The NRL gave Cameron Smith’s wife a diamond ring to celebrate him playing 400 NRL games

Freakzilla

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How is this not corruption? He got a testimonial last year and now this. The NRL is taking the piss.
 

MatstaDogg

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How is this not corruption? He got a testimonial last year and now this. The NRL is taking the piss.
I wanted to read the article to see what it was about but being the DT it was behind a pay wall.

So does Jammers wife get one too?

In my eyes it's just the Nrlol crawling further up Cam Smith's asswhole. Seriously I'm over the whole dick tugging this guy gets. Not hard to see who the favorites are.
 

Wahesh

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Here it is:

THE NRL is scrambling to explain why Cameron Smith’s wife Barb was presented with a diamond ring in recognition of her husband’s 400th game.

The gift was not listed among the official ones to Smith when the NRL formally celebrated his milestone in July and has raised questions about why the wife of a player would be rewarded by the game.

The lavish gift was not approved by the Australian Rugby League Commission.

At the time of the milestone match, the NRL revealed it was presenting Smith a Waterford crystal football after the game, as well as a specially commissioned mural in Smith’s image in Richmond.

No mention of the diamond ring was made.

Greenberg presented Barb Smith with the ring at a private dinner the NRL held for her husband in the week leading up to this 400th game. While the dinner was covered in various sections of the press, there was no mention of the ring.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg defended the gift on Thursday.

“Our biggest stars wouldn’t be where they are today without the women in their lives,’’ Greenberg said.

“We make no apologies for honouring the amazing role Barb has played and the sacrifices she has made throughout Cameron’s career.

“His feat made history and may never be done again. It was right to acknowledge the achievement in the way we did.”

The Storm denied they were involved.

“We had no idea it was coming,” Storm chief executive Dave Donaghy said. “It was a gift from the NRL. We gave her a bunch of flowers.”

It comes after the NRL allowed Smith a testimonial game at Suncorp Stadium at the start of last year, well before his retirement, when he pocketed $150,000 while donating $15,000 to a charity.

There’s no suggestion that Smith or his wife have done anything wrong.

A concern for Smith and the NRL is also whether the gift has income tax implications.

While Barb Smith will claim the ring was a gift, the Australian Taxation Office could deem it assessable income given the ring was received in recognition of her husband’s occupation.

An NRL spokesman said the gift to Barb Smith had no salary cap implications.

“It is a gift from the NRL,” the spokesman said. “No different to gifts for 300 games, premiership rings or players who are paid out of the NRL marketing fund to promote events.”

The NRL says that, depending on the player’s circumstances, it will replicate the gift for any player who gets to 400.

St George Illawarra’s James Graham played his 400th first-grade game last weekend with limited official recognition.

Why Smith’s wife was given the gift at all is confusing given Smith received the Waterford crystal ball in recognition of his achievement.

There are also questions around the lack of transparency around the lavish present given how well Smith has been rewarded and the peculiar relationship between the Storm and the game’s administration.

Melbourne have been allowed to celebrate their 2009 premiership season, for instance, going as far as carrying official commemoration on their NRL jersey ‘‘celebrating 1999 & 2009 grand finals’’, with no recrimination from the NRL.

This is after the Storm were stripped of their 2009 premiership for cheating the salary cap.

The Storm had their name removed from the premiership trophy and were ordered to remove the 2007 and 2009 premierships from their website.
 

diddly

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Imagine how well rugby league would be doing if the people running it were fair, rationale people who were not driven by nepotism and almost religious zeal to be liked by the "cool kids". The game survives despite the pathetic management.
 

Wahesh

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Imagine how well rugby league would be doing if the people running it were fair, rationale people who were not driven by nepotism and almost religious zeal to be liked by the "cool kids". The game survives despite the pathetic management.
The game's got a billion dollar TV rights deal. It won't die on money... however fan attendances, viewership and demand is going one way... down!

Put it this way... I'm a Telstra customer, as such I have free access to NRL matches data free... yet I still don't watch it. I'll only watch 2-3 matches on 9. CBF for the rest.
 

TABOO

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Another rort from the NRL looking after Smith and the Storm and the constant wank fest continues.
How can the Rugby League community continue to ignore the corruption and favouritism in our game?
This is beyond a joke and obviously they were trying to hide the gift.
What a joke. #greenberggone
 

Mr. Ditkovich

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This will only strengthen the public’s view that Greenberg is running the game into the ground. Mistake after mistake after mistake.

No other CEO would last this long.
 

Dawgfather

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Wonder if the gift is a small reminder that she shouldn't ever sell any 'stories' about her husband to tabloid media outlets?
 

JUNKYARD DOGS

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I'll hold my response until we see what happens when the next player gets to 400 NRL games.
 

Scoooby

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Meh meh !!

We all know it’s corruption in some way/shape or form.
 

Motorhead

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Another rort from the NRL looking after Smith and the Storm and the constant wank fest continues.
How can the Rugby League community continue to ignore the corruption and favouritism in our game?
This is beyond a joke and obviously they were trying to hide the gift.
What a joke. #greenberggone
It's a fucking disgrace.
The only reason people are forced to accept this sort of shit is because Greenberg and his poxy cronies fuck up so regularly it is usually only a matter of days before their next major screw-up, at which time the previous fuck-up is brushed over in order for the current fuck-up to be spoken about.
Is there any way we as fans can demand change? I'm all for it if we can. Greenberg the little gobby-merchant needs to be pushed over the cliff the slimy rodent ****.
 

wendog33

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This will only strengthen the public’s view that Greenberg is running the game into the ground. Mistake after mistake after mistake.

No other CEO would last this long.
When/if Murdoch tires of him and Newscorpse starts the negative press push then the pressure will start.

As long as he does their bidding, he'll be safe.
 
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