Well, another day and another salary cap scandal. Parramatta may well have moved to the top of the podium in the all time salary cap breaches championship with their combined effort of deceit, longevity and out and out denial.
Once again fans and media alike are sharpening the knives for the CEO and the board and heads are being called for, but are they really the only ones who should have the finger pointed at them?
Just like the Bulldogs in ’02 and the Storm in ’10, everyone is saying that the coaching staff and the players are blameless and are the victims of administration crookedness.
I’m not so sure.
Fallout from the Parra salary cap scandal
» Parramatta only broke the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not get caught
» Why Tuesday was the greatest day in Parra’s recent history
» 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
I’ll start with the coach. As the story goes with every salary cap breach, the coach was clueless that the team he is or was coaching is above the salary cap.
Sometimes $100,000s above the cap. By definition all the coach does is coach. He’s not involved in any negotiations with the board or CEO about what what contracts they might upgrade or what players they might buy – and certainly not how much they plan on paying them.
He gets given a set of players and a clipboard and wished all the best. Really?
And then there’s the players. At the end of the day it’s them that end up with the ill-gotten gains of deceit. Most people don’t wake up to a new boat in their driveway or manage to score their wife a $200,000 a year job for vacuuming the club CEO’s office once a week. Even if they truly were unaware something was amiss with their pay structure, their managers would certainly know and it’s weak of the players to hide behind them.
When an athlete gets caught taking performance enhancing drugs, they can’t plead ignorance as a defence. Just like they can’t say someone kissed me with cocaine on their lips, I ate some tainted steak or my mum gave it to me.
Those excuses just don’t wash when it’s drugs but when it comes to fraud then everyone seems happy with the ignorance plea.
It’s time more of these coaches and players were held to account because they still get to keep their jobs and they still get paid.
The real victims in all of this are the fans who are truly innocent – and they are the ones who end up paying.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Raa, I'm not being naive at all.I think you don't really understand contract law. The Eels management make an offer and you accept it. There is no legal requirement for you to ensure they are not paying you from drug money, illegal deals or are breaching the salary cap in doing so. The real world does not require you to ensure your employer is acting legitimately if it is reasonable to assume that it is. If you subsequently find out they are breaking the law, then fair enough. Are you seriously saying that if you work for ACME, you should know how they are paying you? They should disclose their tax structures in the Cayman Islands, they should reveal how they earn the money that pays your wages? And if they are doing something wrong, you should be liable because you should know? Not only are you entitled to presume its OK, you have no ability to check on whether the club is breaching the scary cap. You don't know what other players are paid, you don't know who owns the organisation that gave you the third party deal. You're assuming a level of information that simply isn't available. Furthermore, the players do not have a contract with the NRL, their contract is with the Eels. They are not required to ensure their deal is under the salary cap and in fact, would be unable to without knowing what other players are paid. They cannot know the "ins and outs" as you put it, because no club will tell you what other players are paid. They have broken no rules. The fault is entirely and utterly with the club. If it was not, the NRL would be acting against the players as well. Incidentally, if the players were getting cash in hand payments, a fact yet to be disclosed by the NRL, they would probably find themselves in front of the ATO and in serious trouble if the income wasn't declared.
Raa
Guest
Pomoz could you be any more naive. Of course players and managers should be accountable they are they ones signing the contract if you sign your name to anything you should 100% know exactly where your money is coming from and know what you are doing is legal. In the real world if you sign a contract you are liable you can not hide behind "I didn't know, I thought they were doing the right thing." As if the players and managers didn't know they were breaking the rules. Some were getting cash in hand payments. So don't tell me the players are innocent they are just to blame as the club. if you sign a contract without knowing the ins and outs you have no brains and deserve what you get.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Are the players supposed to do company searches of sponsors to see if there is any connection with the club? Do they have to trace payments through bank accounts to see where the money comes from? The Eels used a succession of companies to hide where a payment was coming from. As in, the Eels own company A, which owns company B, which owns company C. Company C makes the payment. The NRL with all its resources struggle to catch the cheats and Greenburg himself said they need 'whistleblowers' to catch clubs. How do the players, without the resources and legal status of the NRL find out whether the club is giving them illegal payments? Your comment about "boats in driveways" suggests that there is a resentment about what players are paid and you want to punish them for the misdeeds of others. Your suggestion is unworkable and also unfair. It is reasonable for the players to expect clubs to comply with the NRL rules. It is not reasonable to expect players and agents to act as policeman for the NRL.
turbodewd
Guest
The players can put their heads in the sand if they wish. That's fine, they can receive whatever payments they like from wherever, but they have to wear the fact that the Eels are done for this season. So every NRL player can ignore the source of their payments...just realise that if you ask no questions....that if wrongdoing is going wrong...your season will be pointless. Sucked in Eels players basically...if you don't ask to check if your payments are legit then you can end up in this situation. If you have doubts there is the RLPA or the NRL itself. I do have sympathy for Eels players who weren't receiving unusual payments. They are collateral damage.
Fiddlesticks
Guest
Yet another expert that knows the ins and outs of running an NRL club
peeeko
Guest
your entire argument is based on a hunch and hearsay with no real knowledge of what happens at a NRL club