Storm may refuse to play

[fLIP]

There could be another twist in the Melbourne Storm salary cap saga this evening with rumours several players will refuse to take the field.

An Australian betting agency has suspended betting on tonight's NRL match between the Storm and the Warriors after learning up to six Melbourne players could refuse to play.

Centrebet media chief Neil Evans says they have learnt that several players have refused to be part of tonight's clash following the salary cap shockwave.

Centrebet had reopened its book on the match on Friday following the scandal but has closed it again after the new revelations.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Inglis, MacDougall, Quinn and Neilson are all out apparently

There was a rumour yesterday 5 guys were on the central coast refusing to play but that turned out to be rubbish

Would be bloody funny though if some refused to play after Bellamy's efforts yesterday

 

[Chip and Chase]

Bloody hell, how are you supposed to tip this game ? I thought Warriors first when the news broke that the Storm were playing for nothing this season. Then I changed it to the Storm after Bellamy's press conference yesterday as I got the impression that they have taken the siege mentality and will come out fired up to prove a point. Now you here rumours of players being out, Inglis, Quinn, Nielsen and Proctor to name a couple. Flip a coin (appropriate day for it too )

 

[fLIP]

What Im most concerned with is that the club itself and several people in the media seem hell bent on making the NRL look like the bad guys and the Storm look like they've suffered a gross injustice.

In a 100 meter sprint Melbourne were starting from the 80meter line. Just how in gods name can people try defend that?

Waldron is so quickly becoming the only person to know anything of the rorts that the Storm are able to act like their entire club bar 1 person knew nothing of the situtaion.

Its disgusting.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

I have stuck with Storm 13+ all the way through, hope the Warriors get into them though

 

[fLIP]

Ive got melbourne just for a win, im not confident of giving them a start, im not even sure they'll show now.

 

[Guest]

It should be the other way around.  Why would clubs want to play against a team that is still cheating because they are $700k over their 2010 cap.  It is unfaor

The storm should be given 48 hours to get rid of players to make them under the cap for the rest of the year.

 

[Berkeley_Eagle]

if it happens they will deserve to get kicked  out

 

[Spuds Bodyguard]

That's one way of fitting under the cap, maybe they could sit out 5 different players each week.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

It should be the other way around.  Why would clubs want to play against a team that is still cheating because they are $700k over their 2010 cap.  It is unfaor

The storm should be given 48 hours to get rid of players to make them under the cap for the rest of the year.

It is a tough one again, as you could argue it is unfair to the 6 sides that have already played the illegal version to then have others playing a different squad

 

[fLIP]

I think its being handled fine. I dont mind if they play with the current 'over the cap' squad because at least then all teams are playing against the same team. Removing comp points this year is  sufficient penalty and they must now look towards 2011's cap being fixed.

The biggest problem I see with sheding players straight away is you aren't going to see Melbourne having a knee jerk reaction and remove slater, cronk, smith or inglis (the guys actually taking the extra payments).

All it would mean is some poor bugger on 80k a season who really had nothing to do with it being shafted mid season with hardly any clubs in the comp having that kind of coin up their sleeve this stage of the season to pick them up.

While its all good and well to say we need to be fair to the other NRL sides, I think first and foremost you have to be fair to the players likley to lose a job over it. In my opinion its fair that every side in the NRL have to play Melbournes full squad. Their penalty of not being able to compete for the season is also just punishment.

The biggest problem I can see down the track is match fixing / holding the competition to knife point. What would it mean to Melbourne to throw a game? But this is a whole other kettle of fish.