Tuesday was the greatest day the recent history of the Eels. For the supporters of that club and all the people involved from the grass roots to the CEO, the day of reckoning has finally come.
I have been involved in rugby league in one way or another in the Parramatta district for a bit over 20 years. For the last half of that I can’t remember a stable time at the Eels.
That stability can start today.
The NRL has identified systemic salary cap breaches going back to 2013 amounting to over $3 million. They have been fined $1 million, had all accumulated 2016 premiership points deducted, and been ordered to reduce the current year’s salary cap balance by $570,000.
It looks like the Eels’ 2016 campaign has been left in a pile of rubble. And it has.
But it has also seen the end of a group of directors and senior management at the organisation, levered away from power like prizing oysters off a rock on the riverbank.
The people vying positions of influence at Parramatta have been relentless over a number of years.
I recall walking past the Parramatta Leagues Club one night during the board elections. The Eels were playing a home game and the junior team I was coaching had an exhibition game on at Pirtek Stadium. I had to return to my car to collect some equipment and headed back past the club entrance.
“Are you voting in the election?” I was suddenly and unexpectedly surrounded by supporters of candidates for the board. They started to push flyers and various voting intention forms at me.
I was astonished. These people were vampires trying to suck out my vote – and I wasn’t even a voting member!
I told them “I’m not here for the board. I’m interested in junior football.”
It was a stark reminder for me of what has been going on at the place. Twenty-five different board members, four or five different coaches and CEOs in the past five years have been involved, culminating in the debacle that has become the 2016 salary cap scandal.
It hasn’t been easy for the NRL to gain information from the club. It seems they have had to rely on leaks to media while waiting patiently for replies to repeated requests from the board and management.
This polite see-sawing of request and rebuttal lasted months, until the NRL could wait no longer. The game’s Integrity Unit launched a three-month investigation, which began by raiding Parramatta’s offices to clone computers and obtain more than 750,000 documents.
What they discovered you already know. The club has been punished.
Fallout from the Parra salary cap scandal
» Parramatta only broke the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not get caught
» Parramatta fans don’t deserve Parramatta’s boardroom
» Parramatta need to bring back The Emperor
» The Parramatta Five win first court battle against NRL
» Press conference: Parra breached the cap by $3 million, players may be investigated
» Parramatta docked 12 points, fined $1 million for salary cap breaches
Is that punishment fair? It depends on who you ask.
I feel it is.
I was a match official for some of Melbourne Storm’s games in 2010 after they had been denied any opportunity to earn any points at all. The feeling at those matches was a strange sense of defiance mixed with a ‘why bother’ attitude.
I was at Eden Park when the Auckland crowd booed Cameron Smith at every attempt at goal. Part of that was because the Melbourne team was still intact, performing at their salary-cap-cheating best with all players available. This will be denied the Parramatta team, who will have to run out players within the salary cap for 2016.
I hope that it suppresses some of this vitriol from rival fans. That night in New Zealand left me feeling uncomfortable out on the field – and I was only holding a flag behind the posts. We can’t have that again.
The financial penalty is symbolic; it won’t hurt Parramatta. They are one of the NRL teams who have plenty of coin in the bank, being linked so closely to the leagues club. It could have been $1 million or $3 million – it’s the least of their worries.
De-registration of senior figures at the club is the most significant. Clearing out three members of the board and two members of the executive sends a signal that the NRL is serious about change of governance within the top tier.
Four board members remain to decide how to proceed from here. Appointing an experienced former CEO from another club or sport seems the most sensible, in the way that retired judges are asked to chair inquiries in this country.
The ‘Parramatta Five’ immediately took their grievances to the Supreme Court and won an injunction against their de-registration.
It remains to be seen how long this prolongs the inevitable. In reality, this is a desperate move of people who presided over salary cap rorting while collecting wooden spoons.
That describes how well their house was run.
Aside from all of this, the NRL holds the trump card. If necessary, and if there are consistent roadblocks put in front of them, the NRL could possibly revoke the Parramatta Eels’ licence to participate in the National Rugby League. Of course, this would be a last resort.
One of the game’s most powerful brands in the heart of Sydney’s biggest growing region must be kept in first grade. Still, it’s a handy card to hold.
2017 can be a new era with the last few years of “deliberate, co-ordinated and sustained” salary cap cheating behind them. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s here.
ChubbzyK96
Guest
What do you propose instead of the cap? Out of interest?
Les Mara
Roar Rookie
Bring back Denis Fitzgerald baby!!!!!!!!! Back to selling cars for Steve Sharp, Scott Seward and other drongos.
Carl Spackler
Guest
If the Eels do not cop at least what Storm got then Melbourne needs to walk off the field in protest. They were stiched up. Hearing Brian Waldron talking on the topic they were completely shafted. Maybe Storm needs to just join forces with the Rebels and tell the NRL to jam it.
