Broncos deny salary cap breach over 'unpaid' third-party deals
By Chris Barrett and Michael Chammas
August 25, 2020 — 4.44pm
Embattled Brisbane are strongly rejecting suggestions of a possible salary cap breach over claims of unpaid third-party deals to Tevita Pangai jnr, arguing two companies who had shown interest in sponsoring the Broncos forward via legitimate channels had dropped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Facing the sack from the Broncos over a range of issues including multiple breaches of the game's biosecurity protocols, Pangai jnr has turned his guns on the club in a lengthy interview with the NRL integrity unit.
According to sources with knowledge of Pangai jnr's complaint, the Broncos forward told NRL investigators he had received a verbal promise of TPAs and other payments of $100,000 a year above and beyond his $700,000 salary, including a place in the game's $1.5 million marketing fund.
The guaranteeing of third-party agreements, or the failure to register them with head office, are against NRL rules and have been at the heart of some of the biggest scandals in the game over the past decade.
Brisbane, however, are vehemently denying any wrongdoing, with chief executive Paul White ringing the NRL on Tuesday to offer the Broncos' total and immediate cooperation in a bid to extinguish the latest spotfire threatening to engulf the publicly listed club.
Having
been occupied with negotiations over coach Anthony Seibold's exit, Brisbane were blindsided by the allegations and maintain there were never any third-party promises made to Pangai jnr, who rejected an offer from New Zealand Warriors to re-sign last year until the end of the 2022 season.
Instead, the Broncos say that two companies expressed an interest in financially supporting the Tonga international earlier this year via their commercial department. Clubs are permitted to make an introduction between potential third-party sponsors and the players themselves. But sources in Brisbane say the companies who had been looking to link up with Pangai jnr ended up walking away when the coronavirus hit and no dollar figures were ever discussed.
The Broncos are also expected to deny guaranteeing Pangai jnr an additional income stream through the code's marketing fund, a pool of money set aside for marquee players which is distributed at the discretion of the NRL.
Sources say Brisbane had nominated him along with two other players for this year's fund, from which some stars have received more than $100,000, but he was not included.
While Pangai jnr has been served a breach of contract notice by the Broncos and is indefinitely suspended by the NRL because of repeated COVID-19 bubble transgressions, the other sub-plot to him taking his grievances to the integrity unit is a split with his agent, Isaac Moses.
The NRL already has the prominent player manager in its crosshairs, having in June
announced an intention to cancel his accreditation he assisted former Parramatta captain Tim Mannah to give false and misleading information to an in-house investigation.
Moses will this week front an NRL hearing behind closed doors to appeal the proposed sanction, with Mannah to appear as the governing body's star witness.
His association with Pangai jnr is an obvious avenue of inquiry for the integrity unit as they determine whether or not to open a full-scale investigation into Brisbane but there is no suggestion the agent was involved in any breaking of NRL rules in this instance.
Moses did not return a call from the
Herald on Tuesday. Brisbane and the NRL declined to comment.
Who needs TPAs?
