Given the difficulties the NRL has had over the off-season, particularly in relation to player behaviour, the challenges that the Cronulla Sharks are facing off the field have, to a large extent, gone unnoticed.
But there are certainly some tough decisions ahead for the team that wear black, white and blue.
Just three months out from the commencement of the new season, the Sharks then-coach Shane Flanagan had his registration cancelled for breaching the conditions of his 2014 suspension (which was handed down for his role in the peptides scandal).
One of the strict conditions of that one year ban was that Flanagan was not to have any contact with club officials, particularly in relation to recruitment and retention.
If rumours are true that during this time Flanagan used his Sharks email address to send correspondence, surely his attempts to stay in contact with the club could have been a bit less obvious?
Along with this de-registration, the club was handed an $800,000 fine for continuing to stay in contact with their then coach, which was then reduced to $500,000.
Potentially what has hit the club harder though has been the impact of the salary cap breaches which were self-reported by CEO Barry Russell (who announced his resignation last week due to the strain of managing the club through this very stressful period).
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
These salary cap breaches go back to 2013 and it is suggested that a private company was set up specifically with the intention to pay certain players outside the cap.
As a result of these breaches, a $707,000 penalty has been imposed on the club’s salary cap for the next two seasons.
If you cut that figure in half you get $353,500 per season and it has essentially required the Sharks to shed a player and quickly, before the new season starts. There is still speculation about who this player will be.
Even though these breaches date back to 2013, what has baffled some fans is that NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has come out and said that the Sharks 2016 NRL Premiership will not be impacted given that the NRL has decided that the club was operating under the cap during that season.
While it’s baffled some, it’s certainly frustrated others; in particular, Cameron Smith from the Melbourne Storm.
This week, the Melbourne Storm captain came out and asked the NRL to reinstate the two premierships that were taken away from the Storm as a result of their salary cap breaches where the club was discovered to have cheated the cap by $1.7 million over five years.
Loss of premierships was part of a broader punishment for the club which also included a hefty fine and the docking of competition points.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
While being stripped of two premierships was undoubtedly difficult for Smith and his club, am I the only one who thinks he looks like he is crying over spilt milk?
Rather than demanding for his team’s Premierships to be reinstated, I would have expected him to be more vocal about stripping the Sharks of theirs.
In among Smith’s comments this week, he also said “I think everyone can see what happened to us was fairly harsh. You haven’t seen anything like it since.”
Is that really the case?
Other clubs have certainly been treated harshly following the uncovering of their breaches.
From the perspective of a Parramatta Eels supporter, the impact of the salary cap breaches discovered at my club back in 2017 had a significant effect which the club is still reeling from.
The Manly Sea Eagles essentially had their season derailed last year, partly due to the impact of their salary cap breaches, and the Canterbury Bulldogs are another club still feeling the effects of poor management of rosters and salaries in the past.
Smith should be focused on his team and the season ahead, rather than focusing on the past.
Regardless of whether the Sharks get to keep or lose that Premiership, it won’t change the fact that on grand final night in 2016, Paul Gallen stood in the middle of ANZ Stadium and declared ‘turn the porch lights off because we’re coming home with a trophy’.
It certainly won’t change the euphoric memories of many Sharks fans from that night who had the chance to celebrate their team’s inaugural premiership.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Additionally, breaches by the Sharks raise another question for me.
Isn’t it time that the NRL hired independent auditors to audit each club every year? It speaks volumes to me that the NRL have essentially failed to discover a salary cap breach of their own accord and still rely on whistleblowers and people within the clubs to alert them to anomalies.
Potentially another solution is to publicise player contract amounts which would go a long way to ending speculation about club’s being under or over the cap.
One thing that the NRL is exceptionally proud of is that it claims that the salary cap evens the playing field and evidence of this is that the competition has been won by five different teams in the past five years.
It’s for this reason that it’s vitally important we get this right; and given the number of clubs that have been found guilty of significant breaches over the last couple of years, it’s hard to say with hand on heart that all the clubs that will be competing this year are cap compliant.
We simply don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Perhaps it’s time that behind the scenes information was brought to the fore.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
That's an Alex Forrest "Fatal Attraction" allusion for the uninitiated.
Joe
Roar Rookie
So the Sharks were over in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 but not 2016. Also they bought Barba and Ennis in 2015 when they were over the cap, two players who were an giant piece of winning that year. Seems pretty suss to me but as I said I'll abide by the NRL's ruling and they've said keep the premiership so whatever my personal thoughts are for me that's done. Similar to a refs ruling, might not agree, might think its suspect but have to accept it and move on.
AE47
Roar Rookie
Boiling water is no friend of a rabbit
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
You only had 25 posts and they all appear under your profile. Haven't you figured that out yet Kevin? So there wasn't much effort required at all. The hardest thing was to decipher your gibberish.
