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*** Eels Troubles - The BIG Story of the moment ***


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There's moves afoot surrounding the salary cap problems at Parra.
There's talk that board level discussions took place about ways to flout salary cap rules.

 board minutes from 2014 show rewards for third parties, such as free and fully catered corporate hospitality, were discussed openly at the highest levels of the club.
According to the NRL laws, a club must keep third party deals at an arm’s length so as not to undermine the salary cap.
Clubs must not make a payment to a player on behalf of or compensate a third party for a contract.
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So just when we thought the Eels salary cap issue had been resolved... more stuff is seeping out.

reports also claim that a Parramatta official paid former star Jarryd Hayne tens of thousands of dollars well after he left the club to join the San Francisco 49ers NFL team.
Hayne’s manager has denied any knowledge of the payments.
The Eels have already forked out a $465,000 fine for salary cap breaches in 2014.
It it understood that the NRL is continuing a review of the Eels’ salary cap.

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A potential smoking gun has emerged in the NRL's investigation into a third-party arrangement with Parramatta star Anthony Watmough as the probe into the embattled club widens.

The governing body is aware of damning evidence that Eels officials ignored warnings from a senior club executive that a TPA involving the marquee Manly recruit could be a breach of the salary cap. The development again raises the prospect of Parramatta being docked competition points, while powerbrokers who didn't fully disclose the information to head office - a clear breach of the code of conduct governing administrators - could face serious sanctions, including the sack.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/parramatta-eels/nrl-could-have-smoking-gun-in-parramatta-eels-salary-cap-scandal-20160309-gneuwj.html

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This club has a complete disregard for the rules & needs to be punished accordingly, Given wasting money doesn't seem to bother Parramatta the punishment needs to be a large points deduction somewhere in the area of 20 points.

Unfortunately given how week the NRL have been of late I'm confident nothing at all will come of this.

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I found a site where they seem to copy the news from other sources, put it through a translating programme into some random language then put the result back through another translation into English.

 

Here was John Grant's statement:

 

"It will take time to get to a bottom of these allegations … a critical thing is that we examine and understanding with a matter so a bar and a diversion can pull a line in a silt and pierce on,” Grant pronounced on Thursday night.

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I found a site where they seem to copy the news from other sources, put it through a translating programme into some random language then put the result back through another translation into English.

 

Here was John Grant's statement:

 

"It will take time to get to a bottom of these allegations … a critical thing is that we examine and understanding with a matter so a bar and a diversion can pull a line in a silt and pierce on,” Grant pronounced on Thursday night.

That sounds fair enough.

Will the crank-standard pacify the turnip though?

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  • 4 weeks later...

I doubt it somehow. All the reports are that he's really happy with life at the moment and this is reflected in his on pitch performance. When he and Gidley are lined up alongside each other they are pretty darn good it has to be said.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Although the story seems to change each and every day, the latest rumoured penalty set to be handed down to the Eels is eight competition points, as well as a large fine.


For those who aren’t caught up with the Eels salary cap dramas, it’s near impossible to summarise, but the evidence that the Eels have been playing outside of the rules for a few years now is mounting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I see Eels apparently won't take medicine Well that's what they are threatening. Or at least as long as there's not too much of it.

Presumably they are sneaking these sort of comments out to try to influence the NRL during the time they are considering an appropriate penalty - see below

Don't be bullied NRL

Give the club the appropriate penalty whatever that is and in keeping with that given to other clubs.

If Eels were to carry out such a dramatic threat, then their credibility would be shot and their image tarnished. If there's a salary cap then it has to be enforced and the penalties have to at least try to be a warning to others.

Parramatta would consider fielding an NRL side full of park footballers, immediately shedding players who have already signed with rival clubs and begin preparing for 2018.

 

In what could have a major and detrimental impact on TV ratings, crowds and interest, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Eels powerbrokers have discussed how they plan to react, if the NRL rubs the club out of the finals race by docking them competition points for alleged salary cap breaches.

Having analysed more than 700,000 documents, the NRL are in the process of finalising their determination from the lengthy inquiry, with a decision on potential penalties expected to be handed down in the next 72 hours.

It has been widely reported that if found guilty of third-party deal cheating, the Eels face a multitude of penalties including the removal of key club figures caught up in the scandal, a huge monetary fine and the loss of points.

Currently sitting on 12-competition points, the Eels have won six of their nine matches this season.

12 wins — or 28-points — is considered the top-8 cut-off, meaning the Eels only need to win six of their remaining 15-games to remain in top-8 contention.

