Melbourne Rugby League team hammered for breaking salary cap

[Rob W 0]

The lie of the Storm

Nick Bryant | 11:30 UK time, Thursday, 22 April 2010 BBC

 

 

Only the other day I was thinking how quiet and relatively uncontroversial the start of the new rugby league season had been. Now comes a bombshell: what is being described as the football code's biggest scandal in its 103 year history. To give an indication of how big the Australian media is treating this story, all the main news websites here have gone into emergency redesign mode. You get the idea.

 

The Melbourne Storm, the reigning league champions and the dominant side for the past four years, has admitted to massive breaches of the salary cap, the device which prevents the richest clubs recruiting too many of the most highly-renumerated players.

 

For the past five years, the Storm has been able to field a side packed with superstars. During that time, it has won the title twice, in 2007 and 2009, and come runner-up twice.

 

 

Now we know how it managed to do it. Off the field, the club pulled off the most audacious of dummies, effectively running two sets of books which hid from view prohibited payments of over $A1.7m. There has been systematic cheating for five years.

 

The punishment has been severe and unprecedented. Its two premiership titles have been taken away, it has been fined $A500,000, all its points have been taken away from this season and it will not be able to earn any more for the rest of the season. Every game will be a dead-rubber, and the side has plummeted from fourth place in league to bottom, an ignominious position which it will occupy for the rest of the season.

 

The club is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, and its chairman and chief executive, John Hartigan, said he was sick to the stomach when he found out. He says there were "rats in the ranks", and has promised to root out all those responsible.

 

One Storm fan has already delivered his verdict. He dumped all his shirts and memorabilia outside the club's headquarters in a couple of black bin-liners.

 

At a time when rugby league is facing a challenge from Aussie Rules in its traditional strongholds of New South Wales and Queensland, the code needs to maintain a franchise in Melbourne, Australia's sporting capital.

 

But will fans in Victoria, where Aussie Rules has always dominated, want to support a club that has cheated for the past five years? For the foreseeable future, what is the point of turning up to see a team that may be able to win games but cannot win any points?

 

The Storm is about to move to a fabulous new space-station-like stadium in Melbourne. Again, will anyone want to turn up to watch them in their bubbly new home?

 

Should the losing grand finalists in 2009 and 2007, the Parramatta Eels and the Manly Sea Eagles, now be handed the trophy? The league says no. But many fans will feel aggrieved.

 

Instead, there will be two blanks in the league history books - blanks that will speak of the stain left on the game.

[sammynb 3640]

At a time when rugby league is facing a challenge from Aussie Rules in its traditional strongholds of New South Wales and Queensland, the code needs to maintain a franchise in Melbourne, Australia's sporting capital.

 

As a footballer that lives in a country where the egg chasers in all their forms have been the dominant sports, I hope it breaks the back of league. Hopefully like with Union a couple of years ago, who believed their own hype, people stopped caring.

Problem is one of the three commercial terrestrial television networks in Australia has to much invested in league for it to disappear completely.

As for the comment above - football is actually the game challenging all the other codes, not Aussie Rules but if enough journalists keep ignoring the rise of football, maybe it won't happen.

Edited April 23, 2010 by sammynb

[DannyBoyFromOz 0]

At a time when rugby league is facing a challenge from Aussie Rules in its traditional strongholds of New South Wales and Queensland, the code needs to maintain a franchise in Melbourne, Australia's sporting capital.

 

But will fans in Victoria, where Aussie Rules has always dominated, want to support a club that has cheated for the past five years? For the foreseeable future, what is the point of turning up to see a team that may be able to win games but cannot win any points?

 

The Storm is about to move to a fabulous new space-station-like stadium in Melbourne. Again, will anyone want to turn up to watch them in their bubbly new home?

 

I've actually followed the team since its inception in 98, and whilst I'm pretty gutted by whats happened I'm not really surprised. The NRL itself is a farce, calling itself the "National" Rugby Leauge when it only incorporates 2 states and reluctantly 1 team from Victoria. Most NRL fans have never wanted a Melbourne side and would have been absolutely seething that the Storm have basically dominated the competition for the amount of time they have. Sure they've "cheated" but this salary cap business is such a wank that the only way a team can stay successful and retain their players, as demonstrated by this, is by cheating the system. So basically if this is to be the death of the Storm I will quite happily give up any interest in the sport and I hope all the good players realize that to make any money they've got to head to England which is already happening. I'll continue to support them as long as their alive, if only to hope to deny those north of the border any further satisfaction in our demise.

