck in the coming months. The country's two largest newspaper groups have held exploratory talks about combining their print operations in Sydney and Melbourne since Greg Hywood was made permanent chief executive of Fairfax in February" http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/news-fairfax-to-hammer-out-print-joint-venture/story-e6frg906-1226110427173

As to the payments it baffles me that everyone uses this as some smoking gun of a grand conspiracy. Even if you have no accounting or finance background just stop and think for a second. Worldwide we repeatedly see major fraud scandals that only become apparent when the house of cards collapses suggesting that many are still motoring along. So even though these are much larger organisations subject to much wider scrutiny, public disclosure and regulation we question how, without some grand conspiracy, it could happen here at the storm? Here is the news flash some people actually operate outside the rules put in place to govern them. And no police force in the world has the 100% strike rate you seem to imply is the base standard here. Right now out there in the world there are criminals that have lived a life outside the law for much longer than five years does that mean every government in the world is the part of some grand conspiracy to cultivate organised crime?

True but why did no-one at the NRL or News Ltd think that having 9 internationals plus 2 SOO players in a climate challenged non NRL town would be a salary problem. Because in News Ltd world as we have seen in Europe they wanted the right outcome (a good team ) to build Pay-TV subs but they didnt want to know how they achieved it. News threatened the employees with criminal action so they all shut up knowing that News lawyers had deep pockets...News Ltd are bullies as we have seeen on the national stage when they dont get their way - hopefully the whole edifice will crumble shortly...

So if the players had nothing to hide why didnt they talk with the investigators at the time? How come 2 contracts were signed. How come it went on for 5 years before anyone spotted illegal payments in the Storm budget? There are many unanswered questions that perhaps only Waldron can answer and I would love to hear from him but fear he has been paid off....