NRL Reopens Melbourne Storm Salary Cap Investigation

[Tooooks]

The media have been ridiculously soft on the Storm, partly because it's such a boy's club inhabited almost entirely by ex-players who don't want to offend current players by asking them the tough questions that need to be asked.

As far as I'm aware, there was no extensive investigation into the complicity of OTHER staff (including players and coaching staff etc) and it was blamed almost entirely on Waldron.

It's funny how a regular fan like me was asking "how the hell can they be under the cap" in 2008, but no one associated with the club did? Come on. Now, I don't know how many contracts Smith signed (does anyone have any links?), but I'd be surprised if a relatively intelligent and articulate bloke who manages his own financial affairs, would be ignorant of what was going on. This should've been thoroughly investigated and if he or any other player was found guilty of being knowingly involved in this systematic cheating, then they should've received a life ban. The NRL, being a fairly weak organisation, run by gutless cretins on the whole, was far too afraid of the embarrassment of having to ban the Australian captain for cheating, so no investigation took place (as far as I'm aware).

And how about the great message these players are sending out to all the young footy players out there: "It doesn't matter if you win by cheating, as long as you trained as hard as the others" - an attitude which borders on the geniused, although I do understand them wanting to hang on desperately to their meaningless 'premierships".

They should've been ordered to return those rings, but any decent human being would've done so off their own bat. These cretins continue to say "F U" to all the fans and the NRL whenever they come out with the dribble that they deserved those titles. And of course, the NRL and gutless football media just bend over and say "more please."

 

[Elektrik Shock]

just to add my 5 cents worth

they r still a cheatingly assembled team - even tho they offloaded one

i thought the same about the bulldogs when they won a title shortly after cheating .... but i am past them now cos they have had to rebuild since then .... storm haven't

Offloaded 1? In 2013 the only players we still have from the 09 decider is Slater, Cronk, Smith, Hinchcliffe along with 2 who left and have come back (Chambers & Hoffman), we retained 6 of 17, how is that not rebuilding. Since 07 we have shed Inglis, Folau, Chambers*, Hoffman*, Tolman, White, Crocker, Johnson, J.Smith, Blair, Cross, King, Finch, Turner, Newton, Manu, Neilsen, Tandy, Anderson, Lima etc. I don't want or expect forgiveness, i'd be upset aswell, but to suggest we havnt been broken down & rebuilt is laughable. We have guys like Norrie, Lowe and Lowrie making up our starting pack now, Kids playing in spots where greats like GI & Folau once were. If we win the 2012 premiership with the roster we have we will have damn well earnt it.

 

[gUt]

If Melbourne start beating the drum to have their non-premierships reinstated it could be a blessing in disguise.

The News Ltd controlled Storm was quickly dealt with by the News Ltd controlled NRL fronted by News Ltd man David Gallop. No further inquiry necessary.

But if the Storm wants to reopen old wounds I say bring it on, let's have a good look at what really happened and how deeply News Ltd's own involvement was.

 

[Tooooks]

Offloaded 1? In 2013 the only players we still have from the 09 decider is Slater, Cronk, Smith, Hinchcliffe along with 2 who left and have come back (Chambers & Hoffman), we retained 6 of 17, how is that not rebuilding. Since 07 we have shed Inglis, Folau, Chambers*, Hoffman*, Tolman, White, Crocker, Johnson, J.Smith, Blair, Cross, King, Finch, Turner, Newton, Manu, Neilsen, Tandy, Anderson, Lima etc. I don't want or expect forgiveness, i'd be upset aswell, but to suggest we havnt been broken down & rebuilt is laughable. We have guys like Norrie, Lowe and Lowrie making up our starting pack now, Kids playing in spots where greats like GI & Folau once were. If we win the 2012 premiership with the roster we have we will have damn well earnt it.

I'd have to agree that the Storm should be allowed to rebuild and have a chance at success, and I acknowledge that if they win it this year, then fair enough.

It seems the Storm fans on the whole have a lot better attitude about their cheating than the club itself.

