Australian sport’s black day

kate says:

06:50pm | 22/04/10

Oh what a shame,hopefully the storm can pick themselves up and continue,NRL you will be in trouble if the storm folds! The teams in Sydney cant get good crowds or even sell out a state of origin.

zack says:

06:49am | 24/04/10

One thing people don’t understand is that David Gallop made a huge and stupid mistake but going ahead public with the accusation about Melbourne Storm “alleged deception”. 
Did David stop and think for a moment that most of his clubs were doing it in some form or another? The word deception is truly out of context and I am sure a better word could have been selected for the occasion.  And Why Melbourne Storm and no other is the question? And why now after 5 years or so?
Being the NRL chief, it is David responsibility to ensure diplomatically that matters of administrative nature associated with clubs are sorted out internally and without resorting to Gestapo style TV tactics. Think about this for a moment…if say you are a director or a chairman of a company with offices in every state and say one of your offices is achieving great result but has made a breach…Do you think as a chairman will look good on your behalf to go on public TV and tell the world that you’ve f.cked up and that office must be shutdown? Did David stop and think about the huge consequences of his action to the NRL future, to his future, to club supporters.  In my opinion, David Gallop has let the game down big time and I think the NRL board should seek his resignation as well.

Big Al says:

08:28am | 24/04/10

Is it a coincidence, but every team that has problems with the Salary Cap happens to have been a News Limited Superleague team??????

seanbaldman says:

05:04pm | 25/04/10

seems to be only cheats that are part of News Limited Superleague are the ones
get rid of the storm and any other team the bulldogs should have been booted out

Peter Jones says:

06:27pm | 22/04/10

Besides the obvious difference that these are two different leagues? Because that’s the only difference that matters. Melbourne Storm broke the rules of the NRL and last time I checked that has nothing to do with the AFL.

Kt says:

09:08pm | 22/04/10

What exactly are you referring to?  Clearly you are just angry and looking for someone else to be mad at.  You can’t deny the facts, and they (at this point) are restricted to the Storm and have nothing to do with AFL.

Marky Mark says:

12:34am | 23/04/10

Simple: The NRL club was involved in negotiating the contracts. In the main AFL case, the club were not involved in negotiating the contract with the other company.

Karlos says:

02:28am | 23/04/10

The difference is the NRL takes action to stop this sort of thing and the AFL does not. They were AFL blokes at the storm who masterminded these rorts.

Paul Smith says:

09:18am | 26/04/10

I have yet to hear anyone make comparisons between the storm, and brisbane since it’s inception to just a few years ago.A team that on a good day would field a side of twelve or thirteen state of origin and/or internationals was always hard to compete against.Maybe nothing is said so as not to upset the queens from the north

Chet says:

05:21pm | 22/04/10

I think you mean North Sydney Bears.

Seano says:

05:55pm | 22/04/10

No he means Central Coast Bears who are coming in to the comp in 2013 (I think).

shabangabang says:

05:59pm | 22/04/10

No, I mean the Central Coat Bears. North Sydney ceased to exist when their merger with Manly Sea Eagles to become the Northern Eagles failed.
A team must be put in Gosford. More juniors than anywhere else in the country.

Mango says:

08:33pm | 22/04/10

I’m sure you meant Central Coast Bears, but the North Sydney Bears are not defunct.  They are playing each week in the NSW Cup.  They play the Western Suburbs Magpies this Saturday at North SYdney Oval.

Fran says:

10:40am | 23/04/10

Central Qld Bears,

Ditch the southern states and promote the game where is population growth is…...QLD….

Philip says:

10:21am | 25/04/10

Yeah, that’s right… ditch the southern states… and change the name from NATIONAL RL to something else at the same time and watch any TV rights money move to the AFL who are a truly national comp. People in Sydney are so blinded by the fact that the game needs to be in more than just NSW and QLD.

Bev says:

05:53pm | 22/04/10

exactly. I will be curious to watch AFL Footy Show tonight to hear their comments

Jack says:

04:52pm | 22/04/10

The Storm just get the premierships taken off them, Manly and Parra wont become the champs by default. Sentimentally/unofficially, perhaps they will, but not in the record books.

Tom says:

04:55pm | 22/04/10

Gallop said those sides don’t assume the premierships for those years. However as a Manly fan I will take the moral victory.

mazzy says:

05:20pm | 22/04/10

as long as the runners up have clean records.

Joe says:

05:37pm | 22/04/10

Can’t give them premierships by default cause of the teams that Storm beat in the finals. i.e. Broncos lost in the dying minute one of those years, if they had won, they might have won the comp. So too many ifs.

Greg Harris says:

06:07pm | 22/04/10

As an Eels fan, I’m happy to miss out on the premiership, if it means that Manly misses out.

Arnold Layne says:

06:50pm | 22/04/10

@Greg - on behalf of all Rugby League fans I applaud your sentiments.

Andrew says:

07:33pm | 22/04/10

@Greg, Good to see the love..
As a Manly fan, whether or not we get the 2007 premiership is not an issue. What IS a BIIIG issue is that even WITH the Storms “overpaid” team, Manly still managed to smash them into oblivion the following year.
Yeah.. thats right… we are still talking about that 40-0!!!

rufus says:

10:28pm | 22/04/10

NO to parra or manly getting a premiership through retrospective default. First, the clubs knocked out of the finals by the Storm-cheats in those years also have a claim. Second, all successful clubs now have the suspicion over them. I don’t believe the Storm are the only cap frauds.

NRL will be forced to dispose of the cap. It’s had it’s day. Unfortunately it will spell the end for some clubs but there are too many anyway.

