David Leggat: Salary cap is NRL's great strength

Brian Waldron's defence for his systematic cheating of the NRL salary cap on behalf of the Melbourne Storm was: "Everyone does it."

The most vilified person in Australian sport today is probably right. He could have added that if you're not going to play by the rules at least make sure you don't get caught.

And the reason there's a stink a mile high is not just that it's the most successful NRL operation over recent seasons in the dog box, but that an uncomfortable light is shining on the rest of the clubs. It should also be on the NRL itself for sitting on its hands for so long. Did it really not smell a rat as the Storm marched on relentlessly season after season?

Everyone wants to do the best by their team. They crave success and its reflected glory. If that means going the extra dodgy yard, so be it. This is the world of the brown envelope. In this case, rather large ones.

You can be sure there will be a few administrators dotted around the NRL nervously mopping their brows, figuring "that could be me".

So why have a salary cap? What about going free-market, every man, or club, for himself or themselves?

The NRL loves the cap, which has been a central plank in making a competition in which most teams can beat the other on any given day. That's the beauty of it.

Ask fans and once they set aside club loyalty, it's a good bet most would support the notion that they pay their money at the gate and know their mob are in with a shout against anyone.

If it went open slather their team might become the punching bags for those with the fattest wallets.

An outsider making a romantic passage to the last four? Right now, it's quite possible.

Let's say you do away with the salary cap. In quick time you would have an English Premier League situation.

Four teams have dominated the last decade - Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool (although the latter less so this season and, by the way, the sooner they get shot of their Spanish manager Rafael Benitez the better. The Special One is waiting in the wings).

Say you're Sunderland, or Fulham, or Stoke City, all of whom have had solidly competitive seasons, with no risk of relegation but nowhere within cooee of making the Champions League top four either.

Fancy that?

The free-marketeers will say that's the law of the jungle. May the best rise to the top. Eat the little guy.

So do you like the idea of an NRL of 16 clubs in which the winner would, without question, come from the same three teams each year? Didn't think so.

For years the question has been how can the Storm afford the likes of Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and sundry other high-quality players and still park themselves beneath the cap. Now we know.

The NRL's punishments are severe. Fair enough, too. Tough on the players? Yes, but the Storm are dirty. End of story.

Before announcing he was stepping down as Melbourne Rebels Super 15 rugby chief executive yesterday, Waldron was reported to be seeking legal advice. It should have been succinct: "You're toast, pal," would have done nicely.

As a sports administrator in Australia he's finished, and a good thing. Will his Storm, the NRL's attempt to take a chunk of the huge AFL market, sink behind him? You'd hope not, but someone needs to take a large high-pressure hose to them first.