PARRAMATTA’S season has effectively been ended this morning, with the scandal-ridden club docked 12 competition points by the NRL and fined $1 million, as the NRL today said it needed to “take a stand” against the club’s systematic cheating of the salary cap.
The decision instantly relegates the Eels to languish near the foot of the NRL competition.
In addition, the NRL has cancelled the registration of five officials at the club: Chairman Steve Sharp, Deputy Chairman Tom Issa, Director Peter Serrao, CEO John Boulous and football boss Daniel Anderson.
The NRL has also toughened its response to the Eels compared with the original provisional sanctions proposed in May, with the club’s currently favourable for and against points differential now revoked. The NRL has also dropped its offer to suspend $250,000 of the $1m fine proposed in the provisional sanctions.
The move follows revelations in the Daily Telegraph today of alleged new discussions in board meetings about rorting the salary cap that occurred as recently as February.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has talked tough on the responses of the so-called Gang of Five to the provisional sanctions, saying that there had been a failure to “take responsibility” for the club’s industrial-scale salary cap rorts first unveiled by The Telegraph in March.
“While each made points worthy of consideration, there was insufficient information in those responses to warrant any change to the penalties originally proposed in the breach notices,” Mr Greenberg said.
“The overall impression that I got from the responses is that no one at the club has taken responsibility for the deliberate, systemic and blatant breaches of the salary cap. We have to take a stand to demonstrate that the NRL will not tolerate contraventions of the salary cap which plays such a crucial role in giving us one of the closest competitions in Australian sport.”
In full, the NRL has imposed the following penalties:
* The Eels will be docked 12 competition points from today. In addition, all differential points (for and against) accumulated by the Eels in the first nine rounds will be revoked.
* The club will be fined the maximum penalty of $1 million.
* The “Gang of Five” have had their registrations cancelled.
* The Eels will be stripped of its Auckland Nines title won earlier this year. There will be no official winner for 2016.
The tough final decision follows rancorous dealings between the Eels and the NRL since the initial breach notice. Club officials have drawn on $400,000-plus in Leagues Club members’ funds in a failed NSW Supreme Court challenge to the NRL’s right to suspend its officials.
Mr Greenberg did say he sympathised with Eels fans, coach Brad Arthur and the players _ who beat the Roosters on the field last night, and have performed impressively in difficult circumstances this year.
But he added that the code had to take “a strong stand to preserve the integrity of the salary cap and the competition”.
“We would hope that, in the long term, this will help make the club stronger and ensure there is norepeat of the salary cap breaches which have plagued the club over the last six years.”
Mr Greenberg said the Parramatta club now has one of the biggest decisions since it was founded in 1947. “It can appeal the decision, which is its right, or it can accept this decision and turn Parramatta into the powerhouse club it should be. It is my view that it is time for the club to move on and do the right thing by Brad Arthur, the players and the fans.”
Mr Greenberg said the review had taken longer than originally anticipated because it affected the livelihoods and reputations of people in the game.
In particular, the NRL did not take lightly its decision to de-register a club legend like Steve Sharp, who had been a long time member of the Parramatta family.
Mr Greenberg said that, with this phase of the investigation completed, the NRL will now focus on improving the governance and operations of the Parramatta club. He said the NRL was ready to provide any resources and expertise needed by the club. “We have not intervened in the running of the club during this investigation because our priority was to give everyone involved a fair hearing,” Mr Greenberg said.
“But it is imperative that we help rebuild the club so it has a strong Board and strong management into the future.
“We note that there are currently several proposals for extraordinary general meetings at the club and we would urge members to support a Board and management group which is focussed on making the Eels a strong, successful team.
“The time for in-fighting and factionalism is over. The members have a chance to clear the decks and rebuild the club and we will be encouraging them to do so.”.
