22 April 2010

Which Storm players would the Raiders like?

| johnboy
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The NRL has announced that the Melbourne Storm has been stripped of all its wins, premierships, points, and prize money going back to 2006 as a result of massive salary cap rorting.

Particularly pleasing is how the story came to light after bookies noticed a flood of money going on the high flying Storm to win the wooden spoon.

With normality returning to Melbourne next season many players will be storming off in a huff. Which ones would work well here in Canberra for the Raiders?

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Holden Caulfield7:39 pm 24 Apr 10

knuckles v TheVirulentOne about as boring as two grown men running into each other. 😛

Hey theVirulentOne,
Just few corrections regarding your post which I hope you can get your little mungo brain around;

I never went to Eddies. I went to an ACT public school. Not all union supporters went to private schools.

I do understand the parallel regarding League supporters crying foul these days. That’s why I made the comment. I think it is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black though. (you may need to ask someone to explain this to you if you don’t understand)

Pretty sure the main reason no Union players now transfer to League is because there are more opportunities and loads more money in Union.

Barnes & Palu both had backgrounds in Union, which is why they were able to play the game at a decent standard when they came back. By the way, when they returned to Rugby they both played for over 12 months before being selected in a Wallabies squad. (do you ever get sick of being wrong?)

Regarding your comment of “so called Test team”. Did you know that Rugby is played at the international level by 115 countries? And next year we are having a World Cup, which will be contested by the top 16 countries. Looking forward to the figures you can put together regarding international League.

As for skill and fitness levels, the only League player that has really been a standout in Union would have to be Brad Thorn (pity he’s playing for the All Blacks), yet I can name many Union players who were world beaters in League, (Ray Price, Michael O’Connor, Ricky Stuart, etc.) Speaks for itself really.

Hope this helps

Knuckles

TheVirulentOne7:45 am 24 Apr 10

Hey knuckles, you union types always impress me too, the way you use moronic stereotypes like “mungos”.

I don’t have a short memory, but like all union boys, I suspect you do (bet you enjoy boozing it up at Brumbies games with the boys, reminisicing about your schoolmaster at Eddie’s). Why is there Rugby League? Because people like you refused to pay the players when they were injured, whilst happily pocketed all the gate-takings.

When Union was “amateur” the Union types cried foul whenever any player went to League, so it’s wholly appropriate for Rugby League followers to say the same whenever the trade flows the opposite way these days. Though I doubt an Eddies boy could understand the parallel.

As anyone who follows the Rugby codes know, the main reason no Union players now transfer to League isn’t money, it’s because their skill and fitness levels are so inferior they couldn’t make a NRL reserve grade sides, whereas non-entities like Berrick Barnes and Wycliff Palu can walk out of NRL reserve grade and go straightinto the so called “Test” team, the pathetic Wallabies.

Waiting For Godot said :

I don’t wish to rain on this festival of smugness, but I’d like to remind everybody that our own Canberra Raiders are not lillywhite regarding salary cap rorts. In 1991 it was revealed that the Raiders had been rorting the cap for years and there were calls for the 1989 and 1990 premiership wins to be annulled. It never happened, chiefly because the Raiders were experiencing financial problems at the time and there was a lot of sympathy and community support in a rugby league town for the Raiders. So let’s all bear this in mind before we get on our soapboxes in a fit of moral outrage and tut-tut the Mexicans.

Nice story bro, except that the salary cap was only introduced by the NSWRL (predecessor of the NRL) in 1990. See this link, under “Where did it come from?”.

I kinda doubt that the Raiders had been “rorting the salary cap for years” in 1991 given that it’d only been introduced the previous year.

Carry on.

Ooh, p1, looking for a job in NRL management?!

Doubt I could do much worse then the last bunch. 😉

Holden Caulfield3:36 pm 23 Apr 10

Ooh, p1, looking for a job in NRL management?! 😛

2) Both internal Storm and NRL investigations/audits hadn’t found anything awry in the last five years. See point 1, ergo it would appear a separate book in a different room actually is quite sneaky, haha.

True, and had they shredded the surplus records at the end of each year, they would now only be worried about this seasons breach.

Holden Caulfield2:46 pm 23 Apr 10

p1 said :

…The other question is why hadn’t they shredded it in advance? Haven’t these guys heard of file encryption and the like? It amazes me that you would blatantly engage in such behaviour and not go to great lengths to hide it. And don’t tell me that having a separate file in a different room is particularly sneaky…

1) The Storm didn’t shred in advance because the NRL were supposedly tipped off by a former Storm employee who told them where to look.

2) Both internal Storm and NRL investigations/audits hadn’t found anything awry in the last five years. See point 1, ergo it would appear a separate book in a different room actually is quite sneaky, haha.

All i have to say about it is THANK GOD it’s not the Bulldogs for once!!!

