Reports of at least 11 Storm Players signing two contracts

[billythekidslater]

Details to be provided in the Daily Telegraph tomorrow

[simo]

If your going to sign a second contract.. the fact that its a contract.. you would have no doubt that you would trust its legit.

If you were gettin payments from a source that wasnt contracted.. thats when things get shady.

Ppl dont relise this.. get out and mix with some shady business men.. you'd learn abit about it then haha..

[stormy bill]

The Daily Telegraph !!! Please.

[CooperCronk]

How in hell is the Telecrap obtaining all this information........wait.......Deloitte's is a reputable corporation who is employed by News Ltd.

[absentee]

Maybe the auditors and the NRL should spend less time keeping the media up to date and more time on getting the job done.  This bullshit is being dragged on for way too long.  Get things finalised so we can move on and start working on the build for next season.

[Thor19]

and they are wondering why the players won't do the interviews with Deloittes and won't have their bank account details.

The players worry about lack of confidentiality about their incomes and then this rubbish comes out.

Unfortunatley this is going to take longer than we al like.

I just hope that the directors take over the club; set up a new company; enabling renegotiation of all contracts and then we'll see about real player loyalty - which does exist at the storm. Then bring on 2011.

We just have to look at this as a very long pre-season...

[Surandy]

DUI Beccy at it again. Don't read too much into the headlines, she's printed unfounded lies before.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/s ... 5875916005

NRL salary cap investigators have discovered champion hooker Cameron Smith had THREE separate contracts with Melbourne Storm.

One was registered with the NRL, one was in a file at the Storm's administration headquarters and another was being hidden at the home of former CEO Matt Hanson.

The contracts, which were drawn up by disgraced former boss Brian Waldron, also included payments for a home renovation and a guaranteed commentary role at Fox Sports. Super League architect John Ribot negotiated the Fox Sports deal.

How does this prove that Smith knew that he was being paid illegally? What's to say that he thought the last contract he signed negated the earlier contracts?

[Thor19]

maybe beccy should check with her life partner why the News Ltd accounting/ audit machine couldn't pick up that these cash payments were over the cap.. If all the payments originated from the Storm then they should have hit the accounts.

I'm astounded that News didn't know...they ar etrying to blame the directors but it is muck racking by Baxter.

[Surandy]

I think the following is meant to be the simple explanation (or explainantion if you are a News Ltd journalist/editor and don't know how to spell) of how the salary cap works for the NRL/Toyota Cup:

How much can clubs spend?
The Salary Cap for 2010 is a maximum limit of $4.1m for the 25 highest remunerated players at each club. All other players that play NRL in the current year must fit under a $350,000 Salary Cap.

For players in the top 25 Salary Cap or 2nd Tier Salary Cap, the Salary Cap value for a player each year is broken down into the following categories:
Playing Fee – fully included in the Salary Cap.
Included benefits – all benefits provided to players including accommodation, travel, motor vehicles, interest free loans and manager’s fees and any applicable fringe benefits tax. Win bonuses and appearance fees – Payments for appearing in or winning a game are calculated based on the number of NRL games the player played in the prior year multiplied by any applicable bonuses. For win bonuses, the calculation is capped at 13 wins. 
Example: A player appeared in 10 NRL games in 2009 and now has a 2010 Contract for $50,000 contract fee plus $1,000 per game. His Salary Cap Value would be $50,000 plus 10 times $1000 = $60,000. Other bonuses – Any other bonus contained in a player’s contract will be calculated in the Salary Cap if the NRL Salary Cap Auditor expects him to achieve the bonus based on his prior year’s performance.
Example:  A player played State of Origin in 2009. His 2010 Contract includes a $20,000 State of Origin bonus. This bonus will be included in the player’s 2010 Salary Cap Value. Note: Where a bonus is achieved by a player but was not assessed in the player’s Salary Cap Value, the bonus is carried forward and calculated in the player’s Salary Cap Value for the following year.

Is any remuneration excluded?
In addition to allowances, the Salary Cap Auditor has specifically excluded the following benefits to players:
- Tertiary education (TAFE and university).
- Approved Traineeships.
- Medical insurance costs.
- Relocation and temporary accommodation costs.

In addition to the top 25 Salary Cap, clubs will have a maximum limit of $250,000 to spend on the 20 highest remunerated players who do not form part of the top 25 salary cap and who qualify for the Toyota Cup (turning 20 or less in the current year).  All other players who play in the Toyota Cup must fit under a 2nd Tier Cap of $50,000.

For players in the top 20 Toyota Cup Salary Cap, the Salary Cap value for a player each year is broken down into the following categories:
Playing Fee – fully included in the Salary Cap

Included benefits – all benefits provided to players including accommodation, travel, motor vehicles, interest free loans and manager’s fees and any applicable fringe benefits tax.

Win bonuses and appearance fees – Payments for appearing in or winning a game are calculated based on the number of NRL and Toyota Cup games the player played in the prior year multiplied by any applicable bonuses. For win bonuses, the calculation is capped at 13 wins. 

Example: An NYC eligible player appeared in 10 NYC games in 2009 and now has a 2010- contract for a $10,000 contract fee plus $500 per game. His Salary Cap Value would be $10,000 plus 10 times $500 = $15,000.

Other bonuses – Any other bonus contained in a player’s contract will be calculated in the Toyota Cup Salary Cap if the Salary Cap Auditor expects him to achieve the bonus based on his prior year’s performance.

http://www.nrl.com/news/news/newsarticl ... fault.aspx

[Storm Spirit]

now DUI beccy is telling us today that Storm are $1.5m over the cap for 2011 ....apparently before Deloitte have even finished their audit.

this is another 300k increase in 2 weeks given that the last figure was $1.2m.

Looks like the NRL and News Ltd legal teams are pooping their pants at the moment and have told them that the Storm's case is fairly iron clad.

[Jacko]

How does Cameron Smith explain three contracts. He negotiated this deal personally, without any Manager involved........WTF

[Storm Spirit]

How does Cameron Smith explain three contracts. He negotiated this deal personally, without any Manager involved........WTF

3 contracts in the same vein as there were "two sets of books"

gallop later came out and said...."when I said 2 sets of books....I didn't ACTUALLY mean 2 sets of books....in fact we only sorta in a round about sorta way have some ball park figures from left field................but we're gonna screw you anyway cos our systems and processes are so CRAP....we didn't actually pick up some irregularities and you made us look a little silly".

so ....you can probably bet that there aren't 3 contracts in the same way as the average punter might think when told there are 3 contracts.

NRL and Daily Crapagraph spin.

[Michael :P]

this smells to me like payback for the article in  fairfax the other day saying news was on the backfoot

[glennb]

He did have a manager.  Ribot aranged a new one for him.

[CooperCronk]

Maybe the auditors and the NRL should spend less time keeping the media up to date and more time on getting the job done.  This bullshit is being dragged on for way too long.  Get things finalised so we can move on and start working on the build for next season.

This.

Weren't we told this audit was going to take 3-4 weeks and now it keeps dragging on and information is being leaked and I won't be surprised if the results aren't published till season end.