 

[Gronk]

Offloaded 1? In 2013 the only players we still have from the 09 decider is Slater, Cronk, Smith, Hinchcliffe along with 2 who left and have come back (Chambers & Hoffman), we retained 6 of 17, how is that not rebuilding. Since 07 we have shed Inglis, Folau, Chambers*, Hoffman*, Tolman, White, Crocker, Johnson, J.Smith, Blair, Cross, King, Finch, Turner, Newton, Manu, Neilsen, Tandy, Anderson, Lima etc. I don't want or expect forgiveness, i'd be upset aswell, but to suggest we havnt been broken down & rebuilt is laughable. We have guys like Norrie, Lowe and Lowrie making up our starting pack now, Kids playing in spots where greats like GI & Folau once were. If we win the 2012 premiership with the roster we have we will have damn well earnt it.

What seems to be missing here is that if Storm complied with the cap from the very start, they would not have been able to assemble their famous "spine". The cap pressure would have meant that they could only keep one (not three) highly paid marquee player, like the rest of us.

 

[Delboy]

To be honest, we all have sympathy with the fans, its the officials, managers, players in the know and whinging coach that get up my nose ( plus the fact you cheated my club out of a premiership)

None of this means that I want the Storm to win anything, even against Manly (ouch that hurt)

 

[Elektrik Shock]

What seems to be missing here is that if Storm complied with the cap from the very start, they would not have been able to assemble their famous "spine". The cap pressure would have meant that they could only keep one (not three) highly paid marquee player, like the rest of us.

I 100% see where you're coming from, but the truth is there are way to many variables to ever know what might have been without the cap rorts, In 06 when the rorts began the big 3 were not all 600k superstars remember. As a storm fan i feel all we can do is move forward, and in my eyes we are now cap compliant and have payed for our mistakes. In Australia once your punishment is served you are square with the house again. I read an interesting piece the other day where Kite & Watmough both expressed that the past was the past and how impressed they were with the way Melbourne even with a significantly weaker roster have bounced back with consecutive preliminary final appearances. They alluded to that the culture and structures are what makes a team so successful not necessarily the pay packet, and this is from 2 guys who were significantly burnt by the rorts. I think Melbourne are now at a point where like the Bulldogs before them are entitled to plaudits for their achievements moving forward. I hated my club for a long time after what they did, fans are a clubs harshest critic remember that.

 

[84 Baby]

What seems to be missing here is that if Storm complied with the cap from the very start, they would not have been able to assemble their famous "spine". The cap pressure would have meant that they could only keep one (not three) highly paid marquee player, like the rest of us.

This. For as long as one player (even the ones who weren't found to be receiving illegal payments) from their rorting era remains at the club they are tainted, because you can no way guarantee that player would have signed for Melbourne if they had stuck to the $X salary cap instead of the $infinity salary cap

 

[Elektrik Shock]

To be honest, we all have sympathy with the fans, its the officials, managers, players in the know and whinging coach that get up my nose ( plus the fact you cheated my club out of a premiership)

None of this means that I want the Storm to win anything, even against Manly (ouch that hurt)

You're of a handful that seems to be able to see us fans were just innocent bystanders, I honestly don't blame you, if i were an Eels fan i'd feel the exact same way, my initial point was simply that i believe the suggestion we were not torn apart and rebuilt was off the mark.

 

[84 Baby]

I 100% see where you're coming from, but the truth is there are way to many variables to ever know what might have been without the cap rorts

Agreed. The issue was the rorts happened over years while they tried to do the investigation in weeks.

In 06 when the rorts began the big 3 were not all 600k superstars remember.

If you are bringing this from a "we developed them" standpoint, you are arguing that with the wrong club. If it's not, all it does is highlight what the issue was, you have 3 players on that amount everyone else should be on minimum, but add in players like Hoffman, White, Manu & Lima who were all rep players you see the problem.

As a storm fan i feel all we can do is move forward, and in my eyes we are now cap compliant and have payed for our mistakes.

Agreed, not going to stop how I feel for Smith, Slater, etc.

In Australia once your punishment is served you are square with the house again.

Except for some fines and one year where the games were for nothing, in my reasoned opinion the penalties have nowhere near fitted the crime. And attempting to get one of the 'penalties' overturned would make that gap even wider. However...

