The NRL has a salary cap case which haunts them, ahead of their inevitable but very reluctant action to deduct premiership points from the Eels.
In 2010, when the administration of David Gallop was considering a punishment against the Storm for salary cap breaches over four years, it was decided to strip the Melbourne club of the 2009 minor and major premierships, the 2008 minor premiership, together with a fine and the added sanction of playing for no points in the current season.
Balloon deflated: The NRL will be forced to take points off the Eels.
During the tense discussion in Gallop's office, the code's then salary cap cop, Ian Schubert, pointed out that the Storm had been warned of salary cap breaches back in 2006.
So, within an hour of rapid justice, the Storm lost the 2007 premiership, as well as the minor premiership from the previous year and, later, a World Club Challenge title.
Parramatta has breached the salary cap five of the past six seasons. The club has been asked repeatedly since July, during which time it has been in constant dialogue with the NRL over governance reform: "Have you anything else to declare?"
The answer, repeatedly, has been a definite, no.
The NRL has been constantly lied to over third party breaches which have subsequently surfaced.
Both the Storm and Parramatta committed breaches over a period of years of similar amounts; both clubs had been warned, although the Storm was not offered multiple opportunities to confess. In fact, after being presented with charges and given five days to respond, chairman Rob Moodie flew to Sydney and voluntarily met with Gallop.
The difference between the two clubs on sanctions for salary cap abuse is that Parramatta has no current titles, trophies and premierships to lose.
The NRL is desperate for Parramatta to be a force in the west. A resurgent blue and gold army will deliver attendance figures and TV ratings, both precursors to the corporate sponsorships which are under-whelming for a major Australian sport.
Fox Sports ratings have increased significantly this year, and while Nine's numbers are down, this was expected because of simulcast viewing.
Collectively, ratings are up and Thursday night football has been a winner at the gate.
A winning Eels team would drive the up arrows even higher, ahead of a re-built Parramatta stadium and a bulwark against the growth of an AFL-resourced Greater Western Sydney club.
However, a 10 premiership points penalty would be a death sentence on the Eels' 2016 season, relegating the club from top eight to bottom of the ladder.
But what other sanction can the NRL impose? Monetary fines don't work. The Eels have been hit with fines for breach of salary cap rules five years of the past six.
Last year the club was fined $525,000 for salary cap breaches in 2014. Parramatta became the first club in history to breach all four club salary caps.
The slippery Eels' subsequent denials to the NRL of any further breaches has taken the case out of the court of incompetence into one of wilful disregard for the rules.
The Storm's 2007 breach was $450,000, although the club disputes this.
Melbourne officials suspect the forensic report of the News Ltd hired accountants, which has not been released publicly, added in every possible excess to sex up the size of the sin.
Yet the Storm had the 2007 premiership added to their sanctions because of a decision Moodie insists was made in less than one hour.
Furthermore, the Melbourne breaches involved the club guaranteeing third party agreements which the club say was necessary in a city where the AFL dominates commercial opportunities for sport.
Subsequent to the Melbourne punishment, the NRL decided to allow marquee player allowances, meaning a club can guarantee third party deals, currently to a ceiling of $800,000.
So, much of what the Storm did is now allowed, while evidence is accumulating that the Eels have exhausted all their marquee allowances and have embraced the illicit third party deals as well.
OK, some will argue that a sanction imposed by one NRL administration should have no relevance to another.
However, a key plank of all administrations is that a strictly enforced salary cap is vital to a balanced 16-team competition and the avoidance of lopsided results.
Furthermore, the NRL's Integrity chief, Nick Weeks, has studied the Storm's breaches and punishment as part of his anticipated action against the Eels but that is a story for another time.
