I have seen no defensiveness CJM.
In fact I put fears betting on the game may be behind much greater crimes against it and its fans.
Do not judge us on Gerry's view, he is a very big investor in horse racing, the sport of kings but oiled with workers cash.
And home of more wrongs than the NRL, every race day.
Melbourne storm is not the Mafia, not all even knew.
Those who did are grubs feeding on my game.
Richie ten, please if we wait for you and your God to change this world it will never change .
let storm live take away the wrongs but not with another wrong.
salary cap? are they mad?will it stop great sportsmen leaving for better money?
is the NRL to become a second grade competition?
raise the cap, get rid of Gallop and the blind fool who did not uncover this,but do not kill a team.

Like any high earning industry, it would have been far better to fully investigate the situation rather than take the knee jerk approach of the NRL.

There are many far reaching issues to be considered, such as undeclared incomes and tax cheating and, it would have had more of an impact on Melbourne and less of an impact on RL to punnish them at the end of the regular season by disqulifying them from the finals and, With the exception of the sharks, I doubt any clubs would be squeeky clean.

So what now.

If they play they do so without fear of loosing or gaining injury.

To simply lower the earnings of the players still means they have a better side than allowable within the rules.

I say they should be bannished from the comp for this season.

Salary cap, what a joke this is. What right do the NRL have to determine someones income?

It should be a points system, not a dollar system and credits should be allocated for loyal players who have come through the ranks as juniors.

The players.
Now if any player received 'black money' and banked it, I say they were inocent. However, if they did not declare their full income, then I say they knew about the scam and should be banned for life.

Ok, sports fans, here's a question.

You lose to Melbourne Storm in a Grand Final, because they have better players than you.

Fair enough. Life goes on.

You then discover that the only reason they had all that talent was because they cheated the salary cap. They did not abide by the rules (that's another way of saying "they cheated", by the way) of the competition that they won, by beating you in the Grand Final.

How do you feel a) about Melbourne Storm, b) about the NRL administration and c) about the fact that you, not they, should have been holding the trophy?

I'd be super annoyed, myself, and wonder whether my talents would not find a better home in another competition, or even another code.

But that's just a personal view. I'm sure that News Ltd. see it differently.

"Hey, everybody does it, so it's ok. What is all the fuss about?"

Belly are you so ignorant of the truth. Man has free will. It is your choice whose words you follow and I am sure you are not smart enough to pioneer the way you believe so you are a follower like the rest of us.

I am with Pericles on this one. I don't follow Rugby of any sort (Go West Coast Eagles!:), but I do believe in fair play.

If Melbourne Storm management lured players to their team with more money than they were supposed to offer, and the players agreed to the 'bribes' to play for Melbourne, then they are all cheats.

No better and no worse than any other sports cheats, but cheats all the same.
They deserve everything they get.

Oh what a surprise! The adamic nature at work in the AFL, golf, politics, science and now oh no the Rugby League. Come back Benny Elias all is forgiven.