Kay Merda
Roar Rookie
Papi, I'm speechless. You've researched every single detail of every single ROAR comment I've made for over 4 years? Slightly creepy, wouldn't you say?
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
I have suggested more than independent auditors Emcie. I also suggested that NRL centrally administer all player payments (both salary cap payments and TPA's) which must be paid to the NRL who will then pay players directly. Also, contracts should be amended to state that extra income through TPA's must be paid first to the NRL to register these payments. Failure to do so leads to said player being de-registered by the NRL (unless they voluntarily report payments immediately). NRL contracts need to be amended to allow the NRL and the ATO to communicate directly about all registered players. If ALL player payments were paid by the NRL this could help to facilitate a line of communication between the NRL and the ATO. There is probably no chance of this being allowed legally but the idea is that if it were players would have to lie to the ATO as well as to the NRL. That means players, club administrators or corporate sponsors would face serious charges and prosecution for lying to the ATO or having secret bank accounts. I'm trying to think outside the box here but the only way this can be managed is if the NRL and ATO can communicate directly and players are contractually obliged to receive all payments via the NRL ONLY. Payments received outside of this (if not immediately reported) will lead to players being de-registered. Or the NRL should just scrap the salary cap altogether and leave the Rabbitohs, Roosters, Broncos and possibly the Storm and the Panthers to divide the spoils in a "strongest and richest survives" system.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Hey Kevin Merde, are you running out of ideas? Only 25 posts since 2014 and you are already repeating the same insults and psychobabble that you vomited at Tim Gore on September 28th 2018 @ 4:29pm. 1) You’re angry at life 2) Hate any team that has sustained success 3) Are a prize-winner at picking low-hanging fruit Clearly you are just reading from "Psychology for Dummies", too bad that it's too advanced for you. LOL
AE47
Roar Rookie
Daniel is back , murder in the dark
AE47
Roar Rookie
Shuey and omelette
Kay Merda
Roar Rookie
Wow Papi Smurf, I can see how all this misdirected hatred and angst is really eating you up inside. You sound like a ticking bomb.. maybe all this trumpeting and ranting against the honest success of another club is symptomatic of an internal self-loathing toward your own sense of inadequacy and failure. Not healthy. I suggest you take some "me" time alone in a quiet, dark room, burn some candles and incense, play meditative chanting music and practice some tantric breathing.
elvis
Roar Rookie
If you are going to quote wiki then quote the source that should be included, otherwise you might as well be making it up.
elvis
Roar Rookie
You know an audit is just there to provide window dressing for the investors right? in this case the fans? It's not going to pick up any cheating unless it is a full on forensic audit which is a totally different thing, in which case the NRL will need few extra hundred million a year to fund the auditors.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Fraud on who? Breaking rules isn't fraud. Why should my money be spent upholding contracts between millionaires? The criminal justice system isn't free.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Because you could buy a house for a third of the price in Brisbane back then? And the players were always in the ads for everything earning extra money?
Dutski
Roar Guru
Am I jumping at shadows or do I get the teensiest suspicion that you maybe think the Roosters are suss? Hmmm.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
Wrong. Some players did in fact sign two contracts at the time.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
All clubs are rorting the cap one way or another. The NRL are either just incompetent or simply do not want to dig too deep within some clubs to uncover the extent of this rorting as it will prove the whole system is not working as intended. There is no way Melbourne can be top of the pops for sooooo looong in a tight and even competition as it is being claimed to be without some extra "assistance" somewhere along the line. And dont give me the crap that they manage their club better than anyone else or that bellamy walks on water either.
Sandra dowsent
Guest
What’s done is done let’s move on no club I know is perfect it’s 2019 season let’s look ???? to the future
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
It makes you wonder how much of a deterrent all the penalties and stripping of points and titles etc have been. The NRL probably thought when they came down hard many years ago the cap rorting would stop. It makes you wonder how many clubs have escaped detection as well. In a strange sort of way a the Storm have a victory of sorts even though they were stripped of two titles. No doubt they would much prefer to keep the titles but what's the next best thing? They've deprived any other team of a title as well.. Nobody seems to agree on who should be awarded the title in those years but just say they were awarded to Manly and the Eels. For Manly it moves them close to the most successful team of the era and for the Eels it takes a huge monkey off the back and gives the club a massive boost for the future perhaps. As for deterrents I've noticed an Eels player has been caught causing a bit of mayhem on a plane allegedly. It's not a great time to be a bit silly if you're an NRL player.
Gold Coast Bunny
Roar Rookie
“They were treated more harshly than any other club, rightly or wrongly” The answer is rightly