Ginger says:

09:52am | 23/04/10

Any team could be potentially a premier in 2007 and 2009 - it would depend on what statisical methodology you apply. Essentially Melbourne storm shoudl not have been in the league over the last five years they were in breach. THat’s why Parra and Manly shouldnt get those premierships and that’s why the NRL is sharing the money equally around all clubs.
As an aside, I do hope some mathemetician does work out who actually should have one- that would be good to know!

Seano says:

05:57pm | 22/04/10

Agreed. That would really be a tragedy. I guess we’ll see how passionate the Storm supporters really are. Canterbury rallied around and they came back to win a premiership.

Fitzpal says:

07:18pm | 22/04/10

Of course it will, AFL reins supreme in all the southern states and will continue to do so! I feel sorry for the fans though. They are a minority group in Melbourne and will suffer greatly because of this!

Your name: Union Fan says:

12:10am | 23/04/10

I hope it does sound the death knell in VIC for now. It’s a saturated game anyways, and melbourne doesnt have room for so many codes/sports. My hope/thoughts are that some defecting players will wind up at the broncos or melbourne rebels which wouldnt be such a bad thing

Macon Paine says:

09:11am | 23/04/10

Yeah as a league fan im sad to say it but seems to be the end of rugby league in VIC. Melbourne is (sadly for them) AFL to the bone and the people of Melbourne weren’t even taking them seriously when they were dominating the comp so its hard to imagine they will ever support this team now.
Also with the introduction of super 15 rugby in melbourne, the storm are going to find it hard to attract sponsorship, who would want their brand associated with disgraced cheats, when they could support an up and coming rugby franchise in a truely international comp.
The NRL has got some serious decisions to make now, here is what I think they should do to help the game:
1) Storm should be booted from the comp
2) Cronulla should be relocated to Adelaide, immediately
3) Central Coast Bears expansion should be approved
4) Consider the introduction of a Papua New Guinea team in say 2015

Of course with the laggards running the game none of these things will be done.

Yewbitz says:

10:39pm | 22/04/10

You’re not from Queensland are you, Sammy?

macca says:

08:35pm | 22/04/10

pfft, prefer to see them go bankrupt instead adam?

AFR says:

11:22am | 23/04/10

macca, perhaps they could learn to balance their own books?

Shifter says:

06:42pm | 22/04/10

That’s one school of thought. However consider this, in the absence of a salary cap what is to stop cashed up clubs buying the best playing lists?

What sort of players would remain loyal when there’s a job at another company paying $200k more per season?

If the argument is that only contracts that are renewed with the same club are able to breach the salary cap you may find yourself in one of two unworkable situations.

Firstly, a club resigns multiple players for generous sums which in turn combine to go over the cap. How is this club then able to sign new players?

Secondly (and I must preface this with stating I come from an AFL background so I’m not sure how young kids get into NRL clubs), if clubs retain concessions for players they develop, what stops a cashed up clubs from buying every talented rookie out there thus starving poor clubs of supply?

Julie says:

08:26pm | 22/04/10

Shifter, restraint of trade rules require that in order to be enforceable restraints of trade must be reasonable and, to be reasonable, they generally must do no more than necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the parties imposing the restriction.  I think a case could be made that salary caps (which are a fundamental restriction on the freedom of talented players to earn what the market would dictate they were worth) go beyond what is necessary to maintain a viable competition. 

Some restrictions to prevent some of the concerns you mention might be reasonable (ie, imposing a maximum on the number of rookies clubs could hoard to starve supply) or even applying a draft that would enable an initial fair distribution of players to clubs, but salary caps are extraordinarily restrictive of a players rights.  I, for one, hope somebody finally decides to challenge them in our courts.

(by the way, I have no interest at all in NRL - it’s all AFL for me - so my comments are not prompted by any bitterness over today’s decision - I just have a passionate interest in restraint of trade!)

Shifter says:

01:42pm | 23/04/10

Julie, I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. I pose to you: how would any league maintain an even competition without a salary cap?

My thoughts are that after a few years the AFL ladder without a salary cap would be totally predictable: West Coast, Collingwood and Adelaide would be top 4 fixtures and Melbourne, North and the Bulldogs would line the basement year after year or even die out if player payments got too high.

As an example look at the EPL. The difference here is the promotion and relegation between divisions. Poor clubs don’t die they just go to Div 3.

Good AFL clubs (Geelong) manage the salary cap and their players lists well. There has been widespread reports of the Geelong players signing for less than market value to retain such a good group.

BTS says:

05:19pm | 22/04/10

Probably because the Broncos lost so many top players at a guess?

They have always had the most Qld players considering they’re from Queensland.

Yogi says:

05:41pm | 22/04/10

But Gavin, you could name a full NRL side of past Broncos players they’ve had to let go in order to maintain under the salary cap…read, Civoniceva, Ennis, Stagg, Harrison, Hannant, Webb, Tuqiri, Tait, Learoyd-Lahrs, Boyd, Priddis, Moon. Who’s your side and name me a full NRL team that they’ve lost ?

justin says:

05:51pm | 22/04/10

League isn’t even shown in Melbourne, (I think we get one or two games a week at 2am?), so is TV in Melbourne really that great of a concern for the NRL.

Anyhow, I hope this little saga can rid Victoria of league for good. Take it back NSW and QLD, we don’t want it.

Glenn says:

06:13pm | 22/04/10

The Broncos signed Falou in 2008. That year they had 6 out of 24 Queenslanders. That means they had a quarter of the state of origin side. 13 or more players would be required for them to have most of the Queensland players.

