http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/eels/parramatta-eels-will-finally-face-judgment-when-nrl-must-draw-a-line-writes-paul-kent/news-story/f1d0ef4cf6e1b13bce04af920116161f?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed: dailytelegraphnrlndm (Daily Telegraph | NRL)#load-story-comments
Parramatta Eels will finally face judgment, when NRL must draw a line, writes Paul Kent
May 2, 2016 9:00pm
PAUL KENTThe Daily Telegraph
WHY punish the players is a question expected to be heard a lot on Tuesday.
It will start well before NRL boss Todd Greenberg, who will be on NRL360 on Tuesday night, announces the decision against the Eels for cheating the salary cap and it will rage on, possibly forever, given the dual killers of outrage and ignorance.
Many will insist the players should be allowed to continue playing and that the club should wear all the pain.
Why? Because they are Parramatta fans and they want to see them play in the finals, it’s been a long road. They don’t have all the facts and they won’t bother to arm themselves with them.
No, they are too busy being outraged. They give no thought to the impact a soft stance will have on the premiership’s integrity.
That a penalty for deliberately cheating but which carries no on-field deterrent creates a dangerous precedent, and might even incite clubs to test their chances.
Already the impact of Parramatta’s deceit is felt around the league.
Look at Geoff Toovey, out of a job. About two years ago Parramatta went to Anthony Watmough with an offer that straightened his back somewhat and stole all the pain from his knee.
Watmough was offered a four-year deal and in the ballpark of three-quarters of a million dollars a year. When he put the deal to Toovey he could do nothing to match it.
Toovey believed Watmough had a couple of seasons left at best. He thought it would be irresponsible to match Parramatta’s offer, in amount and duration. Watmough was affronted. He said he always wanted to play under Brad Arthur anyway and he left.
The Sea Eagles slowly disintegrated after that. With Watmough going the club’s brotherly bond was going with it and soon after Glenn Stewart left.
For a long time Steve Matai considered an offer from the Warriors. Daly Cherry-Evans signed with Gold Coast and Kieran Foran signed with Parramatta.
Cherry-Evans backflipped and somewhere in all that Toovey lost his job. Couldn’t coach, see. That’s why the players were leaving.
It all started with Watmough, though, the thread of string that got pulled and unwove the whole tapestry. And now we hear he might have gone because of a secret advantage.
It doesn’t mean illegal money had to be paid directly to Watmough. Where the Eels saved on undisclosed payments to others they created room in the salary cap for Watmough.
They are being investigated for payments to Watmough, despite false reports that Parramatta is under the salary cap for this season and that no current player deals are under investigation.
Watmough is sponsored by Scorecube, a company wholly owned by Black Citrus. Black Citrus is employed by Parramatta Leagues Club
This was not disclosed to the NRL.
There is no suggestion Watmough was aware of this connection, or has done anything wrong.
If the Eels are merely fined — after being caught cheating — it will simply encourage other clubs to chance their arm as well, knowing the worse they risk is a fine but they could also win a premiership or two if they manage to pull it off and don’t get busted.
Some will consider a fine a reasonable risk. They already do.
Parramatta will be issued a show cause notice, giving the Eels board a week to dispute any findings.
A crucial difference between the Parramatta board and the Melbourne and Canterbury scandals is the Eels are refusing to go quietly.
This has prompted some casual outragists to interpret that as innocence.
The Eels have refused at every opportunity. The board remain in constant denial.
At the same time they continue denying wrongdoing, the club seems to be trying to deliberately sidetrack members with talk over the weekend that a penalty banning the club from the finals will leave it vulnerable to a private buyout.
Members needed to consider this, the narrative went. Nothing like distracting members with irrelevant scare tactics to camouflage other wrongdoings.
If that didn’t work, members were also invited to a screening of the movie Broke across town where, according to the flyer, they “could meet the players”.
Chairman Steve Sharp is threatening Supreme Court action, arguing a lack of “due process” and other nonsense
