Melbourne cheats

[supermario]

I am certainly more surprised by the punishment than the actual crime.

That ain't cool Melbourne.

I wonder, if the storm decide to sit out the season, if we can make a claim for all the money we have spent to head to melbourne to see the roosters play !

[Guest]

Will our trip go ahead?

[Guest]

You will find the rorts were largely third party payments made by Foxtel to Storm players. Newscorp has their mits in both entities.

And don't forget the TV rights deal rort...

Do you honestly think they would risk their lot by being involved in this?

[Vasco]

You can't blame News, They were in the dark as much as we were.

Are you sure about that?

[theGman]

Melbourne Storm is a News Ltd company.

News has kicked this sport in the bollocks enough - let alone by appointing a bunch of criminals to run this franchise.

I hope we absolutely smash the cheats later this year.

So, does News Corp write themselves a cheque for the 1.2M fine??

In terms of former Storms officials being investigated, i hope POS isn't involved.

[Guest]

Damn! The Sharks will now avoid the spoon.

Sportstab suspended betting on the wooden spoon earlier today after a flurry of small bets on the Storm @$201.

Somebody with the inside info made a packet

[Guest]

Are you sure about that?

I work for News and I firmly believe they are innocent.

[redwhiteandbluester]

Do you think they'll play on?

I would expect them to. I certainly do not expect Inglis, Slater and friends, i.e. the very best players in our sport - to sit out an entire season.

The Storm will not play on if the other clubs can 'pick their carcass' effectively.

Also hinges on Bellamy's role - the coach must have known how much his players were getting, assuming he controls the composition of the list. Obviously I know little of his role in this controversy, but I do not want him in charge of NSW or any RL team if he has anything to do with this.

But surely the squad will run around in some capacity in 2010 - maybe a shift to CC for some games?

[Spirit of 66]

In terms of former Storms officials being investigated, i hope POS isn't involved.

That's a really good point. The recruitment manager would surely be the one offering the $$, so he might well be implicated.

[Guest]

That's a really good point. The recruitment manager would surely be the one offering the $$, so he might well be implicated.

He's not the one making the decisions though.

[Guest]

How is stripping them of the 2 premierships work - do they demand the premiership rings etc back off the players, delete their name from the record books etc?

Interesting days indeed.


NC

The players keep the rings

and the name will be deleted from the record books

[Guest]

Do you honestly think they would risk their lot by being involved in this?

They discussed it on NRL On Fox last night. They said Ian Schubert was investigating third party payments made to Cameron Smith by Foxtel. Third party payments made to a player do not fall under the salary cap unless it is organised by the club. The Storm were being investigated due to Newscorp owning both the Storm and Foxtel.

[redwhiteandbluester]

So, does News Corp write themselves a cheque for the 1.2M fine??

In terms of former Storms officials being investigated, i hope POS isn't involved.

Yep - because Melbourne Storm is just a News Ltd company.

News should be held accountable, and considering they bankroll the whole shebang, the money will come out of their pocket.

I appreciate that the executives at News have little to do with the goings-on of Melbourne, but the Storm are a News franchise just like the Telegraph, the Australian, etc. Therefore, they are accountable - they appoint the board, the very people who perpetrated this fraud.

[Roosterfarian]

I work for News and I firmly believe they are innocent.

Cogburn you freakin sold your soul to the devil mun!!

[Guest]

Fox Sports NRL expert Warren Smith reacts to the Melbourne Storm shock
By John Clark
foxsports.com.au
April 22, 2010 .Melbourne Storm will be remembered in NRL history as "the cheats that rorted the system" and are likely to play out the 2010 season as public enemy No.1.

The Melbourne club have been stripped of two NRL premierships and fined a total of $1.6 million after being found guilty of long-term salary cap breaches.

NRL chief executive David Gallop announced they would also not be allowed to accrue any premiership points in the 2010 season.

Fox Sports NRL commentator Warren Smith told foxsports.com.au that the decision was one of the biggest to rock the sport in history.

He likened the Storm to baseball's Chicago Black Sox, the infamous team who threw matches in the 1919 world series.

"It's quite incredible, unprecedented," a shocked Smith said as the news broke on Thursday.

"We will now and forever look at Melbourne in a completely different light.

"We have watched in awe of Craig Bellamy and his brilliant players for so long put this is a black mark against the entire club.

"The reputations of the players, (Billy) Slater, (Cameron) Smith, (Cooper) Cronk, (Greg) Inglis, they will be remembered as great players but they played for the club that was the cheats.

"They rorted the system for years, they cheated to win games, and the public won't ever forget that."

Smith wondered how the players would respond to having their 2010 campaign crushed by the penalties.

"That's incredible, they are playing for nothing at all, incredible," Smith said.

"How do the players get through the season? How do they front up for matches, for training?

"It's going to be an intriguing situation down there for the rest of 2010."


The Storm FactsStripped of the 2007 and 2009 NRL premierships
Stripped of the minor premierships of 2006-08
Stripped of all competition points for the 2010 season
Fined $500,000
Will be forced to return $1.1 million in prizemoney (prizemoney to be distributed evenly among the other 15 clubs)
Individual awards by players will continue to be recognised
Neither Manly (2007) nor Parramatta (2009) will assume the premiership titles in their respective years
Salary cap breaches amounted to at least $1.7 million over five years
Salary cap breach around $400,000 in 2009
Salary cap breach projected to be $700,000 in 2010
NRL says the Storm maintained a dual-contract system

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...018866,00.html