Cronulla CEO Barry Russell’s decision to self-report to the NRL regarding his club’s salary cap breaches will reportedly save the Sharks half a million dollars.
The Daily Telegraph has reported that the Sharks will only cop a penalty of $250,000, down from $750,000, because of the club’s honesty.
However the Sharks will almost certainly have to shed a quality player as it’s reported that they will be required to play $350,000 under the salary cap for the next two seasons.
This will give an opportunistic rival the chance to target one of the Sharks’ best players, or it could mean that a veteran like Paul Gallen decides to call time on his career early.
Shaun Johnson or James Segeyaro could also be in line to exit if the Sharks decide to take more of a last-in-first-out approach.
It’s also been reported that 2016 premiership coach Shane Flanagan’s deregistration will continue indefinitely, making it unlikely that there’s any chance of him returning to coach Cronulla.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
Renegade, they can’t just offload a single fringe player that’s on $350k.
Oto shark
Guest
Exactly
mushi
Roar Guru
How much were they over the cap?
mushi
Roar Guru
But can you really take away a premiership? Sure you can put a line through it for the purpose of history, but they can't erase how fans and players felt at full time .
Bill Blazejowski
Roar Rookie
Cam Smith has a testimonial game in a year he isn't even retiring (2018) and none of the cash he earned is even included in the Storm's cap for 2018/19. Are you going to whinge about the 2018 GF? Slater shouldn't have even played in that contest.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I don’t think it will be that difficult, they are already under for 2019 so it will most likely be one of the fringe players in the squad of 30... that would do the trick.
matth
Roar Guru
I thought they did time because of the property development fraud that they were using to pay the players illegally.
League4Ever
Roar Rookie
I thought the concession that was given to the Swans (which I think has been revoked) was an allowance in recognition of the relatively higher cost of living in Sydney versus Melbourne. I am not sure that really applies in this example as on that the basis the Sydney NRL clubs should have a higher salary cap than the Storm which would not be equitable in an NRL context.
Max power
Guest
A convincing argument apart from your opening and closing parts Middle was terrible too
Max power
Guest
Probably the dumbest thing I’ve read in a year
Max power
Guest
Fail Bought everyone else juniors st ridiculous prices with News limited money putting club into massive debt
Chris Love
Roar Guru
It’s not that simple. They still have to have a 30 man squad. So dumping or offloading a 350k player isn’t enough. They would have to offload a 500k player and re-sign a 150k player etc. Then it gets tricky this close to the jump. If said 500kk player won’t leave Sydney then it limits where the. Sharks can offload to and get full cap relief. Surely the group isn’t going to take a haircut? So any team with cash left in their cap could then say “I’ll take Fifita but we are only playing him 500 of his 750k” for example.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
You’re joking right? Half the QLD and Australian side then they can all of a sudden add Brett Finch to the roster at the start of 2009? Delirious.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
Nat I think you are picking up something that I thought as well. Barry Russell did't seem to be shedding too many tears for Flanagan. I got the impression that many at the Sharks were happy to see him gone.
Reesy
Roar Rookie
Maybe. I don’t know Gallen like some here purport to but I also dont know many who would sacrifice a years salary for the good of fellow employees due to the actions of the employer.
Peter Piper
Guest
As a Storm supporter there is one thing I am often told by rival fans and that is that the rorting allowed us to build an illegal team which went on to win premierships. Its a load of bull since the vast majority of the storm team at that time came through the ranks and debuted with the storm. However a large part of Cronulla's 2016 team were bought from other clubs during that cheating period 2013 to 2015 to help them win the premiership in 2016. If ever there was an illegal team that was it.
Steve
Guest
Wow...how "lucky" are the sharkies. 3 years of systematic rorting and they get hit with the equivalent of a damp lettuce leaf when they are caught. Storm and Doggies supporters must be livid with this decision. Should be stripped of their one and only title and shipped off to Perth.
Don
Roar Rookie
Not sure. Reported widely by AbC, SMH, Tele, Age etc It was a tangled web because of a property development, fake sponsorships, shonky 3rd party deals and flat out exceeding the cap. “The Barry” here on the Roar probably recalls more about it. But suffice to say, the Bulldogs paid a heavy penalty and had they won premierships in the years they were over they too would likely have had them stripped.
David Holden
Roar Guru
There is some talk that the Sharks are under the cap for 2019, so it’s questionable as to what calibre player they would need to offload. Heard that Ava is off to the UK so be interesting to see how it plays out. Kudos to Barry Russell for speaking out
Don
Roar Rookie
Charged, convicted and sentenced for fraud, theft and forgery relating to both the salary cap sort and the misappropriation of sponsorship funds. Both went to prison for 9 years with a minimum of 7 years to be served. The risk some of these execs run is when they have any position with the licensed Leagues clubs as well as role in the football club. Much heavier laws... There's still action to be taken against ex Parra official/s because of the positions they had in the Leagues club and their awareness and participation in fraud relating to sponsorships and salary cap rorting in the football club.