The Great Bambino12:14 pm 23 Apr 10

Waiting For Godot said :

I don’t wish to rain on this festival of smugness, but I’d like to remind everybody that our own Canberra Raiders are not lillywhite regarding salary cap rorts. In 1991 it was revealed that the Raiders had been rorting the cap for years and there were calls for the 1989 and 1990 premiership wins to be annulled. It never happened, chiefly because the Raiders were experiencing financial problems at the time and there was a lot of sympathy and community support in a rugby league town for the Raiders. So let’s all bear this in mind before we get on our soapboxes in a fit of moral outrage and tut-tut the Mexicans.

Food for thought:

In 1991, the Canberra Raiders were fined $100,000 and ordered to pay $85,000 in unpaid salary from 1990.

Eight clubs were fined in 2000: Newcastle ($159,000), the New Zealand Warriors ($100,000), Penrith ($81,000), Canterbury ($50,000), Parramatta ($40,000), Melbourne ($24,500), the Sydney Roosters ($13,000) and Cronulla ($7,000).

Three clubs were fined in 2001: North Queensland ($100,000), Melbourne ($90,000) and Brisbane ($84,000).

In 2002, the Canterbury Bulldogs were found to have committed serious and systematic breaches totaling $920,000, which was enough for two extra top level players, and was described by NRL Chief Executive David Gallop as “exceptional in both its size and its deliberate and ongoing nature”. The club was hit with a record $500,000 fine and were stripped of all 37 competition points received to that date; the club won the wooden spoon as a direct result. An extensive NRL investigation resulted in two senior club officials being charged with 21 counts of fraud, theft and forgery by NSW Police. Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to nine years imprisonment with a seven year minimum.

Five other clubs were also fined in 2002: the Sydney Roosters ($149,000), Newcastle ($85,000), Melbourne ($67,000), the Wests Tigers ($58,500) and Brisbane ($57,500).

Nine clubs were fined in 2003 after a crackdown in light of the Canterbury scandal the year before: Melbourne ($131,000), Penrith ($60,000), Newcastle ($40,000), Brisbane ($20,000), South Sydney ($15,250), the New Zealand Warriors ($15,000), Cronulla ($10,000), and Canterbury ($10,000).

Seven clubs were fined in 2004: Melbourne ($120,000), Canterbury ($82,500), St George Illawarra ($32,500), Penrith ($25,000), the Sydney Roosters ($25,000), and Canberra ($5,000).

Four clubs were fined in 2005: St George Illawarra ($20,000), Newcastle ($11,000), Canterbury ($8,500) and Canberra ($1,000).

In 2006, the New Zealand Warriors revealed that their former management had exceeded the salary cap in 2004-2005. The club were fined $430,000, started the for season with a four point deficit, and were ordered to play 2007 under a reduced salary cap of $3.15 million (salary floor of $2.79 million).

In 2007, the Canberra Raiders were fined $175,000 but did not lose any points.

Six clubs were fined in 2008: South Sydney ($71,000), Wests Tigers ($47,000), Canberra ($46,000), Canterbury ($25,000 and given a $25,000 good behaviour bond), Melbourne ($14,000) and Brisbane ($10,000).[22]

Five clubs were fined in 2009: St George Illawarra ($15,000), South Sydney ($12,500), Gold Coast ($5,500), Bulldogs ($5,000) and Wests Tigers ($3,500).

In 2010, Melbourne Storm officials confessed to running a well-organised dual contract system which left the NRL unable to know of at least $1.7 million of payments made to players outside of the $4.21875 million salary cap. The club was ordered to repay $1.1 million in prizemoney which will be re-distributed equally between the remaining 15 clubs, fined $500,000, stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships and 2006-2008 minor premierships, stripped of all 8 premiership points received in the 2010 season, and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the 2010 season. The matter has been referred to the Victoria Police.

(Stats and info taken from Wikipedia)

p1 said :

I think there would be many a CEO who was moving some excess documentation through the shredder yesterday.

The other question is why hadn’t they shredded it in advance? Haven’t these guys heard of file encryption and the like? It amazes me that you would blatantly engage in such behaviour and not go to great lengths to hide it. And don’t tell me that having a separate file in a different room is particularly sneaky.

It appears that Brian is gone from the Rebels.

The seperate file was not a “cooked” book as such. It was a file containing letters of offer to players. When Shubert found it and looked over the offers it became apparent that some of the players had been offered more in these documents than what was actually sent to the NRL. But totally agree that leaving this file there was rather stupid.

I think a lot of people in other clubs are of the thought that “it’s only wrong if you get caught.”
Silly Storm.

Waiting For Godot11:22 am 23 Apr 10

I don’t wish to rain on this festival of smugness, but I’d like to remind everybody that our own Canberra Raiders are not lillywhite regarding salary cap rorts. In 1991 it was revealed that the Raiders had been rorting the cap for years and there were calls for the 1989 and 1990 premiership wins to be annulled. It never happened, chiefly because the Raiders were experiencing financial problems at the time and there was a lot of sympathy and community support in a rugby league town for the Raiders. So let’s all bear this in mind before we get on our soapboxes in a fit of moral outrage and tut-tut the Mexicans.

