Down but still arrogant - "We're Still Champions - Kearns"

[mickdo]

Dirty stinking unrepentant f**kwit cheats

 

[Scarves]

Are people for real?

Seriously, it doesn't matter how many officials tell me that the two premierships have been stripped from Melbourne; and it doesn't matter how many year books I read into the future the have a (-) for Premiers in years 2007 and 2009. I know who won, I saw the games, I have them on Blu Ray, there is big time cheering at the end of the matches, there is Cameron Smith holding up a trophy and purple confetti everywhere while my Manly boys are down thinking about "rydemshun".

My kid will grow up loving league like his dad. He'll check out the year books after watching some old footage from the first decade of the century and ask me "What's this all about Dad?"

I'll say, "My boy, a team from Melbourne won, they had some great players which they spent too much money on, basically under the NRL policies of the day they were regarded as cheats."

These same policies that will probably change in five years. And that's the thing with policies, they change all the time depending on the administration, and that goes for any organisation. But someone felt important enough to change history under their watch ... so no one wins. Massive massive call as the sands of time move in. It's like the league wants to appear staunch and tough despite the irreversible damage that may be caused, especially in regards to expansion of the code and our war with AFL.

How would AFL have responded to this scenario if either Sydney Swans, the Brisbane Lions or one of those new frontier franchises had committed such cheating as the Storm? Jesus, they encourage it all the time, these non heartland clubs score salary cap concessions and are encouraged to buy marquee non cap counted players. What the F$#% are we in Rugby League doing? We are eating our own faces.

Christ, these grand final's and the respective season's have been done and won, and they were won by the Melbourne Storm Full Stop. That the NRL failed to pick up on the systematic cheating during those relevant season's is finished, recorded and dusted.

To the NRL, make your policies simpler and easier to police. What the Storm did is cheat everyone else and create the best team since those Raiders teams of the early 90's. I know they cheated, I know they should be punished, but these over kill punishments are detrimental to the future of the game. What the NRL have done is a knee jerk tragedy. Yeah wow, geez don't we look tough, tough like Uncle Chopper, maybe next we can chop our ears off.

We will look back on this decision in ten years with clearer heads and then we'll assess the damage done as a result of this season's destructive decisions and how they affect the progression of Rugby League in Victoria and the unnecessary mutilation of history. What opportunities we would have missed on.... we'll never know.

Melbourne won these comps, no one else won, whether these title are stripped, burned or pulped, it didn't work for Adolph, people will always remember the Storm won the titles no matter how many books or references of the premierships are expunged. What a bunch of belters.

 

[MSIH]

Wrong.

 

[Frailty]

Are people for real?

Seriously, it doesn't matter how many officials tell me that the two premierships have been stripped from Melbourne; and it doesn't matter how many year books I read into the future the have a (-) for Premiers in years 2007 and 2009. I know who won, I saw the games, I have them on Blu Ray, there is big time cheering at the end of the matches, there is Cameron Smith holding up a trophy and purple confetti everywhere while my Manly boys are down thinking about "rydemshun".

My kid will grow up loving league like his dad. He'll check out the year books after watching some old footage from the first decade of the century and ask me "What's this all about Dad?"

I'll say, "My boy, a team from Melbourne won, they had some great players which they spent too much money on, basically under the NRL policies of the day they were regarded as cheats."

These same policies that will probably change in five years. And that's the thing with policies, they change all the time depending on the administration, and that goes for any organisation. But someone felt important enough to change history under their watch ... so no one wins. Massive massive call as the sands of time move in. It's like the league wants to appear staunch and tough despite the irreversible damage that may be caused, especially in regards to expansion of the code and our war with AFL.

How would AFL have responded to this scenario if either Sydney Swans, the Brisbane Lions or one of those new frontier franchises had committed such cheating as the Storm? Jesus, they encourage it all the time, these non heartland clubs score salary cap concessions and are encouraged to buy marquee non cap counted players. What the F$#% are we in Rugby League doing? We are eating our own faces.

Christ, these grand final's and the respective season's have been done and won, and they were won by the Melbourne Storm Full Stop. That the NRL failed to pick up on the systematic cheating during those relevant season's is finished, recorded and dusted.

