NRL may increase harshness of salary cap penalties

Are the current penalties in place severe enough?

Published by
Michael Poiveson

The NRL will review the sanctions it deals out to clubs that cheat the salary cap to make sure there is a significant enough deterrent to prevent future scandals from occurring, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said preliminary investigations into Cronulla's salary cap discrepancies illustrate they are not on the same wave length as the major concerns which have previously surfaced around Melbourne, Parramatta or Manly.

It is believed the issues originally related to a $50,000 third-party payment, which may in-turn lead to the discovery of further undisclosed payments. The investigation dates back to 2015 and could see coach Shane Flanagan, CEO Lyall Gorman and former chairman Damien Keogh.

The initial findings suggest ridding the Sharks of their competition points - or their one and only premiership from 2016 - this is viewed as highly unlikely, however. The fact that yet another club has been caught attempting to cheat the system cues the question as to whether the current penalties are severe enough.

“It is a fair question,” Greenberg said.

“Punishments, as an example to the Manly club, have this year no doubt affected the roster and they will have implications on that roster for next year.

“People who have made poor decisions, some of them have lost their livelihoods in the game, their accreditation and their ability to work in the game. As the cap has gone up and grants to clubs have gone up, the imposition of fines haven’t kept pace. That’s something the commission has asked me to look at at the end of this year – do we need to have additional financial penalties over and above what has historically happened?”

Manly, however, are appealing penalties including a $750,000 fine and $660,000 taken off their cap for the next two seasons.
Greenberg said the Sharks, and all other teams, were cap compliant for 2018, meaning there will not be any significant doubt over finals. But the extent of the undisclosed payments won't be 100 per cent until the investigation is completed.

 

Published by
Michael Poiveson