I think there would be many a CEO who was moving some excess documentation through the shredder yesterday.

The other question is why hadn’t they shredded it in advance? Haven’t these guys heard of file encryption and the like? It amazes me that you would blatantly engage in such behaviour and not go to great lengths to hide it. And don’t tell me that having a separate file in a different room is particularly sneaky.

It appears that Brian is gone from the Rebels.

you know thevirulent one, I always laugh when mungo’s complain about rugby union “stealing” league players.

What short memories you all seem to have.

I guess it must be true that you don’t have to be very smart to be a rugby league supporter.

grunge_hippy9:53 am 23 Apr 10

and we need some eye candy. bring the cronk!

Ha,
i can’t believe people actually think this scandal is something new.
There is no way that any rich club in the NRL is not doing this.
I think there would be many a CEO who was moving some excess documentation through the shredder yesterday.
The same goes for the AFL.

Oh and agree with Cooper Cronk coming here. We need a good halfback.

Rugby League survived Super League and it will survive this, as much as Fumbleball fans would like to think otherwise.

Clown Killer6:50 am 23 Apr 10

Hopefully union types won’t be laughing too hard, given that Brian Waldron, the architect of the whole scam, will be running the Melbourne Rebels next year….

I heard on the radio this morning that Waldron has been stood down at the Rebels pending an investigation. I guess too that it’s important to note that the Super 14 competition doesn’t really have a salary cap – so perhaps his skills in getting his hands on bag-loads of extra money for the palyers will be highly valued at the Rebels.

Remember these guys are now used to earning big money. They might prefer to go to the Brumbies rather than the Raiders.

All of them number they will get. Zero.

Say goodbye to all the stars to the British superleague and watch the NRL to continue to go down the drain. The competition is already on death’s door with only a handful of viable teams, this should seal its fate. All at their own hands.

Growling Ferret said :

They can keep Brett Finch.

Cooper Cronk would sort our halfback issues out nicely

x2 to both of these fine sentiments. Cam Smith would be handy, too – would allow us to send Tonguey back to number 13, where he belongs.

Clown Killer said :

And people inside the NRL wonder why there’s a steady stream of supperts moving to other codes.

Hopefully union types won’t be laughing too hard, given that Brian Waldron, the architect of the whole scam, will be running the Melbourne Rebels next year….

Inglis

Thank you SNS@#6

LOL

Holden Caulfield7:25 pm 22 Apr 10

Actually, given Brian Waldron is the Rebels CEO, the question is more pertinent to the Brumbies – which players can they have back?!

Anyone who thinks their team doesn’t rort the cap in some way is a fool.
The big winners from this will be the new Melbourne Rebels rugby franchise…..
just watch the fans switch loyalties.

TheVirulentOne6:57 pm 22 Apr 10

If the Raiders got Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith they would be premiership contendors, their only real problem is the lack of playmakers directing the flow of the game.

But that won’t happen, the Storm are dismantled by News to farm their players out to the new Union (sstifle laughs) Super 15 side, and to the whining Sydney NRL clubs who can’t be bothered investing in their own juniors.

Not that I’m the suspicious type, but strangely there’s been all this hype recently about how the NRL was about to renegotiate a new tv deal with Foxtel and Channel 9 that was commensurate with it’s massive supporter base, as evidenced by the extraordinary surge in tv ratings in the last 18 months. Today’s announcement, that will effectively kill off the Storm franchise, will end all of that as the game is forced to settle back into it’s East Coast heartlands, ready to be picked off by the AFL and soccer, whilst Union cherrypicks all the best players with offers of higher pay and promises of soft games every single week that mean players can continue as professionals until their late 30s.

Oh, and of course, today News, sorry, I mean Foxtel, announced how it is increasing it’s funding and coverage of Super 15. Not suspicious, no, not at all, must be an extraordinary coincidence.

Vale Rugby League, the day that Kerry Packer stole all the good players to prop up Channel Nine’s profits, rather than let them play in the only Australian sporting competition sponsored by an international media conglomerate, was the day the game turned it’s back on the future and confined itself to a regional mediocity. Shame.

sexynotsmart6:49 pm 22 Apr 10

Remember it will be the entire organisation up for grabs, not just the player roster.

So can I submit a heartfelt plea for the cheerleading squad to relocate? Especially Peta http://www.melbournestorm.com.au/default.aspx?s=player-profile-display&id=1567&team=Storm

Holden Caulfield6:43 pm 22 Apr 10

Shouldn’t the question be: which Storm players wouldn’t the Raiders like?

All of them? And I’ll take their coach as well, about time he came back to Canberra.

Welp. There goes League in Victoria.

Clown Killer4:56 pm 22 Apr 10

And people inside the NRL wonder why there’s a steady stream of supperts moving to other codes.

Growling Ferret4:44 pm 22 Apr 10

They can keep Brett Finch.

Cooper Cronk would sort our halfback issues out nicely

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