Parramatta Eels salary cap scandal : The real tragedy is, it didn't have to come to this

By ANDREW WEBSTERTwo months ago, a highly placed NRL official said this to me as the first crack appeared in Parramatta's salary cap scandal: "We won't be deducting any points. We'd rather see them reformed."At lunchtime on Tuesday, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg and Integrity Unit boss Nick Weeks will front a packed media conference and unleash sanctions that are expected to end Parramatta's season.Eels chairman Steve Sharp and his board will have received the fateful phone call earlier that morning. A massive fine and hefty deduction of competition points that will stop the Eels' campaign in its tracks is expected, although the NRL remains tight-lipped about just how many points could be deducted.Advertisement"" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; font-size: 0px; display: block; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">The real tragedy won't be the fact coach Brad Arthur has assembled a team and built a culture finally worthy of the Parramatta brand – although that's heartbreaking, too – but that his superiors could have avoided the pain they're about to endure.That is what's at the heart of this mess. That's what has angered head office so much.Time and time again, it has asked the Eels for transparency and co-operation.Having narrowly avoided a four-point deduction because of last year's salary cap breaches, the smart play from Parramatta would have been to throw themselves at the mercy of the court and limit the damage.Instead, the board has ducked and weaved and issued knee-jerk media releases full of legal babble about not being afforded "natural justice and procedural fairness".Last month, Jack Whelan was parachuted into Parramatta straight out of the Australian Labor Party's hard right. He was an adviser to former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard and is renowned for his ability to rattle up a speech.Yes, just what rugby league needs – another politician.Since then, whenever a story has broken about Parramatta's chaotic salary cap, Sharp and his minders fire out a media release branding it a "smear campaign" and part of a clandestine bid to privatise the club.The latest desperate play from Sharp came on Sunday when he promised to march the NRL up the stairs of the Supreme Court if the sanctions are too heavy. He issued the same warning in February.Unsurprisingly, the NRL was hardly shaking in its Dunlop Volleys when contacted on Monday about the threat. It has lawyers, too. Weeks is one of them.The NRL has also been savvy enough to wait until the representative round to hand down its findings.With no club football this weekend, it will allow Arthur and his players time to digest that they will be playing only for pride for the rest of this season.The media conference will make for compelling viewing as Weeks finally explains the depth of the Eels' alleged rorting.This has been a salary cap scandal like no other; certainly not like the other three the game has suffered in the last 14 years.In 2002, the Bulldogs lost 37 points and were fined $500,000 after a Herald investigation unearthed secret payments outside of the cap worth $2.13 million over three years. The story came out of nowhere and felt like a kidney punch.In 2005, the Warriors were fined $400,000 and ordered to start the following season on minus four competition points for exceeding the cap by $1.1 million over two years. Again, nobody really saw it coming.In 2010, the first inkling that the Storm were in trouble came early one April morning when betting agencies shut down betting on the wooden spoon.Later that day, then chief executive David Gallop fronted a hastily convened media conference to announce the Storm had been stripped of titles, points and heavily fined for rorting the cap by almost $4 million over five years.In 2016, the Eels' salary cap scandal has been played out in reverse, with every ugly detail leaked to the media from ugly factions outside the club that refuse to let go.Weeks will be able to tell us once and for all just how third-party agreements to a range of players amounted to cheating.As I've been told all along, the issue hasn't been as much about the amount that's outside the cap – about $500,000 some have predicted – but the deceit that's occurred in covering it up.Equally interesting will be who is exposed as the chief architects of the cheating. To borrow a line from former News Ltd boss John Hartigan when talking about the Storm – who were owned by the media company – who are the rats in the ranks?If possible, the NRL needs to reveal who has been responsible. Personal breaches of Eels officials and directors would not surprise.The cruellest blow, of course, for long-suffering Parramatta fans is that their season is about to be strangled at the exact moment they have been delivered a team worthy of their support.The win over the Bulldogs last Friday night – less than 48 hours after captain Kieran Foran was granted indefinite leave because of serious personal issues – was arguably their greatest since 2009 when they reached the grand final.When Arthur arrived at the Eels in 2014, there was much debate about how successful he would be.Having worked alongside Craig Bellamy in Melbourne, he came with the reputation of being almost impossible to play under. He was, according to Storm players, a nightmare.Like fellow Bellamy disciple Michael Maguire, he would turn up at wrestling sessions and join in.One former Eels player under Arthur tells the story about the day he smiled at a training session."What are you smiling about?" Arthur apparently asked. "There's nothing to be happy about."That authoritarian style seemed to explain why the Eels failed to reach the finals in his first two seasons.But credit where it is due. He ushered players out the door and brought in new ones. He pissed people off but he made Parramatta Parramatta again.Arthur is the club's future – or at least what's left of it after lunchtime on Tuesday.Those who are found to be responsible for the catastrophe the club is about to experience should never be allowed near the joint again.Follow Us on Facebook

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Replies

Carloeel May 2, 2016 at 5:48pm

:-(((((((((((((((((((((((
Patsy Stone May 2, 2016 at 5:50pm

Hmmmm.... Very Interesting. One thing is for sure. The Eels need to lock up Brad Arthur long term. I am very worried that with all the shit he has had to endure that this could possibly be the straw that breaks the Camel's back for him.
- Carloeel > Patsy Stone May 2, 2016 at 5:53pm
  
  Totally agree and who would blame the man after all his hard work gets fucked up !!
- Bup > Patsy Stone May 2, 2016 at 5:57pm
  
  Should have been done already. Maybe it has and the announcement will come after the sanctions to soften the blow.
- FME > Patsy Stone May 2, 2016 at 6:08pm
  
  Agreed. I can think of a few clubs who would be very interested in BA's services.
- Angry Eel > Patsy Stone May 2, 2016 at 7:33pm
  
  It's taken 3 years for BA to build what he has. I can't see him leaving. If Parra do win in the next couple of years, He will forever be remembered by parra fans long after he has finished coaching. Parra can afford to pay him whatever it takes as it doesn't count towards salary cap. BA will stay
Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst May 2, 2016 at 6:00pm

So it's not about how much in $$$$$ they cheated by but how big the lie they told?
Ummmm ok!!!
- Dave > Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst May 2, 2016 at 6:22pm
  
  That has always been the case and was why I laughed every time someone here posted comments about how Parra were only x over the cap compared to Y of other clubs and other teams have been caught being X over the cap but didn't lose points.
  
  The way Parra allegedly cheated was always bigger than the amounts in terms of determining the penalty
- FME > Mr 'BringBackFitzy' Analyst May 2, 2016 at 6:25pm
  
  Ye what a ridiculous line that was. So what were the bulldogs and melb doing by systematically rorting the cap and not disclosing it until they got found out? The mother of all lies.
The Offside Eel May 2, 2016 at 6:01pm

If and our season ends tomorrow i hope we get all the information and people pay. Regardless of what good sharpe has done (and he has) he is the chairman all of this was on his watch he has to go simple.

I've prepared myself for the worst ill always support the boys but if we're playing for nothing I'm not traveling down to sydney each week again till next year nor will i watch another game for the whole year including origin.

I still have a very small glimmer of hope that we get a 4point deduction and are still alive for the good of the game lets hope so.

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