Directors to pursue legal challenge against NRL

[Evenflow]

Bellyache said in a press conference that they could not take their integrity away from them... I am beginning to agree.
They can't take what you never had.

Congratulations Helen, not only a few weeks too late with the comment but also after 20 or so people have already said it :sarcasm:

 

[seaeagle sam]

I do agree that our premierships needed to be stripped, but I do not agree with not being able to play for points this season, yes we are over the cap and are an illegal team but there shouldve been more thought about how to deal with the team this year. The way David Gallop handled the situation could've easily killed the Melbourne Storm*

* in no way am I directing blame away from the Melbourne Storm because we put oursleves in this situation.

I think it was the way the the Melbourne Storm handled the salary cap that could have killed off the Melbourne Storm. I'd imagine every possibility would have been discussed before coming up with the penalty including suspension for the year.

Look, I'm not having a personal go at you or the majority of Storm fans who I am sure are level headed about this, I just get sick of hearing it's unfair the Storm can't play for points this season when no one has come up with a fair and reasonable alternative. It's not like you can give the players away, sell them or whatever this year. The other thing is by paying x amount of players overs, outside the cap, moulded the rest of the squad.

 

[Iafeta]

I do agree that our premierships needed to be stripped, but I do not agree with not being able to play for points this season, yes we are over the cap and are an illegal team but there shouldve been more thought about how to deal with the team this year. The way David Gallop handled the situation could've easily killed the Melbourne Storm*



* in no way am I directing blame away from the Melbourne Storm because we put oursleves in this situation.

Let me correct that for you - The way the Storm handled the situation could've easily killed the Melbourne

 

[LESStar58]

I wish they would just stop and concentrate on re-building our club and looking to ensure we have a competitive side under the cap next season.
They need to accept it and move on as this will just make it worse IMO.

I'm with you, belle.

I really hate to be a wet rag but all this talk does nothing good for us or the club. The only thing worse than giving a man no hope is giving giving him false hope and that's all this talk of writs is. It's taken time for me to make peace with the issue but the fact is that certain people in the administration (I won't speculate on player involvement like a lot of people on here are doing e.g. threads on Billy Slater; He sidestepped a few questions o that must make him guilty....give me a break. However, if there are any players proven to be implicated I will pass judgement on them at the time) unravelled all the good work that had been done to grow the game in Victoria) blatantly cheated, mislead and deceived the NRL. The question needs to be asked; what defense could possibly be used against that?

Mind you, if (and it's a BIG if) they pull it off I'll dance a f**king jig and if it makes the rest of the comp hate us even more then, hey, I'm happy with that.

 

[The EELiminator]

The question needs to be asked; what defense could possibly be used against that?

i agree its like a drink driver trying to argue the case because the cops pulled them over in a clearway

 

[dollyhands]

i agree its like a drink driver trying to argue the case because the cops pulled them over in a clearway

Drink driver should get off:lol:

 

[Bman26]

Drink driver should get off:lol:

If it was a towaway clearway then the cops car should be impounded and they should have to pay towing and other fees!

 

[LESStar58]

Unbelievable. After what's happened they are seriously thinking about suing the NRL? What can possibly be achieved from this, the re-instatement of premierships? Surely there is no-one out there, Storm fans or otherwise who wants that, those premierships are tarnished forever. Hasn't the game suffered enough?

I agree this is an issue for the club and fans but it will bring far more pain to the rest of the NRL community, far more pain to me. Or is that the intention, to destroy the game?

I love this game and I don't want to see any more damage. If Storm fans don't support this move then please tell your club, get a petition going or something. Or do you want to see your club sink further into oblivion, it's possible the club won't survive anyway, but this could be the death knell, is that you want?

Unbelivable.....................

I'm not totally sold on the merits of appealing but if by some chance the premierships go back in the record books I wouldn't see them as tarnished. The issue, for me, is the "even playing field" provided by the salary cap.

If everyone is rorting or cheating the cap (and I believe all clubs are to an extent) then it's hardly an "even playing field" is it? We could have an NFL sized salary cap for all teams but the fact of the matter is it's training and execution that wins you football games. It's the reason why Saint George-Illawarra won the minor and then got bundled out in straight sets last year; they lacked execution where it mattered. It's why Parramatta made the grand final after winning their last 9 games of the regular season and defeating the minor premiers from 8th spot; because they had the had the execution to do so.

If people want to argue that Melbourne won 2 premierships by not being on level pegging with anyone else, spare a thought for the Manly supporters who would have been blowing up deluxe about losing the 1997 decider to a team where 2 players (that we know of), including the Clive Churchill Medallist, were on performance enhancing substances.

