The Wests Tigers will reportedly have their $750,000 salary cap fine halved and CEO Justin Pascoe will be welcomed back to the game in June.
The NRL will on Friday hand down their final ruling on the Tigers’ punishment for failing to declare an ambassadorial role offered to Robbie Farah.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the NRL will suspend half of their fine, Pascoe will be handed a six-month ban which will end on June 19 and their $639,000 salary cap penalty will be spread across the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Pascoe and the club argued that he had done nothing wrong owing to the fact the offer was made as Farah exited the club to South Sydney in 2016 and he never agreed to the deal.
His ban will be back-dated to December 19, meaning he will be back at the club’s Concord headquarters on June 19 following the mid-season representative round break.
The NRL’s decision to apply the salary cap penalty across the 2019 and 2020 seasons will ensure the joint venture does not having to shed players and ensures the recent signing of winger Robert Jennings will be rubber-stamped.
Jeffrey Dun
Roar Rookie
"They offered Farah an ambassador role for when he eventually retired, when he signed with Souths. The Tigers literally received no benefit." What's more, Farah has stated that he is yet to accept the offer, and is not sure that he will, which Marina Go confirmed yesterday in a TV interview. To compare this with Melbourne (or the Sharks) rorting the cap is laughable.
Fred
Guest
No fairness or consistency at all when comparing the Tigers punishment with the Sharks. The Farah deal was public knowledge at the time and was when he was leaving for Souths, so was clearly an administrative error. No competitive advantage at all (it would be a different story if it was done to attract a player to the club.) The Sharks, on the other hand, systematically cheated the cap for years - yet their punishment is lighter???
Mick
Guest
Melbourne deliberately and systematically cheated. In their final year of cheating, they were a million dollars over a four million dollar salary cap. If they didn't have their titles stripped what message does it send to the richer clubs...I'm sure plenty of clubs would take two titles in exchange for a fine and one year of playing for no points. The Tigers appear to have made a genuine mistake. They offered Farah an ambassador role for when he eventually retired, when he signed with Souths. The Tigers literally received no benefit. Just because one club received a harsher punishment doesn't mean its unfair. To put it another way if get doing 105km/h in a 100 zone, thats very different to being caught doing 90km/h in a 60 zone. Even though both cases are speeding one obviously has a much more serious punishment.
Ronald
Guest
Remember that it was Gallop when Melbourne's penalty went down.
Ronald
Guest
This harsh penalty was always more about making the Flanagan ban look reasonable than it was about the Tigers. Sure they made a mistake but they are angels compared to a certain team in the shire.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
They were being penalised more for someone's incompetence rather than a deliberate act. Some may say getting Pascoe back early is a bigger penalty anyway given his inability to process the rules.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm sure this result is way more palatable to Tigers fans. I'm not expert, but it seems reasonable to me. especially allowing the CEO back in June
Larry1950
Guest
Slap on the wrist with a wet lettuce leaf based on this outcome. Maybe, in retrospect, Melbourne Storm paid too high a price if you look at all the salary cap penalties since.