HB says:

07:55pm | 22/04/10

@Justin

What do you me WE???? Speak for yourself, mate….

boston_aussie says:

07:04pm | 22/04/10

Lauren,
this is a rugby league issue - don’t bring rugby into this…a small but important point of difference…

Lauren says:

08:14pm | 22/04/10

@boston_aussie - clearly I am an AFL girl, but last time I checked League and Union, whilst vastly different, both contain the word ‘rugby’.

stormmboi says:

09:53pm | 22/04/10

Its Rugby league not Rugby

Rich says:

12:54am | 23/04/10

To boston_aussie: Get off your high horse, eveyone knows this has nothing to do with union.
To stormmboi: She obviously was talking about league.

League and Union are virtually the same.  Both codes are two dimentional, stop-and-start, require a ball to touch grass on a portion of a square field to score, have two goal posts with a crossbar connecting them,  contain the word rugby and both are for the most part boring. 

Three key differences between the two are:
One is for the lower class (league) and the other for the upper class (union). 
Union doesn’t have a salary cap. And,
Point values of tries, conversions and field goals.

Whilst there are cosmetic differences, the underlying point of the game, and even the main rules are the same.  Lauren by strict means is correct in using the term ‘rugby’ to describe league. 

And yes, before you comment, I am an AFL fan, but my observations regarding the similarities and differences are valid, with the exception of the charactiersation of both codes being ‘boring’ as i will concede that is pure opinion.

Thunderkid says:

01:05am | 23/04/10

Lauren, the last time i checked AFL and NRL, whilst vastly different, both contained the word “League”

Ash says:

11:38am | 23/04/10

@Thunderkid - Poor comparison. The AFL is the competition, aussie rules is the code. So no, there is no “league” in aussie rules. RL & RU are both codes containing the word “rugby”.

Lauren says:

02:52pm | 23/04/10

@ Thunderkid: Wow, very clever. Except that League is still a form of Rugby.

Would it make you feel better if I changed me sentence to “I don’t even like any kind of rugby, including League or Union” ?

Or is that still too ambiguous?

Boston Aussie says:

05:47pm | 23/04/10

I’m not on my high horse Rich…

Your overly simplistic explanation of the two codes (league and union) does a massive disservice to both. So maybe I should just outline why AFL is nothing more than a weird arse variation on gaelic football. I mean, there both the same aren’t they? Just cosmetic differences…

The point remains that stating this is a rugby issue is wrong - which is the point i was pulling up Lauren on.

I’m sure if I jumped in here next time an AFL player was caught up in a boozing scandal and stated that all Gaelic Football teams are alike you’d be all over me screaming abuse..?

Jenni says:

05:53pm | 22/04/10

the reason the other Grand Final Teams from those years do not automatically get awarded the premiership is because there is no way of knowing if they would have won if they had been playing a different team.

If Storm had not cheated and had so many good players, it would have affected the outcome of EVERY game they played in for the year, not just that one GF game. This would have meant different teams reaching the finals, and whose to say that Manly/Parramatta would even have reached the Grand Final if a different team had been in the finals?

It’s all conjecture, you can’t retrospectively work out which other team would have replaced Storm in the finals had they not been there - it would have been an entirely different finals series.

Jason says:

02:38pm | 23/04/10

I agree- this clearly demonstrates that the AFL and NRL take a very different view on the importance of success in their expansion markets.
On average the Storm were over the cap by about $340k a year in a huge expansion market crucial to the NRL

Now, it is interesting to put that into context by comparing to AFL-

During Brisbane’s three-peat, they had an extra salary cap of over $700k per year…

And next year Gold Coast will have an extra $1m, as will GWS the following year

Not to mention the Swans permanently inflated cap….

Seems the Storm aren’t the only franchise with an unfair advantage- unfortunately for them it just wasn’t league sanctioned cheating!

These sanctions mean rugby league is now finished in Melbourne- I think the NRL may have just given the AFL the biggest free kick of all time!!

Big Stiff says:

05:18pm | 22/04/10

Chappell bowling underarm is far worse!

Mark says:

06:18pm | 22/04/10

Yeh the underarm was a national disgrace.

This is just a east coast farce.

Kate says:

07:53pm | 22/04/10

That would be the day Leigh Brown got drafted.

Ginger says:

09:55am | 23/04/10

Its definately the worst day in Rugby League Sporting history

John Dark says:

05:39pm | 22/04/10

Maybe that will be addressed later on once all guilty parties have been identified? Good idea though, rules are rules and object lessons must be made of those who flout them.

Stevo says:

06:32pm | 22/04/10

I’m sorry but I find it difficult to fathom that players colluded for the benefit of staying under the cap. I don’t think the best players ( from each team) sit around together discussing how much they are making and then tally it all up to find out that what they’re making is over/under the cap. All they know is that the admin has stuck by the rules and managed to keep a team under the cap. How can you blame an individual for signing a individual contract? Storm administration is to blame for this debacle.

Rod J'That says:

06:48pm | 22/04/10

Stevo - I think you’re right. I assumed the benefited players knew what was going on, but the scenario you’ve put forward is perfectly likely. My earlier post depends on the benefited players knowing they were accepting payments in breach of the cap. If none of them knew, then none of them deserve to be punished. My comments only apply to any player - if any - who did know.

Arnold says:

08:28pm | 22/04/10

Stevo, the players all sign contracts that are registered with the NRL.  Surely, if they’re paid more than what they sign for, they should be able to figure it out.

I’m not saying they colluded with each other, but individually they must have known what they were doing.

Dan says:

08:41pm | 22/04/10

But even if they did know, or suspect, it’s not the players’ problem. They can only ask for or accept a particular contract. How the Storm comes up with the money is up to the Storm, not the players. No, IMO, the players did nothin wrong. It’s the club which messed up.

