Melbourne must still be cheating the cap

[effnic]

If the mighty eagles play the storm in this years gf, when was the last time 2 teams played eachother 3 times in a grand final in a 5 year period?

 

[kia ora storm]

By approx 9:15pm tonight the Storm will most likely be 2nd on the ladder.

Fail...

 

[kia ora storm]

Buters,

They systematically cheated the cap over a few years plain and simple. No RL fan in their right mind would ever be offering an apology.

They are currently sitting in 1st position, with one game left and are a good chance to be sitting in 2nd by tonight. They have been playing good consistent footy thus far and are reaping the benefits via their standing on the table.

It's July not October, there is a long, long way t go. IMO they do not have the team to win the comp IMO. They still have an excellent spine but are lacking in other areas.

Good post Johnsy...it is only July and anything can happen.

It does suggest that the siege mentality against Storm is in effect again.

I seriously don't know why users did not just cut and paste their responses from last year in other Storm threads...saves a lot of time.

 

[Plutonium]

The storm is probably under the cap now but they are still wrongly benefiting from a side which was assembled by cheating the cap. They lost a few players but kept their 3 best players. It is the exact same situation as the bulldogs in 2002-04 who won a comp with a team assembled by cheating the cap (even though they took pay cuts to stay together).

Both teams should have been completely dismantled for such blatant cheating. Look at Carlton in the AFL. Only in the last couple of years have they recovered from when they cheated and they are now competitive.

 

[This Year?]

Fail...

 

[Shorty]

Storm and Manly on top, ah the good old days.

Yeah to 2 sets of f**king fans:roll:
Spare us the mind numbingly boring torture of another GF featuring these two....uuuh!

 

[taxidriver]

this storm side is still illegal in my view.

the core of the team and the youngsters who have come through would look compeltely different had the side not been illegally assembled.

imo, if this where to happen again the whole team should have contarcts anulled and go to the open market.

any players who fail to find a club elsewhere would then be re-signed first on their original contarcts and then the club could fill the rest of the roster spots.

 

[Evenflow]

The storm is probably under the cap now but they are still wrongly benefiting from a side which was assembled by cheating the cap. They lost a few players but kept their 3 best players.

Lost a few players? I'm not sure what number you class a "few" as but try 11 players from the squad of 25 players from last year. That also included 5 with representative experience so that would be almost half of the roster lost.

It is the exact same situation as the bulldogs in 2002-04 who won a comp with a team assembled by cheating the cap (even though they took pay cuts to stay together).

First you say it's the exact same situation as the Bulldogs in 2002-04 and then you add "even though they took pay cuts to stay together" How the f**k is it the same if they were allowed to take pay cuts to keep the team together and the Storm weren't able to do that? Did the Dogs also lose 11 players as well?

Given they were allowed to keep their squad together through pay cuts and losing nowhere near the turnover of players the Storm did makes the two situations (besides the rorting) f**k all alike.

 

[roarr]

I really dont enjoy watching the storm play.

When you watch Chooseday Night Football (or whatever it's called) on fox with all the games from 80's,90, early 2000's, once the player hits the ground hes tackled. Theres almost no wrestling at all. It's so much better.

When the storm play, every single tackle takes about 7 seconds and you can see how uncomfortable the tackled player is...with his neck,back, hips and legs all being pushed and pulled in all sorts of directions.

I understand this is within the rules, but its just annoying to watch and the ruck speed is so slow.

I guess I'm just jealous that the storm win 90% of their games and actually have the toughness and attitude to win games....rather than the tigers who play good once every 6 months and think they are the best sporting team in the world.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Lost a few players? I'm not sure what number you class a "few" as but try 11 players from the squad of 25 players from last year. That also included 5 with representative experience so that would be almost half of the roster lost.

It's all been said before, but they kept their most important players (with the exception of one). The players that they would most definitely have cheated to attract and retain. The rest were bit part players that can be (and pretty much have been) replaced with new blood.

I'm not overly happy about the above, but I can live with it. But to see any Storm fans complain about player losses due to this fiasco, when they were able to retain the spine that delivered them so much success, is an absoloute joke.

Make no mistake, Melbourne are doing well this season because they were able to retain Smith, Cronk and Slater last season. The recruitment that they made in the off season and juniors they promoted has played a small part, but they wouldn't be anywhere close to the top of the ladder without any two of those three.

 

[stormbati]

I think had we not cheated theres a good chance Billy, Cam and Cooper would still be there.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

I think had we not cheated theres a good chance Billy, Cam and Cooper would still be there.

Completely irrelevant. The relevant fact is that they did. They cheated to attract and retain those players, and they're still reaping the rewards of that cheating.

 

[Evenflow]

But to see any Storm fans complain about player losses due to this fiasco, when they were able to retain the spine that delivered them so much success, is an absoloute joke.

In case you were referring to me i'm not complaining about losing any players at all. We had to get under the cap and if that's the way we had to do it then i have no issue with that whatsoever.

I was simply pointing out to the original poster i quoted that we lost a lot more than a few players as he mentioned unlike the Dogs and we weren't allowed to take pay cuts to stay together unlike the Dogs which is why the 2 situations are completely different. That was the only point i was making and i'd have thought it was blatantly obvious.

