The NRL has again been rocked by another fresh scandal only a week out from the showpiece finals series with the Sharks under heavy investigation for alleged salary cap breaches dating back to 2015 and 2017, reports indicate off the books payments being made to players at this stage around the vicinity of $50,000. The NRL has held a press conference with CEO Todd Greenberg stating that the Sharks self-reported the cap discrepancies and per their findings are under the cap for 2018. The issue with this is the fact that The NRL has never in fact been the ones to catch salary cap cheats it has always either been uncovered by reporters digging or self-reporting so the notion they are under the cap for 2018 may be misleading. I must admit I was not shocked when the news broke, I have struggled to see how they have been able to keep the assortment of high priced talent they have under the cap particularly after winning the comp in 2016. Yes they have shed Ben Barba and Jack Bird but then they added Matt Moylan and Josh Dugan on high priced deals.
The real issue I feel is that clubs are still willing to chance there arm to beat the cap and go to any lengths to do so, it is clear that punishments dished out to previous clubs have not been enough of a deterrent and the NRL now needs to come down very strongly on the Sharks if reports are proven to be correct. There is a real stain around the Sharks at the moment, from the peptide scandal, to Fifitas constant problems and now this it seems the club is lacking in some leadership. Chief behind all of this I feel is the coach Shane Flanagan who seems to be involved in all aspects of the club and has been happy to swim outside the flags on a number of instances. Hopefully this cloud doesn’t hang over what shapes up as an extremely exciting finals series and the Sharks aren’t proven to be playing over the cap and to unfair advantage.