League: Warriors unlikely to forfeit players

Ruben Wiki

The Warriors are unlikely to have to shed players because of their salary cap breach, but it appears the NRL will deduct competition points and impose a heavy fine.

The competition's management faces a storm of protest whichever way it goes. Aussie clubs will demand a serious punishment, and the NRL wants to impose one as a deterrent to others. But the other factor is the financial gain the league gets from having an audience in New Zealand and the extra gate money Australian clubs make from the thousands of expat Kiwis that boost their crowd averages.

Determination of the Warriors' punishment will take some days as the exact nature and size of the breach is debated following the appearance of the club's heavyweights before the NRL's cap auditor Ian Schubert and ceo David Gallop in Sydney today.

Warriors board chairman Maurice Kidd, board member John Hart, ceo Wayne Scurrah and a lawyer will make submissions that will seek some balance to suggestions the club is as much as $500,000 over the A$3.25 million cap and will be dealt with as the Bulldogs were in 2002 when all their competition points were deducted.

That is nonsense. The Bulldogs operated two separate sets of accounts, one carrying "brown envelope" payments made to several players in a form of systematic cheating that had gone on for a long period.

The Warriors investigation centres largely on lures to Steve Price and Ruben Wiki and in Wiki's case whether any negotiations were begun before the anti-tampering deadline of June 30 last year. It appears the players were not aware the club was in breach and have done nothing wrong.

There are likely to be submissions that some enticements to players do not come under the cap. Much has been made of free calls and phones from sponsor Vodafone, but the club can legitimately claim that they need to stay in contact with players and that media and others need access, that most employers these days supply phones, and that Aussie clubs pay the bills for their players.

Supply of sponsors' products, including cars, will be one focus. Price drives a sponsored Mini, but the salary cap rules allow such deals.

In 2006 that concession has been expanded to allow payments of up to A$50,000 to two players in the elite brackets, provided they do work outside their normal commitments to the sponsor.

The Warriors can also make adjustments for bonus payments. All clubs sign contracts promising bonuses for such things as playing a set number of first grade games, making play-offs, winning the grand final or making a test team. As such things cannot be predicted, the league allows clubs to pay the bonuses over and above the cap, provided the amount is deducted from the club's cap for the following season.

Job guarantees after football is another aspect where all clubs might be investigated. Alfie Langer drinks beer with sponsors in corporate boxes for the Broncos. Robbie Kearns quit the Storm playing squad and is now employed on their coaching staff. Brad Fittler is employed as a kicking coach by the Roosters.

The big question, aside from settling on a sum for the admitted breach, is what the Warriors board knew, when, and to what extent it acted to conceal extra payments or provision of travel and other goods. The NRL will get that information only if the Warriors board provides it.

A six-point deduction has already been suggested. That would seem fair.

It would not end the Warriors' season. If they are good enough they can still make the top eight. Nor would it end interest in the Warriors and in league in this country.

The NRL board, which will ultimately receive a report and recommendation from Gallop, is a two-vote operation: three representatives from the Australian Rugby League and three from 50/50 owners News Ltd. The latter, as broadcast rights holder, has a vested interest in maintaining the Warriors as a competitive force.

Scurrah said the club had supplied all paperwork and other details requested by Schubert. The cap had not been managed well, he said, but the breach concerned "technicalities" and there were legitimate opportunities for the club to deduct some payments that had not been used.

Players would be given regular updates on progress towards a resolution of the issue.

"We will certainly abide by the rules from here on," Scurrah said. That would involve sometimes "saying no".

The NRL wants the issue resolved before the season start on March 10.

"We want to deal with this as soon as we can but without undue haste," said spokesman John Brady. "We can't jump to conclusions."

Gallop said damage to development of the game in New Zealand was not a factor for consideration.

"We have to treat all clubs equally. Every penalty we have ever set for any club is a benchmark."

Bet on a six-point deduction and a fine the same size as that of the breach.