League: Ex-Warriors CEO Watson claims 'nothing to hide'

Former Auckland Warriors chief executive Mick Watson has offered to talk to National Rugby League officials investigating the club for an alleged $500,000 salary cap breach involving players Ruben Wiki and Steve Price.

Watson, who was in charge of the club for five years until last September, says he has yet to hear from anyone at either the NRL or the Warriors.

Watson said he was willing to co-operate with the investigation that is understood to have been prompted by the discovery of hand-written notes left for new management about player contracts, The Sydney Morning Herald reports today.

The club is facing the prospect of losing four to six competition points for the upcoming season and a fine of up to A$500,000 ($565,674).

New management that took over late last year has sought to distance themselves from the scandal by blaming the former leadership team led by Watson.

Watson insisted he had nothing to hide.

"At this stage I haven't been contacted by the NRL, I haven't been contacted by the (Warriors) shareholders and I haven't been contacted by the club but I am certainly willing to talk to them," he said.

Watson arrived home from a business trip to Canada only as the story was breaking on Tuesday.

He said he was unaware of details of the alleged breach that is believed to relate to written guarantees of secret payments to players, guarantees of jobs after football and free flights for players and their managers.

"Until I find out more, I can't really comment," Watson said.

"But if we're talking about technical disputes or some sort of mistake of that nature, I would have to take ownership for that."

NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert yesterday forwarded the details of his preliminary findings to Warriors officials, who are expected to provide replies to questions by the close of business tomorrow.

NRL chief executive David Gallop said he was sure the salary cap auditor would speak to Watson if he thought it would be useful.

"But at this stage it doesn't appear to be necessary.

"We are dealing with the current management and, at the end of the day, this is a problem for the club as it stands now."

But with the possibility the NRL may look at the involvement of player managers in deals that breach the cap, Watson, who oversaw most of the Warriors' signings, may be able to provide some useful information.

He may also have an understanding of how other clubs operate.

Former Warriors coach Frank Endacott, who is now a player agent and manages a large number of the club's players, told the newspaper Watson ran his own race.

"I would have no doubts whatsoever that the management that is in place now at the Warriors would have had no knowledge of this," Endacott said.

Wiki's agent, Jim Banaghan, declined to comment on speculation that the Kiwis captain had been promised a job in coaching or development with the club worth up to $150,000 per season after he retired.

"Ruben's contract is between him and the club and I don't discuss details of it," Banaghan said.

Wiki, who is on the Gold Coast preparing for Saturday night's trial against the Bulldogs, told reporters he and his teammates were unconcerned.

"The management will sort that out and the boys will just concentrate on footy," Wiki said.

Warriors general manager Spiro Tsiros, who also finished up at the club at the end of last season, did not return phone calls to the newspaper yesterday, while the club's major stakeholder, Eric Watson, is believed to be skiing in Canada.

- NZPA