The Cronulla Sharks are staring down the barrel of a salary cap penalty of half a million dollars or more with the NRL having reportedly uncovered more discrepancies beyond the one it self-reported to the integrity unit last year.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday night that the NRL’s forensic audit of the club’s computer servers stretching back several years has revealed more than just the single salary cap anomaly chief executive Barry Russell reported in August last year.
As well as having a fine imposed, the Sharks could be penalised $500,000 under its cap when the Australian Rugby League Commission delivers its findings after meeting on Thursday.
That could mean bad news for hooker James Segeyaro, who re-signed with the club on a one-year deal on Tuesday after being cast into the NRL wilderness at the end of last season.
The Herald reported that the Papua New Guinea international has been given no guarantee his contract will be registered pending the outcome of the salary cap investigation.
The Sharks board met on Tuesday night to discuss how to handle any proposed NRL fine and salary cap impediment.
Crionulla are already appealing an $800,000 sanction handed down last year over a raft of emails previous officials instigated with former coach Shane Flanagan during his 2014 ban over the ASADA scandal.
Under the terms of Flanagan’s ban, the club and coach were to have no contact with each other until his suspension expired.
Flanagan will learn the fate of his appeal over his deregistration from the NRL later this week.
Russell met with the entire squad of Sharks players on Tuesday morning to discuss the cap issues, and co-captain Paul Gallen said the playing group remains unaffected by the drama.
“You wouldn’t even know there’s any issues as far as the team goes,” Gallen said. “We’ve been through worse as individuals and players. It’s not overly concerning, but the concerning part for me is that I suppose at the end of the day it will affect the players again.
“That’s what I find frustrating. I have got no idea what penalty this is going to be. I’ve got no idea if we’re going to lose a player. I really don’t know. I’m not going to speculate on that.
“[But] we haven’t missed a beat and training has been pretty good to be honest. I know there’s been a fair bit of outside noise, but there’s no issues as far as the boys go.”
I hope this also leads to them getting the premiership being stripped off them also.
Replies
They won’t be stripped as they were only over the cap in 2015 , 2017 , 2018 ........ just ask GreenTurd .
if they were over on either side of their premiership then you can bet 2016 is tarnished as well.
This means not only did they cheat by taking drugs but also by being over the cap for a prolonged period of time. All this under Flanagan's watch & Gallen's captaincy. should I say more about these 2?!?!
The off season from hell with multiple players charged with serious issues plus the salary cap issues with Manly, Tiger's, Storm & Sharks. It all starts at the top ( Greenburg ) Clubs will do whatever they can get away with & having such weak leadership it's no wonder the NRL has so many bad headlines.
Surely the commission must start questioning his leadership or lack of it.
Beattie must also grow some balls and do something here.
Yet no pressure by media to strip the title where they miraculously got under the cap for only time in middle of other years.
If any contract spanned through that year regardless if paid in different year the premiership is tarnished
Shows the double standard of the NRL and why it is failing against the AFL, soccer and other sports as the people in charge starting with Greenturd have no idea and destroying what once was the greatest sport on earth.
If this has tarnished another Premiership, Greenburg needs to stand down immediately. It is clear that he has done nothing to fix this problem, which has been ongoing for well over a decade. This is completely unacceptable and makes a mockery of the whole competition. It has been very clear that there is no such thing as an even competition, yet the fools at NRL headquarters keep telling themselves it is.
The NRL is the only competition I know of in the world where you can go for a team and cheer them on the win a trophy and then a few years later have that trophy taken off you and fines handed down.
Older discussion ok, but I need to get this off my chest.
Paul Gallen has to got be the biggest hypocrite within the game, what he said about Parramatta and it’s cap issues at the time made it sound as if he was the perfect example of a person who could do no wrong...Well what a crock that turned out to be.
Not forgetting Gallens track record and not forgetting why His coach was stood down and then deregistered from the game, yet this piece of work gets to hang around long after the fact and still acts like he is the perfect example despite the sharks being found cheating the cap.
The sharks self reported a $50,000 breach sure I will give them that, but it’s was the later found by the the NRL that I find it very difficult to accept. The Eels created false invoices on numerous accasions, yet the Sharks created a whole company to deal with 3rd parties, then we are told magically that the reason the Sharks did not loose the title is cause they where under the cap for that year in 2016, well if you think something stinks it usually does. Now for a club to be found cheating the cap from 2013 up until last year or 2017 and magically being below it in 2016 does not sit well with me regardless.
Now this piece of work Gallen comes out and says he would throw his ring in the bin and walk away from the game if the Sharks where stripped of the tittle, I would like nothing more to see that happen. Now he has the hide to tell others be careful what they wish for?!
Now for the Sharks to be found guilty of drug cheating only a few before they started cheating the cap, I find Paul Gallen to the biggest hypocrite within the game and possibly the biggest sore looser.