Regardless of whether they are innocent or guilty, the fact they refused to cooperate paints them with suspicion. There will always be an opinion out there they knowing cheated, and that will last as long as they refuse to clear their name, or at least as long as they remain at Melbourne Storm. I thinks its a blessing in disguise for all the lower tiered players to have been "let go" to otehr clubs - they can begin to distance themselves from the whole thing. The "big 4", whom the club has decided to keep and would have been eating up most of those undeclared payments, have decided they want to stick together at their club, and as long as they are there and together they will be seen as cheats.
All of this could have been avoided if they had just cooperated. Unless of course, you know, if they had cooperated they would have been proven to have been aware.