I read an interesting piece the other day where Kite & Watmough both expressed that the past was the past and how impressed they were with the way Melbourne even with a significantly weaker roster have bounced back with consecutive preliminary final appearances. They alluded to that the culture and structures are what makes a team so successful not necessarily the pay packet, and this is from 2 guys who were significantly burnt by the rorts. I think Melbourne are now at a point where like the Bulldogs before them are entitled to plaudits for their achievements moving forward. I hated my club for a long time after what they did, fans are a clubs harshest critic remember that.

Current players even from other clubs may not be the best source for your argument basis and may just render the whole situation moot, because how deep does the rabbit hole go? Melbourne's biggest crime may not have been cheating, but getting caught

 

[Tooooks]

You're of a handful that seems to be able to see us fans were just innocent bystanders, I honestly don't blame you, if i were an Eels fan i'd feel the exact same way, my initial point was simply that i believe the suggestion we were not torn apart and rebuilt was off the mark.

I appreciate the attitude from fans like yourself, even though I don't agree with everything you've said. I can't speak for anyone else, but as an Eels fan (or even just as a RL fan), all I've ever expected from the Melbourne Storm club is a bit of humility, instead of the disgraceful arrogance of those players and coach who are basically saying "Nyah nyah, we deserved it no matter what anyone says." It's an appallingly arrogant line to take, and extremely disrespectful not only to the fans, but the NRL as well. And whenever halfwits like John Ribot starting banging on about how the 07 and 09 premierships should be reinstated, it just dredges up this bad will all over again.

Having said that, we can't live in the past forever. As much as I agree with those who say that the Storm couldn't have kept the 'big three' in their side if they had complied with the cap, they are now following the rules (as far as we know), so I can't really complain about their success from here on in.

Just as an aside, the fact none of the players co-operated in any way with the investigation speaks volumes to me and I think that side of the scandal has been swept under the rug.

 

[The Colonel]

To be honest, we all have sympathy with the fans, its the officials, managers, players in the know and whinging coach that get up my nose ( plus the fact you cheated my club out of a premiership)

None of this means that I want the Storm to win anything, even against Manly (ouch that hurt)

Sorry mate but I feel the same way about their fans as I do
about the mob running the show, the players and the 'I knew nothing' coach. Like many of us in 2009 I sat in the stands absolutely gutted that we had been beaten while the Melbourne fans celebrated. To then find out months later Melbourne were systematically cheating the cap, again like many I was very hurt and angry that we were cheated out of the the premiership and the celebration that their fans had.

At the time what sickened me more wAs the attitude of a good few of the
Melbourne fans that wanted to justify why they did it and that they were only
Protecting their own. While some profess they would be upset, their are a good few who still don't understand and still hold on to the win regardless of whether it was stripped or not. They have no idea how much it grates on fans from othef clubs.

IMO the club was hit with a limp lettuce leaf and the club should have been kicked out of the comp completely. The fact that the players and the coach still maintain to doing no wrong is one of the many reasons why it should have happened. The Bulldogs should have suffered the same fate in 2002.

I feel no sympathy for their fans and I never will.

F**k Melbourne. Go Manly

 

[Suitman]

Sorry mate but I feel the same way about their fans as I do
about the mob running the show, the players and the 'I knew nothing' coach. Like many of us in 2009 I sat in the stands absolutely gutted that we had been beaten while the Melbourne fans celebrated. To then find out months later Melbourne were systematically cheating the cap, again like many I was very hurt and angry that we were cheated out of the the premiership and the celebration that their fans had.

At the time what sickened me more wAs the attitude of a good few of the
Melbourne fans that wanted to justify why they did it and that they were only
Protecting their own. While some profess they would be upset, their are a good few who still don't understand and still hold on to the win regardless of whether it was stripped or not. They have no idea how much it grates on fans from othef clubs.

IMO the club was hit with a limp lettuce leaf and the club should have been kicked out of the comp completely. The fact that the players and the coach still maintain to doing no wrong is one of the many reasons why it should have happened. The Bulldogs should have suffered the same fate in 2002.

I feel no sympathy for their fans and I never will.

F**k Melbourne. Go Manly

I agree with the whole post except the last sentence.
When it comes to a game like this, I'll be watching Lifestyle Food, or some other insignificant Foxtel channel.

f**k Manly too.

