NRL report recommends Waldron ban

The NRL report into the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal recommends that Brian Waldron never be allowed to work in rugby league again.

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The NRL report into the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal recommends the club's former chief executive, Brian Waldron, never be allowed to work in rugby league again.

Waldron, his deputy Matt Hanson and two unnamed Storm financial executives should all be barred from any involvement in the game, concludes the explosive report which was released by the NRL on Wednesday.

It described a "toxic culture of deceit" which saw rorting the league's salary cap as "a bit of a game".

Waldron - described by club owner News Limited's boss John Hartigan as the scandal's "chief rat" - as well as Hanson and former chairman Rob Moodie, all knowingly signed false statutory declarations, the report says.

Current Sydney Roosters recruitment manager Peter O'Sullivan, who previously held that role with the Storm, arranged dual contracts used to rort the cap, it adds.

It says unnamed sponsors were complicit in paying extra money to players and should be compelled to make statutory declarations that all payments have been disclosed to the NRL.

Players should have heard "alarm bells" and, for one unnamed player no longer at the club, those alarm bells should have been "deafening", it says.

Four player agents - Alan Gainey, George Mimis, Issac Moses and David Riolo - have already been asked to show cause as to why their accreditation should not be revoked. All four have denied any wrongdoing.

NRL boss David Gallop said his organisation stood vindicated with the findings now in the public arena.

"The report remains a significant watershed for the game and an important warning for anyone who would even think of breaching the salary cap," he said.

"Over 136 pages it details a sophisticated level of dishonesty on the part of a number of people who were the ones ultimately responsible for plunging the club and the game into disruption.

"The fans, the players and those persons at the Storm who were not involved were in fact let down horribly and there can be no doubt from this report that the acts were intentional and premeditated."

The Storm were stripped of two premierships, prizemoney and fined $500,000 as a result of the scandal.

They would also be stripped of the 2010 World Club Challenge title, the NRL said.

"Hopefully this brings closure to that quite extraordinary chapter in the game's history," Gallop said.

"There are two key messages out of that report.

"Firstly that there is a high probability that even the most elaborate scheme to avoid the salary cap will unravel.

"And, secondly, when it does unravel the details of the transactions around that salary cap breach will be put under the spotlight.

"The salary cap is not a game, it's a serious part of the business.

"Every dollar that you hide is potentially another dollar taken away from the game."

The release of the report came the same day it was announced the Wests Tigers are facing a hefty $187,000 fine for a salary cap breach.

Audits of the 2010 season show the Tigers breached the cap by claiming a long-serving player allowance, a claim denied by Tigers officials.

Gold Coast, St George Illawarra, Parramatta and Canberra were also fined smaller amounts for breaches.


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Source: AAP


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