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Link: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...0601-wv9e.html
Secret talks to calm Storm
TOM REILLY
June 2, 2010.
NEWS Limited chief executive John Hartigan has held secret talks with the independent directors of the Melbourne Storm in a bid to persuade them to drop their legal action against the National Rugby League.
Mr Hartigan and News Ltd's chief operating officer, Peter Macourt, flew to Melbourne last week and met the four board members on Friday. No agreement was reached.
The Age believes Mr Hartigan raised the possibility of News Ltd handing over the club to the directors if they withdrew their High Court challenge to penalties for salary cap breaches.
The directors' action effectively pits one of Rupert Murdoch's companies against another - News Ltd owns Storm outright and controls half of the NRL.
A source close to the independent Storm directors said the meeting proved that News Ltd was ''on the back foot''.
''Hartigan came down and was keen to try and make this mess go away. Obviously it's embarrassing when one of your companies is suing another,'' the source said.
''The carrot being dangled is for the board - or at least the wealthier members like Gerry Ryan or Peter Maher - to be given the option of taking over the franchise. But the directors are determined they won't back down. If anything the meeting with Hartigan showed that they had News on the back foot.''
The Age believes last Friday's talks were held without the knowledge of Storm's two other board members, Craig Watt and Frank Stanton, both of whom are employed directly by News Ltd. ''They were furious when they found out they'd been kept in the dark,'' another insider said.
A writ was lodged by the independent directors more than two weeks ago in the Victorian Supreme Court in which they claimed the game's governing body had acted outside its own rules and that Storm had been denied procedural fairness.
Storm directors want the NRL's penalty set aside and an independent tribunal to hear the matter. The next hearing is set for Friday. News Ltd spokesman Greg Baxter refused to discuss what was said at the meeting.
Of course the Tellucrapp reported nothing on this only on the loophole they are creating to let Gaz play for the Stains again and how theyve finally changed the corner post rules. Riveting stuff.
Secret talks to calm Storm
TOM REILLY
June 2, 2010.
NEWS Limited chief executive John Hartigan has held secret talks with the independent directors of the Melbourne Storm in a bid to persuade them to drop their legal action against the National Rugby League.
Mr Hartigan and News Ltd's chief operating officer, Peter Macourt, flew to Melbourne last week and met the four board members on Friday. No agreement was reached.
The Age believes Mr Hartigan raised the possibility of News Ltd handing over the club to the directors if they withdrew their High Court challenge to penalties for salary cap breaches.
The directors' action effectively pits one of Rupert Murdoch's companies against another - News Ltd owns Storm outright and controls half of the NRL.
A source close to the independent Storm directors said the meeting proved that News Ltd was ''on the back foot''.
''Hartigan came down and was keen to try and make this mess go away. Obviously it's embarrassing when one of your companies is suing another,'' the source said.
''The carrot being dangled is for the board - or at least the wealthier members like Gerry Ryan or Peter Maher - to be given the option of taking over the franchise. But the directors are determined they won't back down. If anything the meeting with Hartigan showed that they had News on the back foot.''
The Age believes last Friday's talks were held without the knowledge of Storm's two other board members, Craig Watt and Frank Stanton, both of whom are employed directly by News Ltd. ''They were furious when they found out they'd been kept in the dark,'' another insider said.
A writ was lodged by the independent directors more than two weeks ago in the Victorian Supreme Court in which they claimed the game's governing body had acted outside its own rules and that Storm had been denied procedural fairness.
Storm directors want the NRL's penalty set aside and an independent tribunal to hear the matter. The next hearing is set for Friday. News Ltd spokesman Greg Baxter refused to discuss what was said at the meeting.
Of course the Tellucrapp reported nothing on this only on the loophole they are creating to let Gaz play for the Stains again and how theyve finally changed the corner post rules. Riveting stuff.
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