Former Melbourne Storm CEO Brian Waldron is closely examining his legal options in the wake of an extraordinary attack launched by News Limited chief John Hartigan through his tabloids over the Storm’s salary cap rorts last week.
Sources close to Waldron told Crikey he is livid over his treatment at the hands of News and is examining all legal avenues, including defamation, after Friday’s front-page Herald Sun splash that pictured him and other former-Storm executives above the headline “Rats’ Face Jail”.
On Thursday, News released a 15-page Deloitte audit that accused the executives of rorting the National Rugby League salary cap to the tune of $3.17 million. But strangely, no current employee of News, which owns 100% of the Storm and half the NRL, came in for blame from Hartigan at the accompanying press conference.
The News supremo, employing the defence used by former US Defence chief Donald Rumsfeld in the Abu Ghraib scandal, described Waldron, former acting CEO Matt Hanson, former Storm recruitment chief Peter O’Sullivan and former finance chiefs Paul Gregory and Cameron Vale as “rats in the ranks”.
“A small group of senior managers at the club orchestrated and concealed the extra payments,” Hartigan claimed.
In April, Hartigan said Waldron was the “chief rat” and said he was preparing to “root out the bad eggs” in the organisation.
As the Storm’s sacked independent directors prepare to abandon legal action in the Victorian Supreme Court against News this afternoon, the broader News apparatus has continued a staunch campaign to shift the blame elsewhere. On Friday, the Herald Sun devoted nine pages to the story, including an editorial and an op-ed from current coach Craig Bellamy.
Vale has specifically denied any wrongdoing, and O’Sullivan, now with the Sydney Roosters, says he is seeking legal advice “on a number of issues”. There is now a possibility that the two could team up to seek vengeance for a run of potentially defamatory attacks since the scandal broke in April.
A joint action involving one or more of all the people Hartigan described as “rats”, might be able to extract the truth from News, the source said.
During the recent Bruce Guthrie unfair dismissal case in the Victorian Supreme Court, Hartigan was branded an unreliable witness by Justice Stephen Kaye over his shoddy recollection of events that contributed to Guthrie’s sacking.
Readers of Hartigan’s papers weren’t told about this, the source said, and “Brian thought that that point should have been considered newsworthy”. Waldron was “looking forward to the prospect of John Hartigan returning to the witness box in Supreme Court of Victoria”.
In April, Waldron used Fairfax newspapers to hit back against News and called for a public inquiry into the cheating, which he said was rife throughout the NRL. Crikey understands that around this time, he also approached law firm Holding Redlich over Channel Nine’s coverage, with the firm issuing the broadcaster with a strongly-worded letter of demand. Nine is believed to have rejected the letter.
In the 11 weeks since, News has kept up a consistent line against Waldron, culminating in the attacks last Friday.
The Daily Telegraph, with a page one headline “The Full Betrayal”, included a column from Sports “Editor-at-Large” Phil Rothfield which bizarrely accused Waldron of “telling lies” because his voicemail says he’ll get back to callers. Apparently, he didn’t return Rothfield’s calls.
The former St Kilda chief was apparently “holed up and hiding behind the dark security screen on the front door of his East Hawthorn home in suburban Melbourne”, but was believed to have been simply at home as usual. Rothfield also said he wanted to publish Waldron’s mobile phone number so irate fans could vent before lawyers intervened.
Defamation law expert and barrister Dr John Bleechmore told Crikey the News attacks were likely to lower the reputation of those concerned: “Clearly they do, the innuendo is that they’ve committed serious crimes and are facing jail.”
He said the prospect of Waldron being incarcerated was “far-fetched” because the suggested wrongdoing occurred within the NRL and not in a broader jurisdiction.
“It doesn’t have the same degree of culpability. I don’t think you can justifiably compare that with a serious crime that could be met with a jail term,” Dr Bleechmore said. The fact News could be accused of pursuing an agenda, given its ownership conflicts, would weaken its case in the eyes of a judge, he added.
But Bleechmore said that under recent changes to the Defamation Act, there were “very broad” defences available to media companies.
On Friday, the Herald Sun claimed there were “four separate agencies with an interest in what the report has found: Victoria Police, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Taxation Office and the State Revenue Office of Victoria. The paper said it was “likely” the Deloitte report would lead to further action.
Does this make Harto a ratfucker?
take no notice. it’s just hartigan covering newscrap’s sorry arse, and his own. if he was honest – and we all know about that, don’t we? – he would confess that he’s the man in charge. If he had a shred of decency – and we all know about that, don’t we? – he’d accept reponsibility for gross mismanagement and incompetence. all he’s doing is using his own lie-sheets to absolve himself and newscrap of blame. what a turkey!