 

[hitman82]

this storm side is still illegal in my view.

the core of the team and the youngsters who have come through would look compeltely different had the side not been illegally assembled.

imo, if this where to happen again the whole team should have contarcts anulled and go to the open market.

any players who fail to find a club elsewhere would then be re-signed first on their original contarcts and then the club could fill the rest of the roster spots.

Yeah, this is what I believe should have happened.

Illegally assembled and, more importantly, illegally maintained roster - should have been disbanded and started anew.
But that would have meant the Storm defaulting games, and would have lead to the NRL breaching TV deals and fans season memberships and who knows what other technicalities...

Because of this, the rightful outcome was never going happen.

But things are how they are, can't change that. Storm fans are welcome to celebrate being temporarily at the top of the ladder.
But making the "we're 1st on the ladder so cheating didn't lead to our previous success" call is a pretty weak statement.

 

[Plutonium]

Lost a few players? I'm not sure what number you class a "few" as but try 11 players from the squad of 25 players from last year. That also included 5 with representative experience so that would be almost half of the roster lost.

None of the above changes the fact that your team was illegally assembled and you are still benefiting form that cheating.

Oh and let’s not forget that when the Storm “got under the cap”, releasing Greg Inglis to do so, they were then able to “afford” to replace him with Beau Champion.

First you say it's the exact same situation as the Bulldogs in 2002-04 and then you add "even though they took pay cuts to stay together" How the f**k is it the same if they were allowed to take pay cuts to keep the team together and the Storm weren't able to do that? Did the Dogs also lose 11 players as well?

Given they were allowed to keep their squad together through pay cuts and losing nowhere near the turnover of players the Storm did makes the two situations (besides the rorting) f**k all alike.

It’s exactly the same in that neither of the 2 clubs was punished appropriately and both benefited in the following years from the cheating. The Bulldogs with a prelim final in 03 and a premiership in 04 and the Storm are looking likely this year.

Both sides should have been completely dismantled.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

In case you were referring to me i'm not complaining about losing any players at all. We had to get under the cap and if that's the way we had to do it then i have no issue with that whatsoever.

I was simply pointing out to the original poster i quoted that we lost a lot more than a few players as he mentioned unlike the Dogs and we weren't allowed to take pay cuts to stay together unlike the Dogs which is why the 2 situations are completely different. That was the only point i was making and i'd have thought it was blatantly obvious.

Not implying that you in particular are complaining about losing players, but the point I made is relevant to the thread in that certain posters may believe Melbourne are somehow vindicated and redeemed for having got back to the top of the ladder so soon after collecting the spoon for breaking the cap. The fact is that they were allowed to retain the core of the squad they illegally assembled and are now enjoying the benefits of that allowance.
























ps Butters is a genius.

 

[Butters]

It's a shame to see the mods have removed the "troll free" label from this thread, I was hoping for a much more civil thread than what has become of it. Just goes to show that not only do the Melbourne Storm have to put up with the corrupt NRL and biased media coverage, but their fans are also subject to rampant persecution as evidenced here with the mods advocating trolling in a supposed "troll free" threads simply because it was started by a fan of the Melbourne Storm. Shame on you mods.

The fact is that they were allowed to retain the core of the squad

Yeah and? As long as they're within the salary cap its perfectly fine.

they illegally assembled

They didn't break the cap to assemble the squad. They broke it to maintain it. Big difference.

are now enjoying the benefits of that allowance.

As the NRL have made clear, as long as the squad is within the salary cap now it's perfectly acceptable. Good to see you're still butthurt about Melbourne pwning Brisbane along with the rest of the comp nonstop.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Yeah and? As long as they're within the salary cap its perfectly fine.

Just because the NRL determined it as fine that they are under the cap, doesn't make it just or any less of a rort.

They didn't break the cap to assemble the squad. They broke it to maintain it. Big difference.

Completely irrelevant. They cheated. They assembled an illegal squad each year they cheated (whether that was through retention or recruitment is beside the point) and the core of that squad remains. That's cheating, no matter how much you attempt to blur it.

As the NRL have made clear, as long as the squad is within the salary cap now it's perfectly acceptable. Good to see you're still butthurt about Melbourne pwning Brisbane along with the rest of the comp nonstop.

Lol, you're clearly still mega-butthurt about 2006. You cheated and you still couldn't beat us. I guess I'd be angry too if I knew my team paid over the cap and still weren't good enough.


Please refer to my last comment. I'm sure the entire forum would agree with me.

 

[kurt faulk]

I mean how else could they be coming 1st on the ladder?

It's almost as if the amount players are paid has absolutely no effect on how they perform on the field, and that Melbourne's dominance from 06-09 was a result of a team with a superior culture and greater dedication to their jobs than the rest of the teams in the comp.

So now on behalf of the Melbourne Storm i'll be accepting apologies from those of you who wrongfully discredited Melbourne's achievements of 06-09 due to their "cheating".

Oh and please note that this is a "troll free" thread so please try to keep the discourse in this thread civil.

i'm not sure but they must be cheating some way. they are, after all, the melbourne storm.

.

 

[Hutty1986]

Butters, just give up, you are a f*cking embarrassment to yourself and the entire Storm fan base.