[wykikitoon 21513]

The cheating fucks should be stripped of their WCC the fucking cheating wankers.

[Rob W 0]

At a time when rugby league is facing a challenge from Aussie Rules in its traditional strongholds of New South Wales and Queensland, the code needs to maintain a franchise in Melbourne, Australia's sporting capital.

 

But will fans in Victoria, where Aussie Rules has always dominated, want to support a club that has cheated for the past five years? For the foreseeable future, what is the point of turning up to see a team that may be able to win games but cannot win any points?

 

The Storm is about to move to a fabulous new space-station-like stadium in Melbourne. Again, will anyone want to turn up to watch them in their bubbly new home?

 

I've actually followed the team since its inception in 98, and whilst I'm pretty gutted by whats happened I'm not really surprised. The NRL itself is a farce, calling itself the "National" Rugby Leauge when it only incorporates 2 states and reluctantly 1 team from Victoria. Most NRL fans have never wanted a Melbourne side and would have been absolutely seething that the Storm have basically dominated the competition for the amount of time they have. Sure they've "cheated" but this salary cap business is such a wank that the only way a team can stay successful and retain their players, as demonstrated by this, is by cheating the system. So basically if this is to be the death of the Storm I will quite happily give up any interest in the sport and I hope all the good players realize that to make any money they've got to head to England which is already happening. I'll continue to support them as long as their alive, if only to hope to deny those north of the border any further satisfaction in our demise.

 

 

But that's the problem with all ball sports in OZ

 

Rules are really based in in Victoria & S Australia

 

League is Queensland & NSW

 

Union is a middle class sport (rather an UPPER middle class sport in OZ) played in public schools everywhere

 

The $$$$ chasers have tried to expand the games country wide but it hasn't really worked

[DannyBoyFromOz 0]

At a time when rugby league is facing a challenge from Aussie Rules in its traditional strongholds of New South Wales and Queensland, the code needs to maintain a franchise in Melbourne, Australia's sporting capital.

 

But will fans in Victoria, where Aussie Rules has always dominated, want to support a club that has cheated for the past five years? For the foreseeable future, what is the point of turning up to see a team that may be able to win games but cannot win any points?

 

The Storm is about to move to a fabulous new space-station-like stadium in Melbourne. Again, will anyone want to turn up to watch them in their bubbly new home?

 

I've actually followed the team since its inception in 98, and whilst I'm pretty gutted by whats happened I'm not really surprised. The NRL itself is a farce, calling itself the "National" Rugby Leauge when it only incorporates 2 states and reluctantly 1 team from Victoria. Most NRL fans have never wanted a Melbourne side and would have been absolutely seething that the Storm have basically dominated the competition for the amount of time they have. Sure they've "cheated" but this salary cap business is such a wank that the only way a team can stay successful and retain their players, as demonstrated by this, is by cheating the system. So basically if this is to be the death of the Storm I will quite happily give up any interest in the sport and I hope all the good players realize that to make any money they've got to head to England which is already happening. I'll continue to support them as long as their alive, if only to hope to deny those north of the border any further satisfaction in our demise.

 

 

But that's the problem with all ball sports in OZ

 

Rules are really based in in Victoria & S Australia

 

League is Queensland & NSW

 

Union is a middle class sport (rather an UPPER middle class sport in OZ) played in public schools everywhere

 

The $$$$ chasers have tried to expand the games country wide but it hasn't really worked

 

Don't agree with you 100% there, Aussie Rules has done a pretty good job going country wide, 2 teams in Western Australia, 2 in South Australia. The rugby dominated states of NSW and Queensland are both getting new teams in the next two years so they'll both have 2 teams as well. And the existing teams in those two states have arguably been very successful with both having around 30,000 members each and winning 4 premierships between them in the last decade. The only two states in Australia that dont have an AFL side are the Northern Territory and Tasmania who are traditionally Aussie Rules states.

 

Football on the other hand has the potential to grow and grow. It's suffered badly in previous years under inept leadership and organization, but everything the FFA have done in recent times can only promote the game more, coupled with the National team's involvement in major tournaments like the World Cup

[Richie J 0]

This is a pity. For me the NRL is a great competition with loads of top quality players. I know there are loads of scandals in australian rugby league, but the competition is still worth watching. The Aussie team in the early to mid 2000s is one of the best sprts teams I,ve ever watched, and I reckon the State of Origin is the best spectacle in world rugby, including six nations and world cup union, and Andrew Johns is just one of the best sprtsmen I,ve ever seen (only on TV unfortunately).