This is one of the saddest days in my life

[robbieando]

But if the club loses supporter and corporate interest, which i expect will happen, it will struggle to exist as it is. This gives News an excuse to cut their losses & put all their funding into the Rebels.

News don't have any ownership or interest in the Rebels like they have with the Storm. Harroll Mitchell is the owner in partnership with the VRU.

Do you really think John Hartigan would of said what he said today about Brian Waldron, yet sent him to the Rebels to be the CEO in advance of shift of funding? I doubt it. Waldron got out before the rabbit was out of the bag and yet he'll be sacked regardless.

 

[likka]

- absolutely terrible news, but y now?. Ud think if the breaches were as blatent as they were, the NRL would have cracked onto this a year or two earlier.

Only reason it was uncovered now was the NRL auditors stumbled across the second set of books Storm kept, detailing the real contractual amounts.

I believe this happened on April 13th and its taken this long to get Storm to fess up.

Without this information the NRL would have been none the wiser, such were the complex and elaborate outside payment systems that Waldron and Hanson setup.

 

[catswhiskers2007]

To Storm fans, I can only feel sorry that your faith, dedication and support of what we all thought was an amazingly strong, well-run organisation trying to mix it with the big boys up north is now for nought. Somehow, many of them up norff will be clapping their hands together and saying 'we told you so' about the NRL supporting a club down south. A black day for Storm and for sport in Victoria. That Waldron fellow should be held to account...

 

[meltiger]

I have been a mixture of & since 4pm

To those of us who have fought the good fight I think this has to go down as one of the worst days ever.

The years of hard work by so many people have just about been for nought.

To do what the Melbourne Storm club have done is a spit in the face to the people who have supported their existance and those who have given their all to Rugby league in this state.

Shame on them and shame on the people who have blatantly cheated the salary cap for so long. You have let down so many people.

Now just what the **** do I tell my 13 year old son?

What do you tell your son? Simple mate, the Storm were managed by a group of people who made a terrible mistake, but thankfully the main culprit is long gone (Let's hope HM bones him from the Rebels too) and from what News were saying today, they are going to go right through the club and weed out every one of the rats.


I have refrained from posting this arvo as I am literally in shock that these fools could do this to us in Melbourne. Whether you are a Storm fan based in Melbourne, or a RL fan based in Melbourne, we have been betrayed, plain and simple. As you say mate, all of us who have fought the fight over the years to get people interested, what's it all been for?


I think we need to take a step back though. A positive is that the club went in and owned up today. Not knowing the full ins and outs, they may not have had any choice, but they did do the right thing. With Walrdon gone and News going after anyone else involved, I think we need to just look at today as the last day of the Storm of old, and tomorrow is Day 1 for the new club that will rise out of this. This is how we need to look at the situation, yes it is a dark, dark day for us here in Victoria, but we now have a chance for a fresh beginning, a new management team and a new step forward for the club.


RL needs this club and we need to rally behind whoever remains and is tasked with rebuilding the club.

Tugga, Cammers, Deatho, CC, Buddy some of you are mates, some of you I've argued long and hard with but I do feel for each of you today. All of you are ardent fans of this club and have done you wrong. Let's just all hope then RL community in Victoria rallies behind the fans of the club now.

 

[Audacious]

im just curious. If they cheated the salary cap by 1.7 million over 5 years, at around 350,000 per year, how much extra is that per player on their squad?

 

[RooBoyz24]

Yes i was so shocked to see this happen.The club will survive and become stronger.I hope the players stick together and the Storm can come back in 2011 and get back 1 Premiership that has been taken off us.Go Storm

 

[meltiger]

For starters NRL squads are smaller than AFL list sizes, plus we don't know if it was only a few players, or just the marquee players or the whole team

 

[windyhill]

I am very sorry for the Storm supporters. I have never liked that bloody Waldron, too **** sure of himself, you only had to listen to him on Bartlett`s show on SEN. I dearly hope that Storm can keep it together for their fans.

