An open letter to Kevin Bartlett

Dear KB, As a legend of the game, your prowess is unquestioned.

Very much enjoy your sports commentary. Appreciate that you are willing to express an opinion without fear or favour, with a healthy and appropriate dose of embellishment for theatrical purposes.

It’s no doubt why your morning radio program is so popular. I count myself among your fans.

I particularly admired your principled stance in refusing to attend official functions at Richmond while any of the committee who were responsible for your termination as coach, remained in office. More power to you.

It’s with those thoughts in mind that it pains me to report my new year’s resolution is a self imposed ban on your radio program. It will remain the case while Brian Waldron remains a regular contributor.

For mine, and I accept you and others are of a different view, we ought not provide a platform for Waldron.

Waldron is a cheat. Not just a cheat on the margin, but a cheat of the highest order, whose subsequent conduct has compounded his culpability.

He was the architect of a significant fraud. He betrayed the principles of fair play which so fundamental to our enjoyment of sport that I do not see why he should be tolerated and encouraged. Indeed I am dismayed that you and SEN see fit to promote him.

To quote the executive summary of the NRL Report by the Salary Cap auditor, the Storm under the five years of Waldron leadership developed a toxic culture of deceit that led to the club making secret payments that exceeded the salary cap by an amount that totalled $3.8m.

Of Waldron personally, the report states he was the architect of each scheme. He participated in the creation of false financial records and fake documentary trails and in the swearing of numerous statutory declarations verifying declarations of remuneration that he knew to be false.

He was directly responsible for creating and maintaining the pernicious practices that existed at the Storm during the five years he was the Chief Executive.

His orchestrated public apology five years after the event was to the effect that he is remorseful and has served his time. The timing is apparently to enable his youngest child to finish his schooling. Touching. The fact that so many other people and their families were effected by Waldron’s actions seems to have been of much lesser concern.

Remorse is the expression of regret. If genuine, it would be expected to be in the form of an immediate acknowledgement of fault and the willingness to provide all reasonable assistance to authorities charged with role of investigating the matter.

Waldron provided no such cooperation. To be fair this may have been on legal advice as it is unclear how he escaped prosecution or civil action.

He misled the club board, the auditors, taxation commissioner and the league. But sport often seems exempt from the rules that apply in other areas of commerce.

I expect to be told the Melbourne Storm wasn’t the only club to cheat on the salary cap. That is the road cycling defence: “The rest of the peloton was on EPO, so I took it in order to compete.”

The result being the whole sport was compromised and clean athletes were denied their dream of competing in the sport they love. If cheating elsewhere in the NRL was rife, then expose it. Choosing to do likewise exaggerates the problem.

It may also be said that others at Melbourne Storm were aware. Then likewise they should be named and held to account, otherwise such dishonest people continue to administer sport.

The failure to identify them is not heroic, but compounds the poor conduct.

Again the failure to co operate with inquiries means detection of offenders is difficult and the ultimate result unsatisfactory.

The Waldron premise is that he has served his time. The right amount of time will naturally depend on the circumstances of each individual case. Here the nature of offending and the consequent result was extreme.

The NRL have voided two (2) premierships, in 2007 and 2009, and three minor premierships. To think there is no result in two years of a major national sporting code due to the action of a few is incredible.

Read any biography of an athlete and the recurring theme is that you play for premiership glory. Waldron has seen to it that this has been denied for three years given the club was not awarded points in the 2010 season.

Even during World Wars where the competition was compromised, premierships were awarded. Five year is so insufficient, it is apparent Waldron continues to misunderstand the gravity of his actions.

Would have thought a non parole period of around twenty five years would be a appropriate tariff.

I appreciate my stance as one individual will have little or no impact on the radio station, but I feel better for having expressed an opinion and taken some affirmative action. It is my somewhat insignificant, but no less heartfelt acknowledgement that the ‘ideals of sport’ matter.

In short, Waldron betrayed the principles and values of sport and fair play.

And that why I have imposed a ban on Hungry for Sport, starting now.

Yours sincerely

DA McDonell