Alicia says:

08:50pm | 22/04/10

Stevo the one thing I question is how these ‘extra’ payments were made. The Storm players who were receiving more than they should have would have signed an NRL contract that was, for example, for $100,000 per year. Surely they would have been able to work out that the payments in their bank account equated to much more than that, not to mention that the money would have been coming in two parts, from different locations. I’m inclined to think that these players may have known dodgy payments were taking place, but not necessarily a collective breach of the cap.

afl fan says:

05:35pm | 22/04/10

ahah good one

bloop says:

05:36pm | 22/04/10

J says:

05:25pm | 22/04/10

Have some compassion for the fans and players of the club who now have to pay for the wickedness of a few.

Troy says:

05:29pm | 22/04/10

It’s rugby league mate….Rugby is Rugby Union.  If you’re gonna comment at least know what it is your talking about.  At least the NRL has had the balls to punish the team, unlike the AFL’s soft stance on Essendon.

H of SA says:

05:48pm | 22/04/10

Its funny Shane should be corrected in this way, because by showing he doesn’t know much about the game - he actually proves his point.

Mike says:

06:28pm | 22/04/10

Rugby league was always a parochial sport. After this it will still be a parochial sport. To call it National Rugby League is a joke especially now that Melbourne Storm is dead. It should be called National Local League. AFL and the A-League are the only National competitions.

rufus says:

10:34pm | 22/04/10

AFL and Rugby League are both mostly unknown outside Australia. OK league maybe a bit in England and NZ, but not a true national sport anywhere. AFL? Southern half of the country at the bottom of the globe. Almost the only team sport that cannot play international competition.

Unpleasant though it is to admit it, soccer is the only true world game. And until we really excel at it, Australian fans are kidding themselves that we’re some kinda great sporting nation. The sooner we give up on rugby league and AFL and get right on board soccer the better.

Ian says:

01:41am | 23/04/10

LOL at soccer… you mean that sport with grossly overpaid superstars and boring games? Well I guess David Beckham does have to earn a truckload just to support Victoria’s dietary and fitness regimes as well as spending splurges (which is probably enough in itself to feed a family of 10 in a third world country for 5 years with each of her buying frenzies)

Dan says:

05:28am | 23/04/10

Uh, rufus, who cares how known AFL and League are outside of Australia. Popularity does not determine the quality of a sport, and simply because the rest of the world plays soccer, does not mean we should give up League or AFL (the latter of which IMO is the best football code in the world).

Macon Paine says:

10:23am | 23/04/10

@ Rufus
Well as a league fan i’d like to say the sooner we give up on AFL aka prancing aerial ping-pong (joke people!) (the only game which has to resort to becoming an farcical hybrid to play at international level, what a joke!) the better off soccer, league and rugby will be. It wont happen though. The AFL, appart from being wealthy, professionally administered and aggressive in their expansion plans is firmly entrenched in VIC with over 100 years of history, so the AFL barring some kind of miraculous financial collapse is here to stay. Better start praying Gallop!
Anyway the NRL is simply too incompetant (and it’s been this way for decades) to expand into AFL territory (eg: Adelaide Rams, Western Reds and now the long time cap rorting Storm). Union on the other hand have had some success with the Western Force and will fill a void in melbourne with the Rebels now that the Storm are all but defunct.
@ Dan
It’s true that popularity doesn’t effect the quality of a sport, some unpopular sports are actually great spectacles such as the water polo which I saw at the Sydney olympics. If a sport cant attract sponsors, fund future development, get tv and media coverage or provide decent salaries for its players then that will negatively effect its quality and popularity. It will have no reach. Simply because this reduces the sports ability to compete with sports that can do these things. The pie is only so big and there is only so much to go around, if a sport cant get itself organised it will miss out on a slice of the pie and be left with the crumbs. So for example if you look at Lacrosse which is played professionally in the US the average wage is about $15,000 USD and then compare that to say the NBA which has an average wage of $5.4 Million USD, this discrepancy is directly influenced by the popularity of the sport. Basketball is very popular, Lacrosse isn’t. They are both still good sports but one clearly trumps the other due to it’s popularity. There is more money to be made in the NBA than in Lacrosse as well.

Mark says:

01:07pm | 23/04/10

Those that mention ‘Soccer’ really mean ‘Football’, for that is what it is. ‘Rugby’ is Rugby Union, ‘Soccer’ is Football, ‘Footy’ is Rugby League, and who cares what they call aerial ping pong.

Andrew says:

08:58am | 24/04/10

Soccer might be the “world game” but that doesn’t make it any less boring as a spectator sport. It’s more fun to play than watch, it seems. League (with its crippling injuries) and AFL (with it’s 1km paddock) are the opposite - hate to play but great to watch.

I’ve tried - I’ve been to a couple of matches but it just sucked @ss. Gridiron is played in only one country but I’d rather watch it - or even Gaelic football (a minority sport even in the one country that does play it).

H of SA says:

05:46pm | 22/04/10

Heddles, you do realise that Rugby league isn’t big anywhere in the world, arguably including QLD and NSW. I mean, these are huge states population wise and some teams can’t even get 20,000 to rock up to a match…and this is the heartland of the game. Its not just small fry in VIC, its small fry everywhere. And its a decidely shaky big fry even in its heartland.

J says:

06:16pm | 22/04/10

H of SA you have no idea how big rugby league is in NSW and QLD. Its the most watched sport here by some margin even if its attendances seem small compared to AFL in Melbourne. It especially wins out on TV where it came first in 2009 Australia-wide.