Farmduck
Roar Rookie
Yes that is a big part of the problem. Also the fact that many contracts start on 1 November therefore the "contract season" is half gone, so to achieve a $570K cut you would need to release players with a face value of over $1million. Move a player on $300K to the Titans but continue paying half and replacing him with a player on $90K minimum wage produces a saving of only $30K. If I'm a rival club boss I know that each week the Eels fail to reach the target, the discount increases. Wait 4 weeks and you'll get David Gower or Vai Toutai for $30K net.
Dan Eastwood
Expert
Cheers!
Don
Roar Rookie
They'd need to replace them sure. But for guys on the minimum NRL contracts for the rest of the season or guys who will take low money this year for higher payments in subsequent years. Or, trade out a player, restructure the incoming player's deal so they get the bulk of their contract paid in year 2 or 3 instead of this season. You could maybe even get a dispensation to do something like that this year with Corey Norman or some others up for re-signing. If he was prepared to take a pay cut now, sign him to an extension for 3 years, restructure this year's deal and then escalate his payments over future years.
Dan Eastwood
Expert
I think this will come HarryT. The NRL has been clear in stating this is an 'interim' report so there will be a lot more forthcoming. I also hope we see detailed evidence.
PNG Broncos fan88
Roar Guru
Enjoyed your article Dan. Way better than the other negative rubbish on the Roar today.
Justin
Roar Rookie
If Parra are to release players to get under the cap, will they also need to replace those players released to maintain their 25 man squad?
slydog80
Guest
Won't that mean Parra will still need to replace those players to maintain their 25 player squad?
HarryT
Guest
It would be better if the NRL released a report that itemised Parramatta's infractions. As it stands, the Storm and Bulldog clubs and some of their supporters believe they were unjustly treated. The lack of public evidence allows them to do this, as was illustrated by the comments of some Storm representatives this morning.
Don
Roar Rookie
What happens now is that other clubs should start taking advantage of Parra's problem. They need to offload $570K and will need to do it in increments, even still part paying some players to play at other clubs. Watmough aside because his cost sounds like it can't be removed until next season. Simply moving Junior Paulo to Canberra early doesn't offload his liability. Canberra (if smart) will rightly say that they haven't calculated JP in their cap for this year so will need $150K of his wage paid by Parra to accomodate him. Parra will have to do it. Now, if a guy like Corey Norman was asked to move on (unlikely), you'd see Parra having to subsidise up to $300K to see him at another club this year. So rather than taking $5-600K off your books by moving him, you drop maybe $2-300K. So, you've lost 2 of your top players and still need to offload another maybe $200k of talent to get to your $570K. And this scenario is using players that other clubs want are are willing to upset their own roster management for. Try moving on the next tier of players. You'd almost have to 100% subsidise them at another club and then there's no benefit this season anyway.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
There doesn't seem to be any ownership of this debacle from Parras board. They are the ones who are ultimately responsible and the deregistration of five members is the minimum I would demand. To coin an old saying, they've got more front than Myers.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
They can only hope they want to leave to go to clubs with better premiership chances. Although they're the teams needing them less
S T Ruggling
Roar Pro
The 5 board members are cunning enough to survive and they will continue to drag out the court proceedings until they are forgotten, If the other punishments fail to make an impact, as you said the $1m fine is nothing for parra, and if parra somehow make the finals the voting members can quite easily lose all anger or simply forget that it is an issue, there will be no change and it will be business as usual. If people at parra really wanted change a harsher punishment (not that it wasnt bas enough already) may have been a catalyst
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I understand that but the club how no power to do this other than request players to accept, the offer to leave, of which they have no obligation. How many teams are likely to make a better offer to players of a club that they know the club needs to shed players. And how many players would accept a lesser offer? I don't think Parramatta have been hard done by here, I just think the NRL are trying to encourage Parramatta to put pressure on players to be released from Contracts, which the NRL shouldn't be doing.
steve b
Roar Guru
OK we now have the 5 accused of the crime saying not me your honour and going ti spend a bucket of cash on lawers in the Supreme court because in theit minds they belueve they are innocent of all accusations.So where does that leave things in regards compliying to the NRL demands ? If we are to believe the NRL someone is to blame but no one is falling on their sword . I hated the way they treated the Storm players and fans back in the day and now we see history repeating itself we punish the fans and the players for the wrong doing of others .You have some on here who say that players should be aware of all financial transactions and must have known that they were recieving back door deals i like many others dont believe that for 1 second .Player managers on the other hand now theirs a totally different story and most of them could sell ice to eskimos .Again Rugby leauge finds itself again in the media spotkight for all the wrong reasons.If we are to be truly proffessuinal we must get rid of the cap once and for all before we see histiry repeat itself again because its bound ti happen.
Dan Eastwood
Expert
They will need to move some players on to other clubs. Junior Paulo is signed with Canberra for 2017 so if he leaves early it frees up some cap space. It remains to be seen how willing clubs are to accept players this year. UK Super League msy be an option.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
How does a team reduce their current years salary cap balance though? It's based on legal obligations which they cannot fail to meet.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Given the restraints the NRL have to operate within, their decision, provisional thought it needs to be at the moment, is spot on. No matter what people think of the NRL and the validity of the salary cap and so on, the joke that has been Parramatta is even worse.