To the NRL, make your policies simpler and easier to police. What the Storm did is cheat everyone else and create the best team since those Raiders teams of the early 90's. I know they cheated, I know they should be punished, but these over kill punishments are detrimental to the future of the game. What the NRL have done is a knee jerk tragedy. Yeah wow, geez don't we look tough, tough like Uncle Chopper, maybe next we can chop our ears off.

We will look back on this decision in ten years with clearer heads and then we'll assess the damage done as a result of this season's destructive decisions and how they affect the progression of Rugby League in Victoria and the unnecessary mutilation of history. What opportunities we would have missed on.... we'll never know.

Melbourne won these comps, no one else won, whether these title are stripped, burned or pulped, it didn't work for Adolph, people will always remember the Storm won the titles no matter how many books or references of the premierships are expunged. What a bunch of belters.

So in other words, because they are from Melbourne and you don't agree with the Salary Cap they will be remembered as champions?

Sorry to inform you, but they will be remembered as the club who had a great start (1999 premiership) but then bought their way to two more and were found to be cheaters.

The players will be known as champion players, but the club will be forever tainted by this.

 

[Ulysseus]

Sorry to inform you, but they will be remembered as the club who had a great start (1999 premiership) but then bought their way to two more and were found to be cheaters.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves here, would not surprise me if they f**king cheated their way into that one as well.

Then again, with Harrigans refereeing performance that day you might just say they already did, to not see THAT pass was surely a miracle in itself.

Thing is, even if they stripped them of 1999, it'd bring no Saints supporter any joy, well most of them anyway.
No posthumous reward could possibly make up for the low, low, low feeling of that day.

 

[Doomednow]

Are people for real?

I'll say, "My boy, a team from Melbourne won, they had some great players which they spent too much money on, basically under the NRL policies of the day they were regarded as cheats."

Or you could say, you know, that Melbourne used deliberately underhanded tactics to assemble a team of some of the greatest players available. That they paid more money than any club was allowed for players and denied talent from dispersing to other clubs, creating an unfair advantage for them. Basically they had an unfair advantage and therefore didn't deserve any recognition for their wins in this competition which has certain rules regarding player salaries which they chose to ignore. Kind of makes them dicks, doesn't it son?

Doesn't matter if the policy changes in 5 years. This is the policy now. They cheated the rules that every club they apparently proved better than followed.

If you are a Storm supporter still proud to wear their colours then I have honest respect for you sir. It takes a true fan to stick by their club through thick and thin and this is about as thick as it gets. But don't you dare say the Storm won their premierships on fair and equal terms. Because they did not. And one who gloats about these wins is no better than any fan that jumps ship when their team hits rock bottom.

Stick with the team stance. They cheated, they owned up to it, they accepted their comeuppance. At least try to retain some shred of character.

Comparing the NRL to Hitler? Thats rich.

 

[Ulysseus]

Comparing the NRL to Hitler? Thats rich.

Well maybe the NRL hates Jews as well.
Maybe there is more to this conspiracy yet........

 

[Scarves]

Frailty. No, it's not in other words, my words are clear... please do not simplify them or paraphrase them. The NRL has complicated this not me.

I shouldn't have to defend myself on this particular point however; There is not any comment within my last post where I said I do not agree with the Salary Cap. I will make it clear now however, yes I do disagree with "certain aspects" of the Salary Cap in its current form but I'm not on my Robinson Crusoe there am I, and I'm sure there will come a time whent the NRL will change aspects of its Salary Cap Policy, and then they'll change it again, and again. But yes we need a flexible Salary Cap.

Next comment. Yes, I agree Melbourne should be treated differently under the Salary Cap, not unlike the Swans and Lions and soon to be Gold Coast and GWS are treated differently in the AFL. If we want to expand properly, my answer is yes, yes and yes.

However to qualify some of your paraphrasing of my previous post, so I can make it clear. If we as a code don't want to expand and we just want to remain a NSW and Qld type code, fine dude... if that's the consensus then I'm happy to agree with you, this is a fantastic decision by the NRL, i'll kow tow the company line while AFL tries to consume us with subsidies and salcious incentives.

Finally, at the beginning of your second sentence you wrote "sorry". You do not need to apologise for informing me about anything, that's your opinion, you aren't informing me at all. My point is as you so put it ... (The Melbourne Storm) but then bought their way to two more (Premierships) and were found to be cheaters.