Glen says:

07:02pm | 22/04/10

H of SA. Maybe you should check your facts a bit. League is now played professionally or semi professionally in 48 countries & growing (10 years ago it was only 8).  The NRL is always in the top 15 football competitions (all codes) in the World for crowds - I used to run a website (which I ran for 12 years), called World Football Rankings whch ranked every club & every competition average home crowd from every football code in the World. (beating the likes of Brazilian, Argentinian, Russian & French top Div soccer). The NFL is No.1, German Bundesliga No.2 & AFL No.3 with English Premier League No.4. Australia is one of only 2 countries in the World that has 2 football competitions in the Top 20 ranking competitions for average crowds (the other being England). So, in perspective, the NRL is one of the biggest football competitions on the planet for crowds. The NRL Grand Final gets much higher ratings in Melbourne than the AFL GF gets in Sydney. The NRL won the TV ratings battle with AFL in 2009, culminating with the NRL GF out rating the AFL GF nationally (not just in 5 capital cities).

Joel says:

10:46pm | 22/04/10

H of SA
AFL is a glorified version of touch football.  It is a chaotic, soft, ridiculous game that is played by soft men (though I do concede are very fit).  That is why the rest of the world see it as a joke and not a real sport that deserves attention.  As another reader stated you tools down in Melbourne dont deserve a team anyway so stick to your feminine games of soccer and AFL and let the real men play real mens sports.

H of SA says:

09:47am | 23/04/10

@Joel “You tools down in Melbourne” check my screen name if you want an insult to stick ?.

For all of those who think I’m saying AFL is better, I’m not. The AFL is a system of making money not a sporting competition. The difference for me is that I think Aussie rules is a good game, whereas Rugby League seems to me a way of adding too many rules to ruin a perfectly good game (Union). But the fact league can get beaten in attendance by a joke competition like the AF - despite its population advantage -should actually show League how bad its performing.

Some fair points Glen, but being in the top 15 sporting divisions in the world doesn’t make a sport relevant. Outside the diehards not many people care about more than 1 or 2 sports.

Also its unsurprising to me that Rugby League has better attendance than Argentine and Brazilian top division football (two nations in poverty so their clubs can’t afford large stadia and their fans can’t affords the rent let alone tickets), Russian football (hey honey lets travel 3000km’s to go watch a game of football in -4c temperature!) or French football (has to sell all its best players annually) look at the advantages Rugby League has: 1. Decent and safe stadia, 2. Is played in areas of high population. 3. That population is financially well off enough to afford luxuries like going to sport.

So if it can’t get 20,000 to a game is it really a competition that is doing well?

It may be played in a number of countries but would it even make the sports report on the news?

Lauren says:

03:04pm | 23/04/10

Mmmm.. Point taken. Me Dad always said that Union was the better rugby code, now I understand why.

And I agree, I don’t deserve my very own team, that would be quite selfish no?

Ginger says:

09:58am | 23/04/10

Yes, that’s why they will show up every week and have a go…..
The reason why they cant play for any points each week is because the club is still over its salary cap by about 700K

Andrew says:

05:37pm | 22/04/10

Agreed, the salary cap is a blight on the game just like scrums in rugby league it is a joke! Having said that, the rules are the rules and Meblourne not only broke them they did so deceptively and consistently. Does the punishment fit the crime ? I don’t know but I suspect this still has a long way to go.

Remember if you removed the salary cap at least 3 possibly 4 teams would be gone within a year. It encourages mediocrity.

H of SA says:

05:41pm | 22/04/10

Hear Hear. As long as the AFL rigs the draw to Collingwood and Essendon by having them play at home to “prop up” the struggling teams financially - it can’t actually be called a sporting competition.

Killing the competition to prop up clubs to weak to survive on their own. Not a recepie for success

David says:

06:01pm | 22/04/10

Salary cap competitions like the AFL, the NRL and the US football are all much better competitions in terms of evenness. If the salary caps are removed you end up like European soccer, where only a couple of teams dominate year in, year out, mainly because they are so much wealthier than the rest.

Julie says:

08:15pm | 22/04/10

Agreed - I’m hopeful for some decent restraint of trade litigation out of this case.  Andrew, it’s one thing to say ‘rules are rules’ but should they be followed if they are illegal?  It’s certainly not clear, for example, that we need a salary cap and a draft to maintain a competitive competition - the current system just encourages ‘creative accounting’ to confer non-salaried benefits on players of wealthy clubs (advertising, better facilities etc) and prevents players earning what the market determines they are worth.

Kt says:

09:18pm | 22/04/10

Rigs the draw H? That is rich to purport that on a day when much greater frauds are actually PROVEN.  Think the AFL is doing just fine.  You want to know how successful, just look at crowd numbers.

H of SA says:

09:57am | 23/04/10

KT,

Just because thief A steals more than thief B, it doesn’t make what thief B does ok. See the hole in arguing it’s a bit rich on a day when a greater fraud has occurred.

And I don’t disagree the AFL is immensely successful at what it aims to do – make money.

But as a sport, in terms of holding up credibility of results and values of fair play….it’s about as successful as Marion Jones.

That Guy says:

09:01pm | 25/04/10

The only really struggling club is North Melbourne. And even if the AFL is rigging the draw towards the Bombers and Pies, you can hardly say it’s destroying the competition when neither has had much success since 2000 (Bombers). The AFL has a good drafting system that means each team gets their turn at glory if they operate with any brains. Not too mention it didn’t take them five years to catch on to Carlton.

The one thing AFL needs to get together is the umpring. That’s in shambles at least once a week.

Bec says:

08:16pm | 22/04/10

What about the other teams that went up against them, who were legitimately under the salary cap, that have been rorted because of these cheaters? I’m not saying individual players are cheaters, but grand scheme of things, the team was cheating by holding onto players that were too expensive. Those other teams left everything on the field, they played for their contracts, fans and each other too. The difference is, their clubs weren’t rorting the system.

