Newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald published statements from two chief executives at NRL clubs conceding that so-called “rorting” of the salary cap – secretly paying players more than the cap – was widespread.
''There are probably six or seven clubs that come to mind and certainly one in particular who have been doing it for years. But that club will never get caught because they hand out money in brown paper bags and don't leave a paper trail like the [Melbourne Storm,'' one executive said.
The chief executive of the Melbourne Storm club, Brian Waldron, was forced to step down last week after accusations that his team was involved. He too has said the practise is more widespread than publicly-known.
The Premier of the State of Victoria said: ''The comments that have been made by Brian Waldron and others suggest it may be necessary for the NRL to conduct a much broader-ranging inquiry into other teams.”
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard put pressure on Rupert Murdoch-owned News Limited, which owns the Melbourne Storm's owner and half-owns the league, to play its part in rooting out the practise.
''I believe News Ltd and everyone else involved would realise that the investigation here has to be enough, open enough, transparent enough, serious enough, to restore the confidence of the fans and the sponsors in the league,'' Ms Gillard said. ''I believe it is in everybody's interests including, very, very clearly, the interests of News Ltd to get to the bottom of all of this.
''At the end of the day News Ltd, the fans, the sponsors, the players, everyone has an interest in making sure that people are confident that the game is being played well and fairly right across the country.''
