The Deloitte report into the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal should mark the beginning of a new era. It is time for the Storm and the rugby league world to move forward. The darkest hour comes right before the dawn and now it is time to get on with the business of ensuring the Storm remain a competitive rugby league team in AFL heartland.
The report’s findings weren’t particularly surprising, nor were the comments of News boss John Hartigan at the press conference: salary cap breaches were 83% larger than first anticipated, but given the NRL has already handed down a heavy punishment, accepted by the owners of the Melbourne Storm, it doesn’t change the lay of the land.
Thirteen players, including the so-called big four, were named in the report as being the beneficiaries of illegal third-party payments but none were found to be explicitly aware they were not included in the salary cap. Essentially, the players have been cleared, though their refusal to co-operate with the report casts a pall over their position. And coach Craig Bellamy was unequivocally cleared of any wrongdoing or knowledge of the salary cap rorts.
The two most interesting points were the naming of those involved in the cheating and the dismissal of the four independent directors who have launched legal action against the NRL.
Five Storm managers were named to be complicit in the cap rorting: Brian Waldron, Matt Hanson, Cameron Vale, Paul Gregory and Peter O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan was the interesting one — he’s revered as a recruitment guru and is the only one of the five still active in rugby league. He’s now employed by the Roosters and his future in the game must surely come under severe scrutiny as, presumably, will the recruitment practices of his new club.
News Limited also finally pulled the trigger and sacked the four independent directors. It was the right move. The independent directors, led by chairman Rob Moodie, were released Thursday morning after the report was digested by News. Their challenge to the punishment was short-sighted and delusional and reflected poorly on the sport. News had no choice but to sack them.
The Storm has accepted its punishment through its ownership. It is attempting to get a legal playing roster together for the 2011 season. It is getting its house in order. It should start with a clean slate and no ill will next year.
I’m a bit dumb so let me get this straight .. It is now accepted that the Melbourne Storm rorted the salary cap by $3.17 million and John Hartigan and News Ltd knew nothing about it?
News LTD were signing the cheques but either didn’t see or didn’t have prepared annual budgets for the running of the club they own.
If there were no budgets prepared well isn’t that a funny state of affairs for a company that through its media outlets are not backward in offering fiscal probity advice to governments and other usually public entities they have an “interest” in.
If there was a budget the suggestion then is that around $800,000 per year in hollow logging went undetected by News LTD accountants.
If thats the case who in News LTD is culpable and should they not be investigated to find out if they were also complicit or not?
It surely isn’t hard to find out it costs to run an NRL club either from the NRL or the accounts of the other 15 clubs and then do a quick comparison with the costs of running the Storm.
But then perhaps in the world of News $800,000 really is just petty cash.
Ofcourse if i’ve got this horribly wrong i am an old man on a pension who’s forgotten where his glasses are.
This article is prematurely upbeat.
There are at least 5 ex-employees of the club, 13 players and several player managers who took direct part in the worst of the cap-busting, as well as every other player, at all levels, who benefitted indirectly through the “kitty” being not depleted.
After the police finish getting through this couple of dozen and the courts digest whatever comes out of it, the Storm will be an unhappy club indeed.
If, as hinted, the scams were also used by other clubs, and one would be a fool not to think that players’ managers were not tempted to push the envelope, then every one of the other 15 NRL teams will need to receive similar scrutiny.
I will not be surprised if the Commissioner of Taxation has appointed a team to scrutinise the money trails.
We have not yet reached as much as half-time in this game.
This story has at least two more years to run, and a lot more big names to tarnish.
After the League, consider the other major sports codes – some of the same player managers will have their tentacles into them as well.
To me, there is one overarching effect of this whole sorry saga; that is that in David Gallop, the NRL has a most uninspiring, clumsy and ponderous leader who lacks the capacity for clear, decisive, communication of the issues. Sorry to say it, but Andrew Dimitirou leaves him for dead. As the leader of the body that is entrusted to clean up this sorry mess, Gallop leaves me anything but optimistc. He should really just go now. Get out and then have someone appointed to at least give some semblance of a clear vision for how this will never happen again. After Gallop’s press conferences I feel despondent rather than hopeful. Get rid of him, NRL.
@ Dire; Posted Thursday, 15 July 2010 at 3:12 pm:
Too many “if’s”, friend. Your guesses are almost certainly incorrect re both “they signed the cheques” and “didn’t have prepared annula budgets”.
The article states clearly that the expenditure was disguised as payments for other things, sometimes through intermediaries, and that the records were prepared in such a way as to hide these facts, until a forensic audit exposed the money trail.
News may indeed have been stupid, gullible or asleep at the wheel – that is their problem and is not a crime. What is deserving of penalty is these hidden payments and, quite possibly, some of the deals and actions taken to operate the scam. Only crooks do this kind of thing, so I expect fireworks from Melbourne Storm to continue and to grow louder for a while.
As for comparisons with the other 15 clubs… what if their management teams have been persuaded to walk the same slippery slope? Remember, the players’ managers and agents are not from a breed not renowned for having high ethical standards. The generic name is, I believe, “freeloading leech”. The managers and agents almost certainly at least tried similar tactics everywhere, even advising as to how it could be done. Similarly, those lilly-white gents known as league first-graders would, by and large, be happy to take what was offered at (say) Storm and then expect similar off-the-record freebies and money from the next club.
I expect the next year or so to be full of discoveries about the affairs of other clubs which will also be referred to the Fuzz and for the court reports to trickle out for another year or two further.
Dire, you have it so right.
Colin Skene, you have it so wrong.
This is not about David Gallup.
It is about News Ltd, and how this whole affair exposes them as either liars, or crap at their core business, which is news gathering and reporting.
This was a big story for a big slab of News Ltd’s readership. There was finger pointing and there were accusations for years. It happened right under their noses, in the club they own, in the competition they own half of.
But News Ltd are only getting the story now!
That makes them crap at journalism.
Or it makes them liars when they claim to have not known.
Either way, it exposes News Ltd as NOT a credible source of news.