The Week That Was: Why Cameron Smith is wrong about Parramatta Eels salary cap scandal response
a few seconds agoby BEN GLOVERSource: FOX SPORTS
CAMERON Smith has every right to feel a kinship with the Eels players.
Having captained a Storm team stripped of two premierships and forced to play a third season with no prospect of competition points, Smith knows only too well the sense of despair and futility that engulfs a team caught in the tempest of a salary cap scandal.
But, despite being one of the most intelligent players in the game, it is clear that Smith still hasn’t grasped the significance of the salary cap to the integrity of the competition.
Smith this week weighed into one of rugby league’s meatiest issues, the Parramatta Eels salary cap verdict, and spoke about the bitter experience of leading the Storm through a season in which they were denied the opportunity to accrue points.
A savvy operator like the Storm skipper would have known the questions were coming and he would have carefully crafted his response.
So telling the reporters that asked that: “From my point of view, I wouldn’t want any other player to have to go through what we went through in 2010,” is as good as saying the penalty the Storm were handed down was too harsh.
And it was too harsh, according to Smith, because it was too hasty.
“It was an awful year and those punishments were handed out fairly quickly. It is good to see the NRL are actually using some due process to go through this situation with Parramatta and it has taken a fair awhile.”
Absolutely the NRL investigation should be thorough. But does that mean they got the Storm punishment wrong?
Playing the best part of a full season without a competition point to scrap for is undoubtedly like Chinese water torture.
Maybe two stripped titles should have been enough and they shouldn’t have been made toothless tigers for a whole season afterwards as well.
But what kind of precedent would that have left? Not much can be taken from Parramatta; the only items lying around in their trophy cabinet are cutlery and not the type you’d use at a fancy dinner party. Good luck selling the Auckland Nines silverware on eBay.
So what kind of penalty sticks? What disincentivises the crime? And be sure, the penalty must disincentivise the crime.
The loss of hope. Hope is what drives an NRL club. When hopes are high, stadiums are full and merchandise stands are as popular as Shane Warne in a nightclub.
Why? Because silverware is possible. That’s all any fan, any player, any coach gets involved for.
Strip a club of hope and you strip it of a meaningful identity. That’s a genuine disincentive.
And let’s face it, if you leave hope dangling for cheats and rorters, it’s going to be virtually impossible to stop it.
Open that Pandora’s box and not only do you endorse an uneven playing field for those who do the wrong thing, you close off success for those who do it by the book. No one wants to support a competition like that.
Unfortunately that leaves the players carrying the can. Many believe the players to be innocent, although, as former NRL coach Matt Elliott recently told Fox Sports News: “If I’m getting paid off the books, I know I’m getting paid off the books.”
The same goes for third party payments that are made by association with the club.
We don’t yet know enough about the Eels’ situation to have a proper grasp on how deep in the poo they are. What we do know is that there’s been plenty of things done the wrong way and ultimately that’s allowed them to sign players that they may not have otherwise.
There will be consequences. The consequences will be competition points. Probably enough competition points to stop Parramatta from making the eight this year.
That’s appropriate, even if Smith believes it to be harsh.
