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Not if his registration with the NRL says it's his responsibility to make sure. One email to the NRL Salary Cap auditor is all it'd take - hardly an unreasonable imposition on players. If it's the players responsibility to be sure every cent they receive is fully declared then accepting a throw away assurance like that is no more an excuse than ignorance of the law.
Secret seven: Storm stars' payments under the microscope
ADRIAN PROSZENKO
April 25, 2010
Secret seven ... these players will have their payments scrutinised.
EXCLUSIVE
THESE are the names you have been waiting to read.
Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Dallas Johnson, Brett White, Michael Crocker and Steve Turner - seven of Melbourne's highest-profile representative players - will have their payments scrutinised as part of the ongoing salary-cap rorts investigation into the Storm. There is no suggestion the players - nor their managers - were complicit in cheating the system.
The superstars have played an integral role in the Storm's on-field success in recent seasons. All bar Turner have gone on to play for the the Kangaroos. Johnson (Catalans), Crocker (South Sydney) and Turner (Canterbury) are no longer at the club which, ironically, cited the need to stay under the salary cap as the reason for releasing them.
Another person of interest to the NRL's ongoing investigation is Andrew McManus. The concert promoter, who has brought acts including Fleetwood Mac and Whitney Houston to Australia, has been questioned by salary cap auditor Ian Schubert over his game-day role with the Storm. In an interview with the Herald during the week, McManus said Schubert had inquired about payments of between $5000 and $7000 he made in previous years to Cronk and the since-departed Turner and Crocker for appearances at his Melbourne Cup marquee and other promotional outings.
A Storm fan, McManus has been employed by the club to provide pre- and post-match entertainment. A well placed source said McManus was ''tight'' with disgraced former Storm CEO Brian Waldron, the man dubbed the architect of Melbourne's systematic rorting of the cap.
McManus told the Herald on Thursday, and was reported Friday, that Schubert had cleared him of any wrongdoing in relation to the Storm's rorting. However, NRL boss David Gallop confirmed McManus was still under investigation over his involvement with the club and player payments.
''Certainly. Ian has been talking to him over a considerable period of time. Yes [he is still of interest],'' Gallop said.
McManus did not return calls yesterday.
National Nine News last night reported payments to an additional player - Storm superstar Greg Inglis - were also being scrutinised by investigators.
News Ltd yesterday claimed Storm players and coach Craig Bellamy were not privy to salary-cap rorting based on the documented evidence the company had inspected. The question of whether the players were in on the Storm's cheating has been raised after former acting chief executive Matt Hanson handed over the files to News on Friday. The documents, which detail illegal payments to three players, were subsequently forwarded to Schubert. They refer to payments due to have been made this year and are disguised as third-party sponsorships.
''At this stage we have told Craig Bellamy that we fully support him,'' said News Ltd's director of corporate affairs, Greg Baxter. ''He has told us he knew nothing about it and that the players knew nothing about it.
''We have no evidence to suggest otherwise. We are supporting him and the players.
''When you read the evidence, as I did [on Friday] afternoon, there is really nothing in these letters that, as a player, you would have picked up and said, 'gee, that looks odd'. There is nothing to suggest that any player was involved.''
