NRL: Storm players knew - poll

Storm fullback Billy Slater won the best player vote in the <i>Rugby League Week</i> players’ poll. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - Melbourne's stars knew the club was rorting the salary cap, according to a poll of National Rugby League (NRL) players.

The annual Rugby League Week players' poll has found 62 per cent believe the Storm's players would have been aware their payments - some including boats, shopping vouchers and plasma TVs - breached the cap.

A hundred players were polled, with 50 believing the Storm should get the two premierships stripped from them back but others still angry.

"It's an insult to our intelligence to say the players didn't know what they were doing," one player said.

"They signed two different contracts - what did they think was going on?

"They can blame (former chief executive) Brian Waldron, they can blame their managers, they can blame News Limited ... but at the end of the day this is your job and you know what you are getting paid."

A former Storm player says he was aware of cash payments to several stars in his time at the club.

"One guy told me he regularly got cash - it can never be detected but it happened, the ex-Storm player said. "And good luck to him."

In other findings from the popular poll, Parramatta prop Justin Poore has inherited the dreaded most over-rated player tag.

Canterbury hooker Michael Ennis has bolted in as the biggest sledger, earning 53 per cent of the vote.

Melbourne's Billy Slater won the best player vote with 27 per cent.

Only 52 per cent of players believe NRL boss David Gallop has done a good job on the Storm issue.

And 58 per cent of NRL stars polled still say they fear going out because they could end up in a brawl or on the front page of the newspapers.

- AAP