H of SA says:

11:54am | 23/04/10

Everyone who had to play the financially doping storm got handed a turd sandwhich too.

dean says:

06:21pm | 22/04/10

well put stormtrooper. I’d hate it if I found out my team (and I mean the brand not the players) cheated me this way too.

Andrew says:

05:45pm | 22/04/10

Agreed it is a price fixing Cartel but if you take the salary cap away no-one will go to Melbourne. Why would they?

The Roosters, Broncos, Parramatta and Souths will buy buy buy.

The Bulldogs, Newcastle, Cronulla, St George and a few others will really struggle.

Melbourne would go under. They already run at a $4m loss per year.

The point here is not whether the salary cap should stay or go but that one team sought and got an unfair advantage over all other (non-breaching) teams.

If the NRL really wanted a team in Melbourne to be a success they have to adopt the AFL model a provide incentives for players to go there.

The should get another $500 - 600K per year to attract players. That’s if you want a team in Australia’s second largest city.

Obviously they don’t!

Rev says:

06:29pm | 22/04/10

AFL is just as bad - they just don’t give a damn about punishing the offenders.

H of SA says:

09:59am | 23/04/10

Yup Rev, agree totally. Neither competition has any integrity.

Mark says:

07:05pm | 23/04/10

Yeah ‘H’, but I am sure NRL fans can at least spell ...

Robert says:

12:54pm | 23/04/10

I’m glad that making an offence jailable stops everyone from doing it…Just like murder, rape etc.

Mike says:

06:11pm | 22/04/10

I doubt you were ever a passionate Storm fan. Get over it folks. Salary cap breaches are occurring with all of the NRL clubs and many of the AFL clubs. The big loser is NRL. I doubt it will ever recover from this. 1.7 million extra salary paid over 6 years. Big deal. Gary Ablett will be paid 1.5M a year for 5 years when he signs up with the new Gold Coast AFL team. NRL is really small fry compared to other sports. The penalty they imposed on Storm is way out of proportion with the piddly crime.

kt says:

09:15pm | 22/04/10

Ahm, Mike, “WHEN” Ablett signs up?! “Many” of the AFL clubs?! How about some evidence. Let’s deal with the facts. You say that 1.7 mil is piddly but rules are rules - and potentially storm would be nowhere near as successful over the last 5 years if they hadn’t been able to lure so many top players with that extra money.

Mike says:

06:15pm | 22/04/10

They won’t bother checking other teams. Enough damage has been one. Melbourne Storm is there bunny. They must have concluded the Storm were expendable.

BTS says:

06:25pm | 22/04/10

or guilty…

wolf says:

06:03pm | 22/04/10

Actually the cap is $3.8M for the top 25 players.  In 2009 the Storm exceeded that by $400,000 (10.5%), for 2010 it has been estimated that the Storm will exceed that by $700,000 (18.4%).
This latest breach is on top of all of their disclosed breaches throughout most of the 2000’s for which they have already been heavily fined.

Andrew says:

06:05pm | 22/04/10

Not the point. If say someone is offering $150k for one of your good players (not Marquee) and you can match it, he stays so he can win a GF. You do that with 6 or seven players, you get to $300K+ per year. It allows you to keep your Marquee guys (Smith, Slater) that every clubs has but also keep some rising stars and good (not great) players that would go to other clubs.

Look at how many players the roosters let go after they were successful for a few years, look at Brisbanes player drain (Civonceva and Hannant) good players, but not Marquee.

Paul says:

07:04pm | 22/04/10

How can the whole competition become a joke? The NRL is the closest professional sport I can think of, the Storm ( with all the stars) have lost twice this year! The NRL will build from this, the Storm may not…
Congrats Gallop, the strong leader the NRL needs.

Alfred Deakin says:

07:48pm | 22/04/10

I know they were fined, and yes the exclusion from those drafts hurt (as it did Carlton later), but I doubt the AFL would ever take away a premiership retrospectively. That is, I’m sure Essendon supporters much prefer the fines and exclusions they copped rather than the “Baby Bombers” premiership being stripped from the record books.

Marion Jones lost her gold medals, but I’m still waiting for Raelene Boyle to get the ones she deserved from 1968 and 1972!

Alfred Deakin says:

08:41pm | 22/04/10

Yes, but what I meant was that I’m sure most Essendon supporters prefer that to retrospectively taking the 1993 Premiership from the “Baby Bombers”.

Pox says:

05:49pm | 22/04/10

You must be an AFL fan…bitter that your lame “sport” doesn’t have a worldwide presence. Sad…

Seano says:

06:04pm | 22/04/10

NRL rates on TV as well as the AFL. Crowds are up every year mainly because the quality of the game has improved every year. But don’t let the facts get in the way of your rant mate.

Ryan says:

06:16pm | 22/04/10

If you think the NRL is bad, what would you make of the A-League?

Alfred Deakin says:

11:07pm | 22/04/10

“Worldwide presence” - doesn’t bother NFL fans in the US. As for League - it’s tough when the Kangaroos take on the might of the thirteen English who play the game.

Seano says:

08:40am | 23/04/10

Showing ignorance there in a lame attempt to be funny Alfred. The English Super league is a well supported major comp. in the UK.

Alfred Deakin says:

10:54am | 23/04/10

I’m just making the comment to put it in perspective - in the UK the English Premier League soccer competition is by far the dominant sporting code, and has probably contributed to the the decline of cricket in England. Soccer runs really deep - some people even feel the shock result of the 1970 British general election was partly due to England’s defeat by West Germany in the World Cup quarter-final a few days before!