To erase the record of Melbourne winning the 2007 and 2009 premierships is pointless, yes, we as fans will always remember that the Storm won, we can pretend that they didn't but they did. Yes, yes, yes we'll always remember Melbourne Storm won, and that they won under this method of cheating under the rules of the day. But alas they still held aloft the trophy, nothing can erase that true history, it's on the DVD.... And when the day comes and inevitably the NRL's new policy makers alter it's current Salary Cap Policy, the reasons for this dramatic and carnage like fallout will look like overkill. Especially if we have killed off the future development of our wonderful game into a strategic non heartland area.

 

[taxidriver]

so will you tell your boy to pick and choose which parts of the law he likes, when he grows up?

 

[Scarves]

Or you could say, you know, that Melbourne used deliberately underhanded tactics to assemble a team of some of the greatest players available. That they paid more money than any club was allowed for players and denied talent from dispersing to other clubs, creating an unfair advantage for them. Basically they had an unfair advantage and therefore didn't deserve any recognition for their wins in this competition which has certain rules regarding player salaries which they chose to ignore. Kind of makes them dicks, doesn't it son?

Doesn't matter if the policy changes in 5 years. This is the policy now. They cheated the rules that every club they apparently proved better than followed.

If you are a Storm supporter still proud to wear their colours then I have honest respect for you sir. It takes a true fan to stick by their club through thick and thin and this is about as thick as it gets. But don't you dare say the Storm won their premierships on fair and equal terms. Because they did not. And one who gloats about these wins is no better than any fan that jumps ship when their team hits rock bottom.

Stick with the team stance. They cheated, they owned up to it, they accepted their comeuppance. At least try to retain some shred of character.

Comparing the NRL to Hitler? Thats rich.

Check my signature, I'm a Manly member. I'm just looking at the big picture here, No real fan should be happy about any aspect of this but it appears some are rejoicing in the future ashes of the Melbourne club. The media have been falling over themsleves because of the incredible punishment that has been dished out to a club that is so strategic for the NRL in it's struggle with AFL and future media rights.

Yeah, you are right, I could tell my son that, but in the end I will tell him that in the end a game of footy was played out on grand final day 2007 and 2009 and at the conclusion of that simple game of footy, Melbourne outscored their opposition and took out the trophy, albeit with champion players that were over paid.

It will be really strange when he asks me how much they were getting and I tell him Inglis, Smith Slater and Cronk were probably on around the $600K mark give or take a free promotional tent or two. In ten years he'll probably think I'm having him on.

My point on the Hitler analogy is that despite the stripping of the Premiership, Cooper Cronk isn't giving his tatoo'd arm back, no matter how much counselling David Gallop offers the players. The history is there whether it is officially written or not.

Part of the big picture is that the Melbourne Storm Club is still the same club, the great players, the good supporters, all this role model community stuff... The renegade administrators headed by Brian Waldron have masterminded this terrible and complicated deception and many of these administrators are no longer even associated with the Melbourne club. The club isn't bad, the administrators were bad but now the whole game including you and I are paying for the evil decisions of people who deep down don't really give a toss about our game.

And the decisions made by the NRL against the Storm... well it's like they've fallen into a trap... and the AFL is absolutely loving these decisions being made by the NRL, we are basically scuttling the boat in Melbourne, providing our own hurdles for expansion and wasting plenty of cash in the process.

 

[taxidriver]

so answer my question then

 

[Scarves]

so will you tell your boy to pick and choose which parts of the law he likes, when he grows up?

No, laws are not policies so you can now rest assured that I won't tell him to disobey laws. For that matter I don't tell people to disobey policies either but simply put a policy is not a law.

Your hip to be square statement appears to be one of an easliy led simpleton that probably doesn't ever question much at all. I hope that isn't your bag dude, and that you are really much smarter than that and that the statement that you made is just from someone that thought it fun to follow the mainstream crowd at chow time.

 

[taxidriver]

thats what you could come up with?

bottom line is they cheated, yeah the rules sucked, yeah the policies sucked (my team has been ripped repeatedly because of these rules), but guess what?

you play by the rules

if you don't, then don't cry mercy when you get busted

there's a lesson for your kid.

on second thoughts, you should learn it first

 

[Scarves]

No drama's, everyone plays by the rules, you've convinced me... and so succinctly too.

I'll take your other suggestion (about the lesson for my son) on advisement.

