NRL: Storm stripped of premiership points, titles

Cameron Smith will lead his club to the wooden spoon after the Storm received the heaviest salary cap-related punishment in NRL history. Photo / Getty Images

The Melbourne Storm has received the heaviest penalties in NRL history this evening after being found guilty of committing salary cap breaches over a five-year period.

The club had paid over $NZ2.2 million to players outside the cap, NRL chief David Gallop revealed during a press conference in Sydney this evening.

As a result, the club has been stripped of two premiership titles from the 2007 and 2009 seasons, three minor premierships and $NZ1.4 million in prize money, as well as being fined $NZ650,000.

Losing grand finalists Manly and Parramatta would not assume those titles, however the recovered prize money would be distributed among the other 15 NRL clubs.

The Storm has also been stripped of all 2010 premiership points and will not accrue any further points this season.

NRL investigations revealed the Storm maintained a dual contract system, with the club confirming yesterday that side letters promising extra payments were stored in a secret file.

"The most damning indictment is the systematic attempt by persons within the club to conceal payments from the salary cap auditor and, it would now seem certain from the club's board and from its owners, on an ongoing basis," Gallop said.

"It was through this system that they were able to attract and retain some of the biggest names in rugby league.

"In doing so they have let down the game, the players and the fans of the Melbourne Storm."

Former chief executive Brian Waldron has been named as the architect of the scam. He is now the boss of the Melbourne Rebels Super 15 team.

Gallop added the Storm need to quickly find a way to rectify the situation to have any chance of regaining their status in the competition.

"Certainly by the 2011 season they need to be operating within the salary cap and how they do that I'm not sure at this stage," he said.

Players run away from allegations

Melbourne Storm players bunkered down after training today as speculation mounted over the alleged breaches.

A senior Storm player had been due to speak to media following their skills session at Princes Park in Melbourne.

But the team hurriedly left the field in a group led by skipper Cameron Smith - said to be for a team meeting - and did not return.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy also left the session early. He was understood to have been summoned to a meeting, and left the training session to his assistants to run.

The events came after several bookmakers suspending betting on the NRL wooden spoon following a stream of bets for premier Melbourne to finish last.

The club last month opened its books to salary cap auditor Ian Schubert after it emerged the NRL was concerned with several issues regarding player payments, including a third-party television deal involving skipper Cameron Smith.

Penalties worst in NRL history

The penalties are the heaviest handed down to an NRL club since the Canterbury Bulldogs were found guilty of breaching the salary cap in 2002.

Canterbury - who were on top of the ladder at the time - finished last after having 37 competition points stripped by the NRL.

The stripping of points cleared the way for the New Zealand Warriors to finish the regular season at the top of the ladder.

The Warriors would later lose four competition points in 2006 after the club was found to have committed its own salary cap breaches. The punishment ultimately cost them a place in that year's playoffs.

Dragons new premiership favourites

Bookmakers were sent into a frenzy, re-framing NRL premiership betting markets after the penalties were announced.

Sportingbet Australia reacted by slashing Melbourne's wooden spoon odds from A$250 to A$1.01.

"Melbourne have gone from A$251 to A$1.01 for the wooden spoon in the space of six hours which has to be the biggest betting move in history," Sportingbet Australia's chief executive Michael Sullivan said.

St George Illawarra are the new premiership favourites at A$4.50 with Parramatta and Manly second picks at A$7 with the Wests Tigers at A$7.50.

"We took three bets to win A$10,000 and another to win A$8000 for the Storm to win the wooden spoon all within 10 minutes of each other this morning," said Sportingbet Australia spokesman Bill Richmond.

"You don't take a series of bets like that unless someone knows something and we have suspended betting on the wooden spoon as a result.

"Melbourne is now our worst result for the wooden spoon despite the fact they are premiership favourites."

Another bookmaker - sportsbet.com.au - also suspended betting on the wooden spoon and on teams to miss the top eight.

"Before betting was suspended we took more than 30 bets this morning on NRL teams to miss the Final 8. Every single one of those bets was on the Melbourne Storm at A$7," spokesman Haydn Lane said.

"We also took a bet to win A$50,000 and several others to win more than A$10,000 each on the Storm for the spoon in quick succession."

TABSportsbet spokesman Glenn Munsie said he didn't think much of the initial A$200 bet on Wednesday night until further bets followed this morning.

"The spark starts, becomes a brushfire, becomes a bushfire," Munsie said.

"It all started in a couple of places this morning and they're now coming from everywhere."

Storm clouds over Melbourne

* Stripped of the 2007 and 2009 Premierships

* Stripped of the Minor Premierships of 2006-8

* Stripped of all competition points for the 2010 season

* Fined $654,380

* will be forced to return $1.4 million in prizemoney, to be distributed evenly among the other 15 clubs

* Individual awards by players will continue to be recognised

* Neither runners-up Manly (2007) nor Parramatta (2009) will assume the Premiership titles in their respective years

* Salary cap breaches amounted to at least $2.2 million over five years.

* Salary cap breach around $521,000 in 2009

* Salary cap breach projected to be $912,000 in 2010

* NRL says the Storm maintained a dual contract system

- AAP, NZ HERALD ONLINE, NEWSTALK ZB