Seano says:

11:15am | 23/04/10

Yeah but soccer at the top level is only available on pay tv unlike the super league. Which has highlight shows and finals broadcast on free to air. It may not be the dominate code but it is well supported.

Jim says:

07:42pm | 22/04/10

You’re hilarious…

Sally says:

01:16am | 23/04/10

Hey, I’m a girl

Rachel says:

10:03pm | 22/04/10

Is that why Melbourne Storm gets more people to the matches than both the Bronco’s and Titans put together???

Ginger says:

03:44pm | 23/04/10

No @rachel- the reason why they got so many people to the grounds is because THEY WERE RORTING THE SALARY CAP. We’ve established that now.
Ummmmm and have you checked out the crowd numbers lately for Broncos and Titans….

Julie Coker-Godson says:

07:18pm | 22/04/10

I echo the sentiments of this post re David Gallop.  This is so unfair to him…and yet they still keep doing it!  What does it take for all the NRL clubs to get the message to do the right thing all the time and not just on the field.  A very sad day indeed.

Bruce says:

07:19pm | 22/04/10

Andrew. Agree. How many times does David Gallop have to say “sorry” for the dopes in rugby league. He is a brave man, however I feel sorry for him.  I would not blame him for walking away from the game.

Michael C. Donovan says:

01:10am | 23/04/10

Well said Andrew, and to add to your suggestion of Gallop moving to union or the A-League, I would be overjoyed to see Demetriou sacked and Gallop moving into the top job at the AFL.  That would clean up the sport quick smart.

There should be more administrators like Gallop in sport.  Period.

H of SA says:

10:29am | 23/04/10

Agreed. Gallop has deep sympathy and respect from me.

I mean this guy has to go to work knowing that at any moment he will have to apologise for the mistakes of others, anything from crimes to defecating in hotel corridors. He shows immense courage and self sacrifice just by not throwing it the towell for how the sport treats him.

Andrew says:

07:43pm | 22/04/10

Yep, office works just sold another 15 documents shredders at about 4.10 p.m. today

Bee says:

08:09pm | 22/04/10

Agreed

Red V says:

09:34am | 23/04/10

We lost the unloseable ourselves, but having Melbourne stripped of the 99 title would be a source of small comfort - if they began their cheating ways from the outset. Inception to premiership in 2 years…hmm, have to wonder… Go Schubert!

Mick says:

06:44am | 23/04/10

Well considering the lengths they took to hide their breaches, I’d say it’s a pat on the back for Mr. Gallop and his army of accountants who picked this up and put the spotlight on it.

Yogi says:

07:37pm | 22/04/10

Faceless, baseless, factless comment that Mick.

BTS says:

07:57pm | 22/04/10

Any evidence or just unsubstantiated scuttlebutt?

Gavin says:

11:26pm | 22/04/10

And New Zealand mate, ever heard of the Worriors???
just remember that no one has even heard of afl outside of Australia, and it is a niche sport at best in the 2 most populated states in Australia.

BTS says:

08:25am | 23/04/10

and a little place called the UK.

clipper says:

02:36pm | 23/04/10

only islanders play in NZ, and northerners in the UK.

JennyF says:

05:09am | 23/04/10

I expect a reason to turn up would be to be paid.

Alicia says:

11:08pm | 22/04/10

Bella - is quite easy to do. It’s called having two sets of books. Unless they were looking directly into all bank accounts they wouldn’t have had a clue.

Alicia says:

11:05pm | 22/04/10

Ben would you really enjoy a competition that has a small handful of wealthy clubs snatching all the goods players? Similar to what happens in the English soccer league? Nothing is more boring than a group of teams who continuously dominate.

Ben says:

09:12am | 23/04/10

Alicia, we increasingly live in a globalised market for limited sporting talent. If we artificially suppress NRL salaries talented athletes will be lost to competitions with higher caps (IPL, NFL, maybe Rugby) or no caps at all (soccer). We cannot remain a half baked professional sports backwater forever relying on suburban tradition to keep out best loyal. We produce great players and the world has noticed and will open its chequebooks. State based football leagues couldn’t match the money of the NRL/AFL now the NRL/AFL are struggling to match the money of international leagues.

H of SA says:

11:12am | 23/04/10

Ben has a point,

If your a natural athlete with a talent for many different sports do you choose the one that will restrict your earning potential? Do you choose one with popular international representative games? One with intercontinential matches (Asian or if your really good enough European Champions League)? Or do you choose to dedicate yourself to earning half an EPL weekly salary a year to play in front of a meagre crowd?

trent says:

11:46pm | 22/04/10

and the 3+ million a year they give to clubs?

NRL would be long dead if it wasnt for news.

Dragonboy says:

05:52pm | 25/04/10

Not so. The massive rise in player wages stems from the super league war started by News Ltd

jay says:

09:17am | 23/04/10

on the ball mate@ well said.

Mark says:

07:24pm | 23/04/10

Why is the tax man going to have a field day? Do you have proof the players didn’t declare their full income? It wasn’t declared to the NRL, that has been proven, there has been nothing to suggest the players rorted the ATO. Salary cap audits do not have access to ATO records.

Seano says:

08:50am | 23/04/10

You really have a tenuous grip on reality Luke. Until this happened the Storm were playing to packed houses. A strong team in Melbourne is good for the NRL.

And I have no problem with the Swans particularly but I do think considering that they a 700k loss last season I think the AFL are kidding themselves with the GWS team. A city that has too many NRL teams, one AFL team that’s making a loss and can’t even support one NBL team cannot support another AFL team. The should mate the GWS AFL team’s mascot the Lemming.

