Cameron Smith has urged the NRL to re-visit the whopping penalties handed down to the Melbourne Storm for rorting the salary cap after Cronulla escaped being stripped of their 2016 premiership for similar breaches.
Smith, the most powerful voice in rugby league, said the Storm were stripped of their two premierships, competition points and three minor premierships – along with a $1.7million fine – just two days after the breaches were revealed.
The NRL’s latest investigation into the Sharks took nine months. The Shire club, however, retained their historic 2016 premiership.
Smith and Melbourne have gone on to win two premierships since the horror 2010 season, but the penalties will never be forgotten down south. The Storm players took years to shed their ‘‘cheats’’ tag, with rival fans often waving banknotes in the stands during the years that followed.
‘The clear difference for me is that there is a fair bit of time put into gathering all the evidence, the emails, all that sort of stuff, and they haven’t made a decision after what was just 48 hours like ours,’’ Smith said at the NRL launch on Thursday at Bondi Icebergs.
‘‘They have put a bit of time and thought into the punishment handed down to Cronulla. It hasn’t happened in the space of two days.
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‘‘As far as looking at what happened at Cronulla and having the understanding of what I know happened at our club, it sounds quite similar, yet we were made to play an entire season without points and had premierships taken off us. It is almost like the same or similar crime with a completely different punishment. If you look over the course of time from 2010 to now there are a handful of clubs that have been over the salary cap by similar amounts and they haven’t been made to sit out a season or not play for points.
‘‘They have been deducted four points, they have been deducted two points. For me, the main difference I have seen in the new administration, and that is Todd [Greenberg] being involved, is that he has taken the correct amount of time to go through all the information gathered and come to the correct decision then, rather than seeing a club breach the salary cap and then wielding the axe.’’
The Storm were fined $1.7 million for rorting the salary cap by $3.7 million over five years.
Cronulla rorted the cap from 2013 to 2018 before outgoing CEO Barry Russell self-reported a $50,000 discrepancy. The NRL uncovered breaches totalling around $700,000 after investigating the Shire club.
It is almost like the same or similar crime with a completely different punishment.
Cameron Smith
While the amounts greatly varied, Smith said the breaches at both clubs were over a similar period, and supported Greenberg’s team casting their eye over what was a swift penalty under then-boss David Gallop.
‘‘If they could have a look back and go over what happened at the Melbourne Storm over those years, you may find there is a different outcome,’’ Smith said.
‘‘To be honest, I think everyone involved in the club in that period has moved on in a lot of ways.
‘‘We are always going to hold a lot of disappointment from what happened in that season, but
I think you have seen from what we have been able to achieve, that shows that we have put it behind us in a lot of ways.
The Storm kick off the season next Thursday night when they host the Brisbane Broncos in what could be the year that Smith becomes the first player to reach 400 NRL games.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/sm...-for-same-crime-as-storm-20190307-p512jl.html
There is a difference Cam our players didn't get any boats...
