Explosive courtroom documents obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that the Melbourne Storm asked the NRL to "apply the blow torch" to Parramatta to release Zac Lomax.
A slew of documents released in the Supreme Court revealed that during a phone call between Storm chair Matt Tripp and Eels supremo Matthew Beach on January 13, that the Eels again rejected a $200,000 release fee.
“During the telephone call, Mr Tripp referred to the possibility of punitive steps being taken by the NRL against Parramatta Eels in relation to its salary cap if Parramatta Eels did not agree to the proposal being put forward by the Melbourne Storm,” according to a document the Eels tendered to the court.
“This assertion by the Melbourne Storm was intended or had the tendency to exert pressure on the Parramatta Eels in circumstances where the NRL had never communicated such a stance to the Parramatta Eels.”
It was further revealed that an alleged text from Storm CEO Justin Rodski to NRL CEO Andrew Abdo on January 21 was used to try and have the NRL pressure the Eels into a release.
“Hi Andrew, not getting anywhere at this point, can you apply the blow torch on parramatta [sic] to get this done.
Rodski added: “Lomax staying in the NRL is obviously a win for the game.”
It's what we always suspected. The Storm trying to bully their way into a deal that would favour them. They should be expelled from the competition.
Replies
Mitchy, I reckon the question is who won't support us:
Melbourne, Broncos, Chooks, Dogs, Souths benefit from the current system. Penrith seem to be able to call for the torch too. They all like it as it is. Who else benefits from the status quo? They will all go against us
6o people agreed to stab Ceaser. He only received 28 wounds....but it did the job
Wow. I wonder how the NRL reacted. This could be massive if the NRL attempted to jump whem Melbourne called. Surely now the NRL needs to put Melbourne in their place after this public dacking.
This now has to be the end to the NRL club hierarchy. Fans have known about this since the start of the NRL and are frankly sick of it. Time for equal opportunity between clubs, or the NRL will slowly die. It makes a mockery of the competition, knowing that some clubs get a massive leg up every year. Clearly some clubs have zero chance to become regular Premiership contenders. Parra is in that boat, but luckily we are a big enough club to get there despite the NRL.
Dare I say it, a strict salary cap and draft system will be the result of all of this.
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