Melbourne Storm players snub salary cap probe
* David Hastie
* From: Sunday Herald Sun
* June 06, 2010 12:00AM
MELBOURNE Storm's senior players have snubbed key meetings with salary cap breach investigators.
This news came as NRL investigators found three contracts Storm captain Cameron Smith had with the club.
It is alleged one was registered with the NRL, one was in a file at the Storm's administration headquarters and a third was being hidden at the home of former Storm chief Matt Hanson.
The contracts, which were drawn up by disgraced former boss Brian Waldron, also included payments for a home renovation and a guaranteed commentary role at Fox Sports. It is claimed Super League architect John Ribot negotiated the Fox Sports deal.
Despite the allegations, Smith has denied he was aware of any rorting.
It is also claimed other instances of Storm stars having more than one contract have been uncovered.
It can be revealed 10 Storm stars were due to front accounting firm Deloitte in the past fortnight, but none had appeared.
The club's owner, News Limited, revealed it had found evidence some Storm players almost certainly knew that some of their payments were paid by third parties in ways that would not be counted towards the salary cap.
"We now have evidence that some of the players were aware that some of the arrangements were not appropriate," News spokesman Greg Baxter said.
Mr Baxter said Deloitte, appointed by News to unravel the complex player payments, had attempted to reschedule the meetings, but the players' managers and agents had not co-operated.
"We have tried to interview them repeatedly and it's pretty disappointing they haven't bothered showing up," he said.
The Storm is $850,000 over the cap this season and $1.5 million next season.
Waldron was named as the architect behind the fraud.
Deloitte's forensic audit into salary cap rorts and the club's finances is continuing.
Storm chairman Rob Moodie and the club's three other independent directors have taken legal action against the NRL, claiming the league's chief executive David Gallop broke league rules and denied the Storm due process in stripping it of premierships and points.
News Limited, publisher of the Sunday Herald Sun, has not supported the directors in their action.