However, with speculation that the NRL are considering docking the Eels eight competition points for salary cap breaches, they would then need to win 10 of their final 15-matches — not an inconceivable task.

But should the Eels be docked more than eight-points, they will almost certainly miss the finals, ensuring that the remainder of the season is effectively a waste.It’s why Eels heavyweights have spoken about resting their biggest names, as opposed to playing at the risk of injury.

 

Playing in front of 31,815 fans against Canterbury at ANZ Stadium last Friday night, the Eels desicion to preserve their best players for 2018 would undoubtedly impact their home crowd figures and TV interest.

The immediate release of players, including Junior Paulo, who has signed a deal to join Canberra next season, would also allow the Eels to save money on their salary cap for 2018.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg wouldn’t indicate when a decision would be made, saying only that his priority was putting the game first.

“This has been a thorough and diligent process but we are confident we will come up with the right resolution,’’ Greenberg said.

“This has been one of the toughest investigations we have undertaken ... the Integrity Unit has gone through more than 700,000 documents.

“So it has been an exhaustive process but the important thing is that we put the game first at all times.”

 

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As a result of these preliminary findings the NRL has today issued the Parramatta club with a breach notice proposing that:

 

The club will be fined the maximum penalty of $1 million (with $250,000 suspended if the club accelerates the governance reforms recommended by PWC within a specified time frame)

 

The Parramatta Eels will be docked all competition points accumulated so far this season while their team was in breach of the salary cap. The club will be able to begin accruing points as soon as it makes the necessary changes to comply with the 2016 cap

 

The club will be stripped of its Auckland Nines competition title won earlier this year

 

The NRL has also issued notices to three members of the Club’s Board and two members of the Executive requiring them to show cause why their registrations should not be cancelled. They are Chairman Steve Sharp, Deputy Chairman Tom Issa, Director Peter Serrao, CEO John Boulous and Football Manager Daniel Anderson.

 

The NRL stressed that these are preliminary findings and the club and officials will be given a reasonable time to respond to the proposed penalties.

 

The NRL will only make a final determination on whether the preliminary findings are justified and the proposed penalties once it has considered the responses of the club and the officials.

 

http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/eels/nrl-issues-statement-confirming-full-parramatta-eels-penalty-for-salary-cap-breaches/news-story/bf99809debe2105af6673bbc89bf1cac

 

 

In broad terms, the Integrity Unit investigation has made preliminary findings that the Parramatta club breached the salary cap rules and code of conduct by:

 

Paying players undisclosed remuneration from its own resources

 

Procuring third party agreements for players in breach of the salary cap rules

 

Conspiring with club suppliers to inflate or issue fictitious invoices to raise cash that was then relayed to players

 

Head of Integrity, Nick Weeks said the club and its registered officials had been given numerous opportunities to meet their obligations to come forward with details of any breaches but had not done so.

This was despite the fact the club appears to have been aware of some of the matters which have been reported to the NRL.

 

Mr Weeks said the NRL’s Salary Cap Auditors estimated that the Parramatta Eels are currently around $570,000 over the salary cap.

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More:   The Eels have been told they are $500,000 over the cap this year and can't play for points unless they get under .Will have to shed players

 

I can't confirm the last bit because the nrl.com seems to have crashed.

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More:   The Eels have been told they are $500,000 over the cap this year and can't play for points unless they get under .Will have to shed players

 

I can't confirm the last bit because the nrl.com seems to have crashed.

It's back up......and yep, fire sale before they can get points.

Dr K would of course appeal to the highest court in the land, but this is how to deal with this issue......harsh, but fair IMHO!

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I don't see how they could trim $570K from their squad. I don't know who their top 25 are but, financially, Watmough is the biggest problem. He may never play again so nobody would take him. He's got too much $$ at stake to just retire immediately.

 

Their best bet is for some wealthy Eels fan to step in. If some of the big earners resigned from the club by mutual agreement, then re-signed on deals with bigger TPA components and less salary-cap-applicable components ...........  But I doubt the NRL would sign off on that.

 

I think the Mentalist has ended so maybe Simon Baker might take a more direct interest in the Eels.

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Ryan Morgan has already joined Melbourne on somewhat of a loan deal for the rest of the year, with an option in his favour to return to the Eels in 2017 as he has a two-year-contract with the Eels.

 

The club is still paying local junior Ryan Matterson who is now at the Roosters.

The Eels have $70,000 of Matterson’s wage sitting in their second-tier salary cap for this season despite him leaving the club at the end of last year.

