Melbourne Storm - Stuffed!

[Edmonsta]

I know, it's that silly league game, but this is huge news.

Melbourne Storm have cocked up big time.

They've been found out to have breached the salary cap rules and have been stripped of their premiership titles, minor premiership titles, fined a bucketload of money....

Their log points for the season have been removed and they have to play the rest of the season for no points.

Check it out!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/22/2880349.htm?site=sport&section=all

When I first read about it, I thought it was pretty harsh punishment for paying a few players too much or accidentally going over the salary cap limit, but reading further it seems they actually set out to deceive by running two different sets of salary records (one for the auditors)...

This is a huge cockup! Rugby league in Melbourne is stuffed! Surely the sponsors will pull out left right and centre??

Good timing for the Rebels I suppose.

And I was going to watch the Storm v Warriors on Sunday for the first time. Not so sure now. Might be empty, haha.

[joemac]

Amazing !

Hey Shayne, the Warriors shouldn't come last this year!

[barto11]

Haha...idiots.

Apparently this made front page news on all Aussie papers etc...It was so big it even made the BBC!

No points all season? That's gonna be an amazing way to get amped for a game.

[biffon]

make no bones about this guys this is Seriously BIG news here..

I cannot believe it. gobsmacked is a word that comes to mind!

This is the Team that Won in 2006 and 2009 and came second in 2007 and 2008
they have some unbelievable talent in their ranks such as Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.. two players that are household names in Australia and not just in NRL circles.

Brian Waldrom who is said to have been the Architect of this rort was the CEO of the club from 2005 to 2009.... and here is where it becomes an even bigger problem.

The Melbourne Rebels appointed Brian Waldrom as their CEO!!!!
According to news reports this morning however the Rebels have just Sacked him. Good fckn riddance.. what a snake in the grass!!

He is facing civil action as well as possible Criminal investigation.

these are the facts:
Stripped 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


I really really feel for the players..
A lot of people have come out and said that they are complicit in this but i think they may not have been aware of it, certainly not all of them..
the club has all sorts of other expenses so they could've been paying their players a certain amount on standard salaries and then throwing money at all the other things they needed to get done, advertising, 3rd party incentives, cars, accommodation etc..

If i were a player and i was told that i had to play a whole season for nothing more than my wages, i would certainly be looking at why i should be putting in 100% every week. If i was off contract i would be running for the hills (or Sydney or Union http://twf.com.au/images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
If i was thinking about moving to the Storm i certainly wouldn't be now.

Another thing i was thinking about was if Melbourne are doing it then SURELY other teams are too. There is NO WAY that word wouldnt get around that the Storm were offering more to players than anyone else and how would other teams be able to stop their top players from going to Melbourne??

[Edmonsta]

I only realised this morning that Waldrom was the Rebels CEO – and that they’ve already kicked him to the curb which is a relief. I just hope he hasn’t had time to fiddle with the Rebels affairs, otherwise we’d have 2 codes that would be stuffed for Melbourne.

Biff, your point about players not having the motivation to play for only salary – I think you’re right – what could they possibly play for now? And how could the Rebels hope to keep their big names when they can’t pay them as much as they used to. And the Sponsors – I reckon they’ll be leaving in droves!

[joemac]

Bookmakers suspended betting
Several bookmakers had earlier today suspended betting on the NRL wooden spoon following a stream of bets for Melbourne to finish last.

Sportingbet Australia and SportsAlive both shut down their wooden spoon markets after fielding several bets at 250-1, with punters standing to win $10,000 on single bets.

Title favourites Melbourne are fourth on the NRL ladder after four wins and two losses.

TAB Sportsbet left its market open, but wound the Storm into 20-1 for the spoon after taking a $200 bet at 200-1 for a collect of $40,000 last night.

[biffon]

no way TAb wouldnt have pulled its bet as well
the Storm are gauranteed 0 points... unless they fold in which case they will be taken off the roster... maybe thats why there are still odds..hmmmm

[biffon]

also note that St Kilda AFL team have had auditors called in as Waldrom was their CEO before the storm...

also ME bank the Storms primary sponsor has just pulled the plug.... rats off the sinking titanic!

thats three footy codes now involved!!!

[Edmonsta]

also ME bank the Storms primary sponsor has just pulled the plug.... rats off the sinking titanic!

SKINS have pulled out too. Kinda ironic that their slogan is "Cheat Legal" :smiley36:


Host-Plus and the others have said they'll wait till the final report comes out. (and then they'll pull out).

Bye Bye Storm.

[biffon]

Host Plus is out

Kooga & Suzuki are weighing up their options
Jayco have said they'll stay

[Shayne]

Shit, the Storm smashed us over the weekend :(

Bunch of cheats....

[biffon]

haha - that was a trolloping for sure...

as Tony Pulis so descriptively put it when Stoke were thrashed by Chelsea "we've had our pants pulled down and our backsides slapped!"

[Edmonsta]

At first I thought they'd be stuffed, but I think they'll survive this. Most fans are sticking by them. New sponsors will follow. A few players will probably leave (or be forced to leave if it's found out they were in on it) and they might go through a rebuilding phase, but I think they'll come out ok.

Couldn't believe the smashing they gave to the Warriors.

[joemac]

The fans have stuck with them for the first game, but for how long will the fans sit there and spend their money when they are just playing for pride?

[Edmonsta]

The fans have stuck with them for the first game, but for how long will the fans sit there and spend their money when they are just playing for pride?

True. And I guess the players aren't going to stick around getting paid less forever... but then again, with salary caps, will they get paid more anywhere else?

[barto11]

Shayne just face it...the warriors SUCK!!!