Storm are my team and I'm not defending what people at the Storm did but they were punished because;

a) they were caught out thanks to an individual blowing the whistle on them (would never have happened otherwise) and the gits in charge didn't do it inconspicuously and left a paper trail; AND

b) above all else they had the most to lose due to the success they have enjoyed.

 

[dollyhands]

If it was a towaway clearway then the cops car should be impounded and they should have to pay towing and other fees!

and be locked up for wasting the booze bag's time

 

[LazyDreamer]

Skimmed over something about this today for the gist but, like the news items posted on here, didn't read it very thoroughly because quite frankly I'm sick to death of hearing about how these whining, cheating maggots are so f***ing hard done by. STFU and let the fair dinkum teams dominate the headlines for the right reasons.

But.

Is that Moodie character a part of this proposed legal action?

When the press conference was held announcing the rorting & subsequent penalties, I thought Moodie handled himself with a fantastic amount of dignity & humility. Seems I was wrong and Moodie is just a very good actor.

F*** it - if it succeeds in any way & particularly by allowing them the chance to accrue competition points this year with a stacked, illegal team, I say award them 2 points for every game (win or lose) then announce a finals series between teams 2 to 9, and the 100k prize that normal goes to the minor premier to instead go to 2nd place..

 

[The EELiminator]

Skimmed over something about this today for the j\gist but, like the news items posted on here, didn't read it very thoroughly because quite frankly I'm sick to death of hearing about how these whining, cheating maggots are so f***ing hard done by. STFU and let the fair dinkum teams dominate the headlines for the right reasons.

But.

Is that Moodie character a part of this proposed legal action?

When the press conference was held announcing the rorting & subsequent penalties, I thought Moodie handled himself with a fantastic amount of dignity & humility. Seems I was wrong and Moodie is just a very good actor.

F*** it - if it succeeds in any way & particularly by allowing them the chance to accrue competition points this year with a stacked, illegal team, I say award them 2 points for every game (win or lose) then announce a finals series between teams 2 to 9, and the 100k prize that normal goes to the minor premier to instead go to 2nd place..

im no lawyer but i cant see how they can win sure there might be a loophole they can use to take the nrl to court but what hope is there of winning after they blatantly and systematically cheated the salary cap and hid it from the nrl
they would have to argue because of the unfairness of the cap they were forced into cheating it good luck with that

 

[typicalfan]

a) they were caught out thanks to an individual blowing the whistle on them (would never have happened otherwise) and the gits in charge didn't do it inconspicuously and left a paper trail; AND

b) above all else they had the most to lose due to the success they have enjoyed.

a) Remember that this was deliberate and deceptive, the lengths in which the involved members of the club went to in order to field an illegal team is a disgrace to the code. I was very much embarrassed to be a supporter of the code as well at the time the story broke and I bet I am not the only one in that boat. You should have said they were caught out by what I said above (would never have happened otherwise).

b) you enjoyed illegal success and therefore deserved to lose everything you did and more, your side has more or less ruined the last 5 seasons of Rugby League. You are lucky you are a Melbourne based team if it were a Sydney based team they would probably wouldn't make it to 2011.

Also on the Cap that everyone cheats, how can you even say that every team cheats? based on your gut feeling. Most clubs could not sustain a yearly rort financially, let alone to the extent your side did. Lets not fluff this up for the sake of making the Storm look less guilty.

 

[LazyDreamer]

im no lawyer but i cant see how they can win sure there might be a loophole they can use to take the nrl to court but what hope is there of winning after they blatantly and systematically cheated the salary cap and hid it from the nrl
they would have to argue because of the unfairness of the cap they were forced into cheating it good luck with that

Yup. As someone else pointed out: If they win, Gallop & the mob with which he was apparently supposed to mete the punishment out get together & come up with the same punishment.

But all th e same, it's more schidt the game doesn't need or deserve.

 

[typicalfan]

im no lawyer but i cant see how they can win sure there might be a loophole they can use to take the nrl to court but what hope is there of winning after they blatantly and systematically cheated the salary cap and hid it from the nrl
they would have to argue because of the unfairness of the cap they were forced into cheating it good luck with that

I really don't see how on the one hand the Storm can go through with any type of action against the NRL and then in their next breath ask for their next 6 million dollar installment from News Ltd. The way I see it is the Storm are essentially seeking legal advice to dig their own grave.

 

[The EELiminator]

I really don't see how on the one hand the Storm can go through with any type of action against the NRL and then in their next breath ask for their next 6 million dollar installment from News Ltd. The way I see it is the Storm are essentially seeking legal advice to dig their own grave.

news ltd have already said they do not agree with this court action there is nothing to stop them from saying 'if you go to court we are cutting you off without a cent'

 

[The EELiminator]

You are lucky you are a Melbourne based team if it were a Sydney based team they would probably wouldn't make it to 2011.

what exactly do you mean by this mate? do you mean the media scrutiny & backlash would be much more severe on a sydney team?