Mark says:

07:19pm | 23/04/10

David, there is absolutely no proof the players did not declare their full incomes. The NRL do not have access to tax records, they have access to contracts and payments made by the club. The audit from the NRL can look fine, it is then up to the player to declare their full income separately. It is no different from you declaring your salary from your employer, but then you have to declare income from investments, other jobs, bank interest, etc.

Fred says:

08:24pm | 23/04/10

When you pay talented boys obscene amounts of money to do what they love, a world of unreal employment is created where truth and honesty matters nought. Paying tax is not on the radar! The culture is one of Disneyland and self indulgence, and real world rules don’t apply.Buckets of money will corrupt most people and they lose their values. Amatuer sport has a lot to commend it!

Seano says:

08:45am | 23/04/10

Bwhahahahahahahahaha….dire predictions like this from league haters are nothing new. The reality is that gate and ratings go up every season and the product on the field is continually improving.

Sure this is a dark day for league but it shows the strength of the code that they are willing to take such a serious stand against cheating. Would the AFL do the same thing?

Richard says:

01:39pm | 23/04/10

Bound for second tier status? It never got beyond second tier in it’s entire history.  It’s quickly heading for third tier behind soccer or basketcaseball. The NRL doesn’t even have the most popular club in QLD or NSW let alone the rest of Australia. It overstates its attendances and ratings and a generates a fraction of the revenue of the AFL. The NRL isn’t even credit worthy enough to get a bank loan.

The only growth area in the NRL are the delusions among their few remaining fans that it is a sport of consequence.

Steve says:

05:55pm | 25/04/10

NRL has a large fan base you tool. Crawl back to your sewing circle nancy.

H of SA says:

11:57am | 23/04/10

What you say shows some of the problems with the cap, even if its a “good idea” how the heck do you police it? Lets make it even simpler than the wife. What is to stop wads of cash changing hands?

Seano says:

08:35am | 23/04/10

The Sharks could have Slater as long as the Knights can have Inglis and Finch.

David B says:

11:15am | 23/04/10

Jim.  what do you mean? the competition already is a farce

Seano says:

11:19am | 23/04/10

Farce? Turn it up. The gates and TV ratings are up every season and the quality of the game and coverage continually improves. And salary cap or not Melbourne are a great side. Just a shame the couldn’t do it within the same restrictions other clubs face. The game would be a farce if the NRL hadn’t exacted swift and severe punishment but they have. Would the AFL have the same courage?

H of SA says:

12:34pm | 23/04/10

Hi Peter,

No I’m not suggesting that there aren’t rugby league games that get over 20,000 – my first post on the topic shouldn’t have left room for confusion about that.

But many do. For some reason the ABC reports on Rugby League on their sports broadcast in SA, even though most of us would stuggle to name an NRL team – we could tell you about the bulldogs because of the scandal – but would be stumped to tell you their full name or which town/region they represent.

When watching these reports one thing always struck me was how absurdly low the crowd figures looked. They would have been small even here in sleepy Adelaide – and I was like, hang on isn’t league supposed to be popular in Sydney? Doesn’t Sydney have a big population? As far as I can tell it isn’t even very popular in its home states – just from the raw crowd data.

And yes, 20,000 is just a number – I only use it as a means of explaining that League doesn’t seem to be very popular anywhere, I suppose even not getting 30 or 40 thousand to a game in Sydney could be called a failure given the size and prosperity of the popualtion. I can only speculate as I don’t live there, but it seems only a minority of the population follows league. This is very different to most cities in the world from Melbourne, to Washington, to Madrid, to Buenos Aires, to London, to Istanbul where most people have some interest in the top football code.

Hermano says:

02:41pm | 23/04/10

Doesn’t make it right, mate.
I would hope that every time someone deliberately breaks the law that they would receive this sort of treatment.  Whether it was a million bucks or thousand bucks, they knowingly broke the law to gain advantage.  They then did their best to cover it up so they could continue to break the law to gain advantage.
And I hope you get caught out on your fudged expense reports you just admitted to, and everything else you cheat on.  And you get booked for speeding next time, and that red light you squeeze through.  People like you give the mandate to the big boys to keep cheating: you expect it, they deliver.
Have some balls, do the right thing, call people out when they cheat: the world just might become a nicer place.

Mark says:

06:59pm | 23/04/10

Ben, you could at least get your sport references correct. ‘Rugby’ by itself refers to rugby union, which seems to be alive and well with the Rebels ready to get going. It is rugby league that is having the issue, a totally different game.

Ben H says:

03:43pm | 24/04/10

Mark, for you I’ll state the obvious: AFL is footy. I would say far more people in this country would refer to it as so, compared to rugby league or soccer. Something other than footy being called footy only confuses things, get it right.

Dragonboy says:

05:58pm | 25/04/10

And Ben, for you, i’ll state the obvious. Language and names are not owned by one region. What “footy” is will depend on where you are standing.

Ben H says:

02:25pm | 27/04/10

footy is far more popular than rugby league, so it takes the title of ‘footy’ hands down.

BM-dog says:

11:49am | 18/05/10

Bzzzt. AFL is not ‘far more popular’ than rugby league, if you look at TV ratings which is the fairest comparison they are roughly even. Anyway, the word ‘footy’ refers to league in NRL states and AFL in AFL states. Sadly parochial Victorians seem unable to wrap their heads around this idea.

Mark says:

11:40am | 26/04/10

So what’s your point, that the salary cap should not be policed? That anything should not be policed? Authorities can only act on what they can prove, and what they can prove is the Storm cheated. If you have proof the other teams are cheating, then why don’t you present it to the people who can do something about it? Other than that, how about you leave the “everyone’s doing it” defense to the school yard.