Isn’t it a problem for News Ltd. that over 3 million dollars was diverted without News executives or auditors picking it up. If it’s that easy to rip money off News there should be a few people losing their jobs.
To: News Limited
IT’S NOT A CLUB, IT’S A TEAM!
How stupid and naïve do you think we are? You want us to believe that you had/have no knowledge of salary cap rorting in your league. Sure!
You want us to believe that no other club in the NRL (other than Melbourne Storm) has tried to boost player payments dishonestly in order to keep their player list .Yeah right!
You also want us to believe that you want to continue the Melbourne Rugby franchise and have only the best interest of Melbourne Storm in mind. Oh please… !
Who are you trying to kid?
The so-called scandal of the past three months has spewed out and unfolded, worthy of a mini TV soap opera, starting with the shock (OMG) announcement that a league team (Melbourne Storm) had in recent years been making illicit payments to players which coincidentally occurred during the successful years of rugby league in Melbourne.
Amazing!
You then selectively and callously named one scapegoat that you chose to flog and blame via the media…Oh, but that’s ok because we own the newspaper and that will help us sell more papers. Won’t Rupert be pleased!
Now we hear that there may be others involved in the deception and this may get uglier!
Incredible!
But hold on, we need to be careful about what we will drip feed the media. So let’s report that “there is no evidence of knowledge or involvement by certain players, managers, coaches and board members”. How gullible do you think we are? This really translates to “we can’t accuse anyone else for fear of legal action”.
I could continue to quote more humorous examples such as employing a firm to conduct an investigation based on the scope and objectives which News Limited set down and then publishing your own edited version of the so called “independent” result. Are you serious?
The simple truth is you are an incompetent and irresponsible organization who should be looking inwardly to place blame on this so called scandal and the mess it created.
There is an obvious conflict of interest when the owners of a rugby team are also the part owners of the NRL.
We also know that that you will use businessman (Hansen, Waldron et al) when required, as pawns for your self-interest in your game of manipulation, then discard or defame those who don’t follow or question the rules.
Oh but wait!
We have rules for some (Victoria) but for others we may just turn a blind-eye (NSW and Queensland).
Seriously, if you want to take the moral high ground why not investigate fully all other clubs in your league just like you have scrutinized Melbourne Storm. Or maybe that will upset the NSW and Queensland teams and supporters and you couldn’t do that, could you?
What this episode does prove is the amateurish nature of your organization. Let’s paint a picture and we’ll make it as easy as possible for your small minds to understand…
Once upon a time, there was a group of bungling businessmen who decided to expand their game. After a decade of hard toil, the game was actually starting to make inroads in a state where another game was more popular. The team was successful, the supporter base was growing and there was finally more than one article being written in the papers about the team each week, despite the fact the businessmen did own the papers the whole time. But the businessmen decided they weren’t happy with this anymore. So they chose to completely discredit and defame the people and players that breathed life into the game in the new city.
So, after our little story what’s left?
1. A “club” where the owners publicly bag the behavior of their players (let’s all follow Hartigan’s lead!).
2. A talented team, where 90% of the players don’t know where they will be playing next year and has spent almost four months now trying to find new reasons to put their bodies on the line each week.
3. Finally, an indescribable board. No, this isn’t a compliment. There are literally no words to describe what is left of the upper management of the organization.
The Melbourne Storm IS NO LONGER A CLUB, because a club involves not just a playing group and supporters but also an active administration. Simply, at this moment, the Melbourne Storm IS A TEAM that thousands of people go to watch each week.
So, congratulations Mr. Hartigan and Mr. Gallop! You have ridiculed the club known as the Melbourne Storm and shot yourselves in the process by proving to be a totally incompetent and biased organization which has left behind a team of 50 players, coaches and thousands of devastated supporters. You must feel so proud!
So, what purpose did it serve if nothing has really changed other than a minimal increase in the salary cap?
Good luck with that!
It is still obvious that all teams aren’t playing by the same rules and nothing serious has been put in place to oversee and ensure all clubs’ financial reports are audited honestly and correctly.
A NATIONAL competition, a level playing field, fair and just – I think not!
Passionate Storm Supporter
Right from the start this has smelt like a personal attack on Brian Waldron by John Hartigan. It has received an unnecessary amount of press here in Victoria. Are we really suppose to believe that the Board, Coach Craig Bellamy and previous CFO Cameron Vale had absolutely no knowledge of the salary cap breaches?
This whole affair which has been presented in a biased manner by Hartigan’s papers is an insult to the intelligence of the public and Melbourne Storm supporters.