The Canberra Raiders and Canterbury Bulldogs have been fined by the NRL salary cap auditors for breaches made across the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
The Bulldogs exceeded the cap last year by more than $80,000 and have been hit with $61,474 worth of fines.
The Raiders’ breaches came across the 2015 and 2016 seasons in the NRL, National Youth Competition and second-tier levels of the game.
They copped a $16,037 fine for going more than $10,000 over at NYC level but were hit with a much larger $68,073 fine for breaches made in 2015 across both the NRL and NYC sides.
According to NRL Chief Operating Officer Nick Weeks, the Raiders breached the second tier level by $2598 and the NYC cap by just $809.
The bulk of the damage has come from their NYC side, where they went over the cap in 2015 by $66,451 as opposed to just $1622 for the NRL side.
While the Raiders were handed 150 per cent of the breach amount for having recorded breaches in five of the last six years, the Bulldogs were given leniency and fined just 75 per cent of the breach for self-reporting the incident.
The clubs have five business days to request a review from the NRL appeals committee.
Raiders CEO Don Furner said the club has reviewed the situation and will work with the NRL to get this sorted out sooner rather than later.
“The Raiders have reviewed the breaches handed down from the NRL Salary cap auditors for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, which relate to circumstances surrounding the clubs second tier and NYC Salary Caps,” said Furner.
“Due to changes to the club’s rosters during this period and injuries which forced squad changes, the club was forced to make some unplanned player movements which have forced minor breaches of the salary cap.
“The Raiders continue to work with the NRL to effectively manage the Salary Cap in accordance with the rules and regulations. It’s unfortunate that we’ve had to endure these fines, but the club accepts the NRL decision regarding these breaches.”
The Bulldogs are yet to comment.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Connor - nice article but your headline needs work. "Cheating NRL clubs plunged into salary cap crisis" would have gotten you far more hits.
Edward Kelly
Roar Guru
It seems the Bulldogs and Raiders have salary beanies whilst other teams, Broncos and Roosters have salary sombreros.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
Rob, two words Tony Williams.
kk
Roar Pro
Very interesting Larry1950. What does Mr Greenberg have to say? I understand the Canterbury hierarchy have an important meeting this week. They could help recoup some of the SC fines by holding the meeting at the oval and charging admission to witness the expected fireworks. (smile)
Larry1950
Guest
All very well levying a fine but isn't it supposed to be deducted from a future cap to ensure the clubs don't do this type of thing on purpose and wear the fine. Shouldn't the dogs have this year's cap reduced by $80k or have 2018 reduced if too late to effect in 2017?
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Poor accounting and squad building usually. Being top heavy in the wing departments or something and losing forwards to injury would leave you with little choice but to expend your 2nd tier salary cap. Both are relatively minor but Raiders need someone in there sorting their cap.
Gray-Hand
Guest
It tends to happen when more players than expected meet their performance incentive targets. It can happen to any club, particularly in circumstances where there are injuries to top talent which lead to players who were only meant to play a handful of games playing more than half a season. It can also happen when a third party sponsor that makes payments to players becomes a club sponsor. Often a few payments will get made to a player in circumstances where they have to be counted as part of the cap. Most clubs, especially the wealthy ones are already pretty close to the top of the cap, so it doesn't take much to bump them over. It isn't deliberate, and it doesn't really give an unfair advantage, so neither the NRL or the clubs make a huge big deal out of it, but it is a definite breach of the rules, so it does get penalised.
Rob
Guest
Old news in regards to the Bulldogs breaching the salary cap hence the leniency in the fine they have received. I'm pretty sure the Dogs reported this towards the end of last year once they realised the number crunching was wrong but were going over the figures to ensure the right amount is reported. What is fascinating is how a team can be over 5 out of the last 6 years?