Suity

PS. I actually like the Lifestyle Food channel.

 

[Elektrik Shock]

Sorry mate but I feel the same way about their fans as I do
about the mob running the show, the players and the 'I knew nothing' coach. Like many of us in 2009 I sat in the stands absolutely gutted that we had been beaten while the Melbourne fans celebrated. To then find out months later Melbourne were systematically cheating the cap, again like many I was very hurt and angry that we were cheated out of the the premiership and the celebration that their fans had.

At the time what sickened me more wAs the attitude of a good few of the
Melbourne fans that wanted to justify why they did it and that they were only
Protecting their own. While some profess they would be upset, their are a good few who still don't understand and still hold on to the win regardless of whether it was stripped or not. They have no idea how much it grates on fans from othef clubs.

IMO the club was hit with a limp lettuce leaf and the club should have been kicked out of the comp completely. The fact that the players and the coach still maintain to doing no wrong is one of the many reasons why it should have happened. The Bulldogs should have suffered the same fate in 2002.

I feel no sympathy for their fans and I never will.

F**k Melbourne. Go Manly

I'd be interested to see if you would take the same hard line stance if it was your club implicated. Would you abandon them or would you cop the wrap over the knuckles and support your club moving forward? Empathy mate, you speak as if us fans validate what happened, i went through a period where I was so disallusioned I considered giving away supporting the game I love. I pray you never have to make a similar choice. To be completely honest you having zero empathy for innocent fans shows you don't understand the situation at all, to label us the same as the rats in management and implicated staff/players is quite insulting.

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

F**k Melbourne. Go Manly

X2!

 

[Gronk]

I'd be interested to see if you would take the same had line stance if it was your club implicated. Would you abandon them or would you cop the wrap over the knuckles and support your club moving forward? Empathy mate, you speak as if us fans validate what happened, i went through a period where I was so disallusioned I considered giving away supporting the game I love. I pray you never have to make a similar choice. To be completely honest you having zero empathy for innocent fans shows you don't understand the situation at all, to label us the same as the rats in management and implicated staff/players is quite insulting.

The reason why you're getting zero sympathy from 99% of the NRL community is because of the arrogance of your coach, Ribot and your "big three" who maintain innocence and their legitimacy of their illegally attained premierships.

Sorry might be a nice place to start. Own the problem and the healing will begin.

 

[The Colonel]

I'd be interested to see if you would take the same hard line stance if it was your club implicated. Would you abandon them or would you cop the wrap over the knuckles and support your club moving forward? Empathy mate, you speak as if us fans validate what happened, i went through a period where I was so disallusioned I considered giving away supporting the game I love. I pray you never have to make a similar choice. To be completely honest you having zero empathy for innocent fans shows you don't understand the situation at all, to label us the same as the rats in management and implicated staff/players is quite insulting.

I would stop following league altogether. As for it being insulting, you may know have half an idea about how I feel.

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

One thing we have to remember is that if Melbourne had not been cheating the cap, everything changes. Different players would have been playing at different clubs and that means different results in games, which means, me may have not even made the finals at all or we may have finished 7th, 6th etc and been knocked out. It wasnt just us who were robbed in 2009, all the other teams were from 06-10. I always see things from the view of "If one thing is different, everything changes".

I'lll give Elektrick Shock a rap and say he speaks alot of sense. At least he dosen't have a banner saying "Premiers 07 & 09" like some other f***wit on here that i have seen.

 

[Elektrik Shock]

The reason why you're getting zero sympathy from 99% of the NRL community is because of the arrogance of your coach, Ribot and your "big three" who maintain innocence and their legitimacy of their illegally attained premierships.

Sorry might be a nice place to start. Own the problem and the healing will begin.

So your saying until someone from the club apologises for the rorts all us innocent league loving fans (not dissimilar to yourselves) are to be treated as lepers even though the required action is completely out of our hands? Interesting.

 

[Elektrik Shock]

I would stop following league altogether. As for it being insulting, you may know have half an idea about how I feel.

Thats you're perogative, I don't feel ashamed for the decision I made though, RL is in my blood, I don't think I could ever just walk away.