 

[Innit]

I am very sorry for the Storm supporters. I have never liked that bloody Waldron, too **** sure of himself, you only had to listen to him on Bartlett`s show on SEN. I dearly hope that Storm can keep it together for their fans.

The club say they will do it for the fans, but this season is a write off so here's to waiting 11 months for some real action

 

[smasha]

To all those Storm faithful, I feel sorry for you but mark this down in writing.

STORM WILL WIN THE PREMIERSHIP NEXT YEAR.

 

[Castres Treize]

I have been a mixture of & since 4pm



What do you tell your son? Simple mate, the Storm were managed by a group of people who made a terrible mistake, but thankfully the main culprit is long gone (Let's hope HM bones him from the Rebels too) and from what News were saying today, they are going to go right through the club and weed out every one of the rats.


I have refrained from posting this arvo as I am literally in shock that these fools could do this to us in Melbourne. Whether you are a Storm fan based in Melbourne, or a RL fan based in Melbourne, we have been betrayed, plain and simple. As you say mate, all of us who have fought the fight over the years to get people interested, what's it all been for?


I think we need to take a step back though. A positive is that the club went in and owned up today. Not knowing the full ins and outs, they may not have had any choice, but they did do the right thing. With Walrdon gone and News going after anyone else involved, I think we need to just look at today as the last day of the Storm of old, and tomorrow is Day 1 for the new club that will rise out of this. This is how we need to look at the situation, yes it is a dark, dark day for us here in Victoria, but we now have a chance for a fresh beginning, a new management team and a new step forward for the club.


RL needs this club and we need to rally behind whoever remains and is tasked with rebuilding the club.

Tugga, Cammers, Deatho, CC, Buddy some of you are mates, some of you I've argued long and hard with but I do feel for each of you today. All of you are ardent fans of this club and have done you wrong. Let's just all hope then RL community in Victoria rallies behind the fans of the club now.

It's not just RL fans in Melbourne or Storm fans that are heartbroken, most genuine RL fans want the Storm to thrive, it's only *******s like Roy Hardley and a small bunch of jealous bogans in Sydney that want them gone. (plus the Union mob, but there aren't many of them around, they are the minority).

 

[Innit]

To all those Storm faithful, I feel sorry for you but mark this down in writing.

STORM WILL WIN THE PREMIERSHIP NEXT YEAR.

There will be a point to prove, i hope your right

 

[BABYBOMBERS2007]

If players were involved--meaning they knew about it, could they be stripped of indiviual honours, such as best player, etc??

 

[Philhawk]

meltiger, tugga, Auck, what can I say.

Like you guys, i'm just lost without words.

Where do we go from here? ...

 

[scotto_01]

Genuinly feel sorry for anyone who is a melbourne storm fan today, and those responsible are morons for cheating so blatently and thinking they wont get caught

1.7 mil over 5 years, including nearly a mil this season, thats just unconsionable, and those responsible should be behind bars

also- this casts doubt over the effectivness of the nrl's salary cap police to let it get to this point without finding out.

again- to storm fans, genuinly sorry, hopefully the club bounces back cos on tv the crowds have certainly increased.

 

[roostersgal4eva]

I feel sorry for the storm fans. They don't deserve this.

I don't feel sorry for anyone else inside the club.

Im not sure how much the players would know - sure they would sign contracts but I dont believe the club would of informed them how 'legal' it really was. Basically they would of told everyone what they needed/wanted to her. How many would look at a contract and question its legality?

Untill I have proof offically the players or Bellemy knew I feel for them

I feel for anyone who put their heart and souls into the Storm and didnt know

I am not a RL fan but this must be tearing Storm fans apart and they are the real losers

 

[maryjames]

To all those Storm faithful, I feel sorry for you but mark this down in writing.

STORM WILL WIN THE PREMIERSHIP NEXT YEAR.

Naah Melbourne will fold and there will be another Brisbane team..

 

[Castres Treize]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport

Pretty sad when you can be the top sporting headline in the UK on the BBC for all the wrong reasons.