Thanks for your second thought (hopefully you haven't used your second ever thought on me), can't wait for your third. I'll be back later to check on your work.

 

[ashee9]

Obviously, the club's image has been ruined, but if i were a storm player the thing that would make me most upset would be that bloody premier's tattoo on my bicep. Poor boys

 

[maple_69]

Double post

 

[maple_69]

No, laws are not policies so you can now rest assured that I won't tell him to disobey laws. For that matter I don't tell people to disobey policies either but simply put a policy is not a law.

Your hip to be square statement appears to be one of an easliy led simpleton that probably doesn't ever question much at all. I hope that isn't your bag dude, and that you are really much smarter than that and that the statement that you made is just from someone that thought it fun to follow the mainstream crowd at chow time.

Lets keep in mind they have in fact broken laws, legally binding contracts with the NRL and we will no doubt here a lot more about the criminal side of it in the coming months.

I think to say we shouldn't throw Melbourne to the wolves because the AFL wouldn't is just crap. If you're happy with having a money hungry code who doesn't give a toss about the sanctity of the game much less whether you club, Manly, gets a fair crack, then go follow that code.

Melbourne won those games sure, credit to the players, they could only win what was put in front of them, but everyone will always remember the club cheated its way there.

 

[Hanscholo]

Id like to see the trophies, the rings, the medals returned too. If the players cant accept the fact that they won under false pretences and are not the champions then id give them a wake up call and take back the rewards.

 

[Hanscholo]

Are people for real?

Seriously, it doesn't matter how many officials tell me that the two premierships have been stripped from Melbourne; and it doesn't matter how many year books I read into the future the have a (-) for Premiers in years 2007 and 2009. I know who won, I saw the games, I have them on Blu Ray, there is big time cheering at the end of the matches, there is Cameron Smith holding up a trophy and purple confetti everywhere while my Manly boys are down thinking about "rydemshun".

My kid will grow up loving league like his dad. He'll check out the year books after watching some old footage from the first decade of the century and ask me "What's this all about Dad?"

I'll say, "My boy, a team from Melbourne won, they had some great players which they spent too much money on, basically under the NRL policies of the day they were regarded as cheats."

These same policies that will probably change in five years. And that's the thing with policies, they change all the time depending on the administration, and that goes for any organisation. But someone felt important enough to change history under their watch ... so no one wins. Massive massive call as the sands of time move in. It's like the league wants to appear staunch and tough despite the irreversible damage that may be caused, especially in regards to expansion of the code and our war with AFL.

How would AFL have responded to this scenario if either Sydney Swans, the Brisbane Lions or one of those new frontier franchises had committed such cheating as the Storm? Jesus, they encourage it all the time, these non heartland clubs score salary cap concessions and are encouraged to buy marquee non cap counted players. What the F$#% are we in Rugby League doing? We are eating our own faces.

Christ, these grand final's and the respective season's have been done and won, and they were won by the Melbourne Storm Full Stop. That the NRL failed to pick up on the systematic cheating during those relevant season's is finished, recorded and dusted.

To the NRL, make your policies simpler and easier to police. What the Storm did is cheat everyone else and create the best team since those Raiders teams of the early 90's. I know they cheated, I know they should be punished, but these over kill punishments are detrimental to the future of the game. What the NRL have done is a knee jerk tragedy. Yeah wow, geez don't we look tough, tough like Uncle Chopper, maybe next we can chop our ears off.

We will look back on this decision in ten years with clearer heads and then we'll assess the damage done as a result of this season's destructive decisions and how they affect the progression of Rugby League in Victoria and the unnecessary mutilation of history. What opportunities we would have missed on.... we'll never know.

Melbourne won these comps, no one else won, whether these title are stripped, burned or pulped, it didn't work for Adolph, people will always remember the Storm won the titles no matter how many books or references of the premierships are expunged. What a bunch of belters.

And if your side is around in 50 years, which i doubt then the record will be the only thing left that matters, and that will say you won f**k all.

 

[stormbati]

The Nrl has deadset made a mockery of its own competition! No points for the rest of the year?! Yeah like to see how that will pan out.
They'll always be premiers, you blokes hated the Storm before this came out and now loving all of this.
What the Storm have down is bring shame on the game, the punishment handed to them will have a far worse effect.

They players didn't cheat, the coaches didn't cheat, they are the biggest victims in all of this. How dare the nrl take the premiership from them.