Melbourne Cheat their Proverbial Teets Off

Sure we have all been made aware of the ridiculous salary cap scandal that the Melbourne Storm are currently embroiled in. The acts were incredibly damaging to the club and the game and the systematic cheating and deception that has taken place I of course, being a loyal Dragons supporter, have my own views of the fiasco, and considering the history between the two clubs their is no doubt that my opinion is somewhat tainted by a bitterness and loathing that has eaten away at my soul since that fateful Sunday afternoon in 1999. However I must admit one of the first things I felt was a sense of sorrow for the supporters of Melbourne as I felt a strong sense of empathy because I know I would be beyond devastated if a similar thing happened to the Dragons.

One of my good mates from Newcastle, Shayne Carter, is a passionate Melbourne supporter, and while this would usually prompt me to throw a barrage of abuse his way, I am impressed with his loyalty to his club in its time of need. Here are his accounts of events that he placed on his own blog recently.

Friday, April 23, 2010
Official Press Release Re: My favourite football team being fucked
I haven't made a post on this site for over 7 months for the sheer fact that there has been nothing this important happen in my life that anyone else would give two shits about.
As you are all aware my beloved Melbourne Storm are at the centre of one of the greatest scandals in Australian sporting history...and as expected I have been brutally attacked over the last 36 hours.

The purpose of this press release is to tell you all collectively where I stand and in some cases where you can go.

My thoughts on:

The Cheating

As you could all understand I am deeply upset by the situation, to know that all of the joy and angst I’ve felt through winning and losing over the past five years means nothing is absolutely heart-breaking. I feel betrayed by the club, I am also very keen to see some heads role for the embarrassment they have caused, not only for the players and fans but for the entire NRL and Australian sport alike.

The Penalties

I agree that Melbourne should be stripped of their minor and major premierships over the last 5 years, I agree that Melbourne should have to pay back all of the prize money accrued from these premierships and pay the fine for breaking the rules and I even agree with the decision to strip the Storm of all points accrued so far in the 2010 season however, I do not agree with the decision to stop Melbourne from accruing any more points in the 2010 season. It has not been made clear in any of the reports that I have read as about how this decision came about but I feel that Melbourne should be allowed to make adjustments to the team, prove to the NRL that they are under the salary cap and then continue to accrue points from 0. If the team was offered a chance to do this and declined the fair enough but I struggle to see the reasoning behind that choice if it is the case.

The future of the club

Being owned by News Limited has its benefits, News Limited not only owns Melbourne the also own 68.87% of the Brisbane Broncos and 50% of the NRL itself and New Limited is owned by News Corp who are the second largest media conglomerate in the world (right behind Disney), so as you can see financial burdens are not a problem for the club but the fan base could be. Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia and AFL heavily dominates the football arena, I think that this hostile environment has fostered fans that truly believe in the team and are willing to stay true through this tragedy, once the club reinvents itself I believe it can rise to the heights it has seen in the past...legitimately this time.

The fans

Most of the feedback I have seen from the fans has been similar to my own, a mixture of disappointment and support for the future. The media has reported some fans throwing away their memorabilia in front of Storm HQ, the real fact is that it was only one fan that did this and he is obviously a dick...I mean who even owns that much merchandise? And his unstable mind has obviously been pushed further than his normal irrational state. I was also irate when I heard the news but I then took the time to take in the facts and make a cogent judgment which I am sure the majority of fans also did.

To all the other fans, in the words of the Melbourne great Robbie Kearns “If you are feeling anything like me at the moment I feel extremely sorry for you, because I feel like my world has come tumbling down.” For all the true fans this is the time for us to give our greatest support to the team.

The Players

The news is still filtering out about who knew what in the scandal and I am happy to say that so far the players look innocent (see http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/melbourne-storm/documents-reveal-illegal-storm-payments-20100423-tj8u.html) I am not going to be so provincial as to deny that player knew about what was going on but the fact is, if you were offered more money by your employer would you say no? I don’t think so, and we are talking about football players not rocket scientists. I really do feel sorry for the players that have to see out the rest of this season for no reward, I can only imagine the pain this has caused, I hope that they can look past this year and look forward to rebuilding the club (I am also aware that loyalty to a team these days speaks in dollars and cents, take the comments of Matt Geyer and Brett Kimmorley on NRL News for example)

The Code

David Gallop had to talk swift action, he is, and always is under pressure from the media about various issues, most recently the referee controversy (Which will unfortunately be forgotten now) the only problem with his decisions is that it has damaged the entire NRL not only the Storm. I have already been over Melbourne’s financial position and although it has taken a blow I feel the code will suffer even worse, I mean who will want to go and watch their side play The Melbourne Storm this year? There is no point in watching their team either lose to a team who can’t accrue points or smash a team who is playing for nothing and therefore not trying very hard, ticket sales and television ratings will suffer because of this.

I would like to think that the NRL would now investigate other clubs with suspicious cap breaches such as the Titans and Scott Prince’s new house (see http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/new-claims-force-nrl-to-reopen-scott-prince-salary-cap-investigation/story-e6frep5o-1225854989794) but I may be too ambitious, maybe the NRL could take a page out of the AFL’s book, they are already investigating St Kilda because of Brian Waldron’s involvement.

The Haters

I was fully aware that a lot of people hated Melbourne before this turn of events, and I understand that even more people will now, Eels and Eagles fans especially. I cannot excuse the wrong doings of the club but as much as you think the premierships should be given to the other grand finalists it is just not a reasonable option, there is no way we can prove what could have happened.

I’m not going to lie, I love to kick a team I hate when they are down (Manly, Brisbane or most of all Newcastle) but this goes further than just the team, it has damaged the sport and the wrong people are being blamed, 99% of the people involved with the Melbourne Storm did the right thing, but, as usual the minority ruin it for the rest of us.

To the hardcore haters who can’t see the bigger picture, fuck you, at least make a funny named Facebook group, I also hope that Melbourne beat your favourite team just so they don’t get the points.

My Stance

As you can probably see from the tone of this statement I have decided to continue supporting The Melbourne Storm despite their current situation, after all, what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t stick with them through thick and thin? And I will also be purchasing a membership with the club in the 2011 season. As for this year’s premiership I will be returning support to the team I backed before the Storm existed, after a long conversation with my friend and colleague Scott Fitz-Gerald, I will put my full support behind the West Tigers (I was a Balmain supporter, not West’s) I wish them the best of luck in their pursuit.

Some fun facts about this statement

I started writing at about 12.00am on Fri 23/04/10, it is now 4.47am 24/04/10. During this time I have had a 47.20 minute Skype conversation with Kade Hinds, he would probably get editing rights as far as grammar goes if he was in this country because this is about the height of my journalistic ability.

The main purpose of this was to tell the Bob Turnbull’s of the world where I’m at, because I know you have been waiting for this moment in time and it’s been nearly 2 days and I haven’t heard a peep from you...I thought it best we get this out of the way before you try to crush my spirit even more

Also I find it incredible that I can find the motivation to write nearly 1500 words about a sport at this time of morning yet I have Uni assignments with the same word count that I can’t seem to find inspiration for.

I am fully aware that more information may arise making this post null and void, and also that things can get worse from here

Yours In Sport

Shayne Carter

At least you get to keep this one..... you cunt.