 

[typicalfan]

news ltd have already said they do not agree with this court action there is nothing to stop them from saying 'if you go to court we are cutting you off without a cent'

Can't blame them, surely people can see that if the Melbourne Storm are to survive then 2010 is a massive PR exercise, the first few weeks after what happened they did quite well but this course of action will assure their future is short.

Melbourne fans have to see this as well, this should be a huge no go zone.

 

[typicalfan]

what exactly do you mean by this mate? do you mean the media scrutiny & backlash would be much more severe on a sydney team?

I mean that the NRL need a team in Melbourne, it is probably our most invested interest in the last decade, the NRL don't want to go into the next TV deal without a Melbourne team. But if a Cronulla (extremely hypothetical) were in the same boat, the NRL while they would prefer they stay, might have seen it as an opportunity to move somewhere else.

Edit: I will say it in a simpler way. If your club (I don't mean you in general EEL I mean the NRL in general) was found to have cheated the salary cap and was left to rely on News to survive, how many fans would actually think the white knight will come to their aid?

 

[LESStar58]

a) Remember that this was deliberate and deceptive, the lengths in which the involved members of the club went to in order to field an illegal team is a disgrace to the code. I was very much embarrassed to be a supporter of the code as well at the time the story broke and I bet I am not the only one in that boat. You should have said they were caught out by what I said above (would never have happened otherwise).

b) you enjoyed illegal success and therefore deserved to lose everything you did and more, your side has more or less ruined the last 5 seasons of Rugby League. You are lucky you are a Melbourne based team if it were a Sydney based team they would probably wouldn't make it to 2011.

Also on the Cap that everyone cheats, how can you even say that every team cheats? based on your gut feeling. Most clubs could not sustain a yearly rort financially, let alone to the extent your side did. Lets not fluff this up for the sake of making the Storm look less guilty.

a) I agree it was a disgrace, I'm a supporter of the club that the CEO was meant to be looking out for the best interests of. I'm the first to admit it's a disgrace. Still, as I have read elsewhere, the Bulldogs were busted on account of a whistleblower in 02. If there had been no whistleblower none of this would have happened. At the same time if Storm officials were stupid enough to hide an extra set of books and third parties knew enough to blow the whistle then they deserved to get caught.

The talk is that it was an ex-manager of one of the players who ratted. In my opinion it doesn't matter who it was or why they decided to do it really. If they can lie straight in bed at night over it then fair play to 'em.

As I have stated in earlier posts and in other topics including in the Storm forum, there is zero defense to the cheating that went on thus the reason I am not entirely sold on the merits of legal action. The cheating was a blatant scheme masterminded by Storm administrators and I, as you were, was embarrassed to be a rugby league supporter. Still it's a big part of my life and has been for 30 years so there was no way I was going to turn my back on it.

As for "what you said above" I didn't read it... but I will.

b) Illegal success... yeah, that's a pretty fair call. But let's say another team got caught last year. What would their punishment have been? Docking of points? I mean, what else can you take away from them unless the team in question was Brisbane or Manly? Melbourne cheated and had the most to lose from it due to their success, illegal or otherwise. If someone blew the whistle on dodgy deals going on at Manly between 07 and 09 do you think the NRL would strip the centenary premiership from them?

c) Mate, this is simply my opinion. You could even say it's my gut feeling, yes. We pay our top players a pittance compared to other sports yet we expect them to stay at this club or the other out of "loyalty". I have no doubt there is more than one CEO frustrated with the system we have in place and is coming up with ways to give their players a little extra to keep them at the club or keep them happy.

Come on, you can't honestly believe that every team in the NRL with the exception of Melbourne is squeeky clean.

 

[LESStar58]

I mean that the NRL need a team in Melbourne, it is probably our most invested interest in the last decade, the NRL don't want to go into the next TV deal without a Melbourne team. But if a Cronulla (extremely hypothetical) were in the same boat, the NRL while they would prefer they stay, might have seen it as an opportunity to move somewhere else.

Edit: I will say it in a simpler way. If your club (I don't mean you in general EEL I mean the NRL in general) was found to have cheated the salary cap and was left to rely on News to survive, how many fans would actually think the white knight will come to their aid?

The NRL might NEED a team in Melbourne but, let's face it, not many people (mainly in heartland NSW) actually want them, even before all this happened. If Storm folded I doubt many "traditionalists" would mind much...