 

Junior Paulo has signed on with the Raiders from next year, but he could switch clubs sooner with the Green Machine able to accommodate him under their cap for this season.

For the Raiders to bring in Paulo, it’s understood they would need to release Mitch Barnett.

Newcastle are keen on signing the 22-year-old forward.

 

Danny Wicks, Issac De Gois, Cameron King and James Hasson are also without a club for next season and could all be moved on prematurely.

 

Anthony Watmough, is unlikely to take the field again due to chronic injuries.

Recruited on a $750,000 four-year deal, insurance issues dictate whether Watmough’s retirement would free up sorely needed cap space, or whether it will have to be found elsewhere.

If Watmough is granted an insurance payout, his wage won’t count on the Eels’ salary cap for next season however that doesn’t help the club in the short term.

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The way Melbourne was treated, was a disgrace and given no help from the NRL. They were not given the help and chances from the NRL, the Eels have been getting. I wonder if Parra will get as much stick as the Storm receive(d)? For me the Eels is even worse as it has been going on for years and the NRL have known about it and done seemingly everything to assist them out of trouble. And the Broncos also have been cheating, but shoved out the way. Player cash payments are well known from what I understand at a number of Clubs and often put into overseas accounts or put in a trust for retirement funds that are hard to trace. And you have to wonder how the Roosters, Broncos, Cowboys and Sea Eagles etc have not been breaking the cap when you you look at the squads they have or have had. The salary Cap is a joke and the NRL clearly have no idea how to make it operate. Maybe it would be best to get rid of the cap in the way it currently operates.

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The way Melbourne was treated, was a disgrace and given no help from the NRL. They were not given the help and chances from the NRL, the Eels have been getting. I wonder if Parra will get as much stick as the Storm receive(d)? For me the Eels is even worse as it has been going on for years and the NRL have known about it and done seemingly everything to assist them out of trouble. And the Broncos also have been cheating, but shoved out the way. Player cash payments are well known from what I understand at a number of Clubs and often put into overseas accounts or put in a trust for retirement funds that are hard to trace. And you have to wonder how the Roosters, Broncos, Cowboys and Sea Eagles etc have not been breaking the cap when you you look at the squads they have or have had. The salary Cap is a joke and the NRL clearly have no idea how to make it operate. Maybe it would be best to get rid of the cap in the way it currently operates.

 

Agreed

Poverty exists not because we cannot feed the poor but because we cannot satisfy the rich.

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Very light touch the NRL are, Parramatta should have there licence suspended for the remainder of the season given the depth of there breaches.

I'm hopeful the NRL now move there focus onto the Cowboys .

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Storm's actions given the rules were seriously wrong.

The club, players and us fans paid heavily for the cheating of the rules. The judgement and treatment of the club was quick, hard and unequivocal. 

Probably the worst part of the penalties was playing for that season for no league points - no win rewarded, no incentive to compete, no hope of playing in the finals.

Storm fans took it and moved on, many of us being shocked at the degree of cheating of the rules that took place.

 

It is rubbing it in somewhat to see the longer timescale and relatively softer approach now given to Eels.

Taking your punishment is right and proper.

An even handed approach and consistency to clubs by the authority is crucial.

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LATEST:

Unlike Melbourne in 2010, Parramatta has at least been given a glimmer of hope for the season ahead, given they will be able to compete for premiership points as soon as the decimated front office get the playing roster under the cap.
While the decision is sure to anger Storm fans, Greenberg said he’d deliberately worked hard to avoid repeating that decision, which was made under a previous NRL administration.
“If Parramatta wins every game under the salary cap, I will be very happy,” Greenberg said on Tuesday.
“But they have to comply with the salary cap like every one of the other 15 clubs.
“I watched Melbourne Storm fans and players have to continue to play a season without the ability to accrue points - I thought that was soul-destroying, both for the players and the fans.
“I’ve tried very hard to find a way forward here that Parramatta Eels can take a step forward today.”
The Eels have 10 days to get their house in order ahead of Friday week’s clash with South Sydney at Pirtek Stadium, but even coach Brad Arthur concedes he has no idea how the club can get under the cap in that time.
The club must shed players, with Greenberg saying squad members could not simply all take a pay cut to get under the limit.
To make the finals, the Eels - who have won six of their first nine games this year - will likely need 12 victories in their remaining 15 games, provided their roster is salary-cap compliant.

It seems, also unlike Storm, Eels have dragged their feet and been uncooperative.
And...

Eels staff set to be deregistered have decided to fight the NRL’s salary cap punishments in the Supreme Court

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