Sky sports UK have them first too every hour, the report goes for 5 mins even before the soccer, the super league doesn't even get 5 mins on the news.

 

[Homeless]

I don't even know what to say. Just when I thought this week couldn't get any worse for me this goes and happens.

I'm just numb and shocked and my mind doesn't want to believe it. I keep thinking that any minute now they'll come out and say that it never happened that it's just a vendetta by the NRL against the Storm.

 

[Nankervis brothers]

I really feel for Storm fans. This must be such a black day for them. If it happened to Geelong i would be completely gutted.

It will be very difficult, but i hope the Storm find a way to survive this crisis.

I also hope the cheating was extreme enough to warrant this kind of extraordinary punishment.

 

[hawthornfc39]

i really feel sorry for people like this put their heart and soul into the club and its all gone http://shoplist.com.au/auction/1527/my-melbourne-storm-collection/

 

[CooperCronk]

Shit attitude in my opinion.

The club can turn themselves around. As much as i hate Canterbury look what they have done over the last decade to become a decent club (though still canterbury). This is the time where supporters have to stay with a side if you genuinely want it to survive. Move forward with a better image become transparent in your dealings and make a fugging effort. It takes alot of work but is worth it.

Exactly and thank you Bomber Bears for making the correct call.

I am absolutely shattered atm, but there is no way I would desert the club now, nor will true supporters of the team.

We will bounce back. Will be some heartache along the way, but having a team here in Melbourne to support is worth all the pain.

And don't tell me other teams in the nrl/afl/union/soccer are all cleanskins.

 

[CooperCronk]

I have been a mixture of & since 4pm



What do you tell your son? Simple mate, the Storm were managed by a group of people who made a terrible mistake, but thankfully the main culprit is long gone (Let's hope HM bones him from the Rebels too) and from what News were saying today, they are going to go right through the club and weed out every one of the rats.


I have refrained from posting this arvo as I am literally in shock that these fools could do this to us in Melbourne. Whether you are a Storm fan based in Melbourne, or a RL fan based in Melbourne, we have been betrayed, plain and simple. As you say mate, all of us who have fought the fight over the years to get people interested, what's it all been for?


I think we need to take a step back though. A positive is that the club went in and owned up today. Not knowing the full ins and outs, they may not have had any choice, but they did do the right thing. With Walrdon gone and News going after anyone else involved, I think we need to just look at today as the last day of the Storm of old, and tomorrow is Day 1 for the new club that will rise out of this. This is how we need to look at the situation, yes it is a dark, dark day for us here in Victoria, but we now have a chance for a fresh beginning, a new management team and a new step forward for the club.


RL needs this club and we need to rally behind whoever remains and is tasked with rebuilding the club.

Tugga, Cammers, Deatho, CC, Buddy some of you are mates, some of you I've argued long and hard with but I do feel for each of you today. All of you are ardent fans of this club and have done you wrong. Let's just all hope then RL community in Victoria rallies behind the fans of the club now.

MelT you simply melted my heart with those comments.

We have had a couple of disagreements in the past, but as I said in another post, I have always enjoyed reading your posts because you know your stuff.

 

[loyallion]

Very angry about the whole thing....and to be honest ashamed and embarrassed to be a storm fan. For the past 3 years I was so proud of this club the way they played in the past 5 seasons It did the state of Victoria proud and Proved that the vics could match the rest of Australia in Rugby League........

Well that was before they got caught cheating.........

I don't think I can ever trust this team ever again

 

[CallMeAl]

Unlike Carlton who arrogantly believe they can do what ever they want because they are Carlton, in the immediate future the storm will be the only NRL club you can safely say are not cheating.

The people responsible will be weeded out and those left behind will be under close scrutiny from the league for some time. They cant afford to be anything but above board. Don't give up on them now, a time that they need all the support they can get.

It's interesting the premierships have not been handed to the runner ups, which at face value would seem the obvious this to do. Perhaps the NRL are expecting a bit more of these revelations?