Yeah, we all remember the initial comments from Greenberg.....
https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/n...n/news-story/b0c5683db1cac35be730bca1d78677b0
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has revealed Cronulla is more than $500,000 under the 2018 NRL salary cap.
Greenberg on Wednesday afternoon addressed reporters for the first time since the NRL confirmed it has launched an investigation into potential third party payments made outside the salary cap at Cronulla.
The NRL boss confirmed the Sharks’ self reported potentially non-disclosed payments to players, but admitted the investigation is likely to take months to complete.
A dark cloud will hang over Cronulla’s involvement in the 2018 finals series after The Daily Telegraph revealed the Sharks self reported discrepancies surrounding up to $250,000 in payments from the 2015 season and the 2017 season.
Greenberg admitted the NRL can’t guarantee the Sharks’ 2016 premiership is not under threat as part of the investigation, however, he also stressed the size of the alleged cap breaches are on a much smaller scale than recent scandals at Manly, Parramatta and Melbourne.
Greenberg stressed the Sharks are salary cap compliant for 2018 and he has absolute confidence that their inclusion will not taint September football.
That number that they’re below the salary cap is significant and I’m talking more than half a million dollars that they are underneath their salary cap as we speak in 2018,” Greenberg said.
“A reminder that clubs only have to spend under the collective bargaining agreement 95 per cent of their salary cap and some of those clubs are yet to spend that at Cronulla’s one of them.”
The Sharks earlier this year signed big-name stars Aaron Woods and Josh Dugan, but still came in well under the 2018 base salary cap of $9.1 million.
He also said there is
currently no evidence to suggest the Sharks’ alleged salary cap breaches were systematic cheating.
“I would describe it as there are some concerns that have been raised by the club and brought forward to us,” he said.
“What we’ve done is take those concerns and begin an investigation.
“What I can tell you is the scale of it is not like we’ve seen previously.”
Both the Sharks and the league were insistent on Tuesday night that there were no concerns over any breaches for this season less than two weeks out from Cronulla entering the playoffs.
“This is a historical issue, we are currently salary cap compliant for the 2018 season having passed our mid-season salary cap review,” the Sharks said in a statement.
“The Sharks self-reported to the NRL and asked for their assistance in investigating this matter.
“The club is fully cooperating with the NRL Integrity Unit, allowing them access to any information they require to complete their investigation. “The discrepancies occurred under previous club management.”
Crucially, the club won its maiden premiership in 2016 but it’s not believed the initial breaches are bad enough to threaten that.
However, the club has faced a battle since then to retain a number of their grand-final winning stars as they feel the pinch of their rising values. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the NRL also confirmed the Sharks had asked the integrity unit to make the inquiries.
“Those inquiries are ongoing so we are not in a position to comment further at this stage,” he said.
“However, based on the information available, the Sharks and all other clubs are salary cap compliant for 2018.”