World Footy News

We don't normally have commentary on Australia's National Rugby League (NRL), but current events are worth a mention. Despite the rising presence of a third code, soccer, the NRL is still clearly the AFL's biggest rival in terms of sponsorship dollars, media coverage and television ratings.

So it came as quite a shock to the sporting landscape today as the NRL announced its Victorian beach head, the Melbourne Storm, had been caught cheating the salary cap and had been penalised in an unprecedented way. Let me emphasise, this is Rugby League, not Australian (Rules) Football. For the Storm having been found to have systematically rorted the system for 5 years, the NRL has:

• stripped them of the 2007 and 2009 premiership titles
• stripped them of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships
• wiped their 2010 premiership points
• banned them from earning any points this season
• fined them $500,000 and demanded they repay $1.1 million in prize money

The ramifications are enormous. The premierships will now be officially considered not awarded in 2007 and 2009. In an AFL context, it would be like Geelong being stripped of their titles from the past 3 years. Or if Sydney or Brisbane, AFL footholds in traditionally less strong Aussie Rules markets, were stripped of their titles and consigned to almost certainly spend time at the bottom of the ladder. Questions as yet unanswered:

• how can they front up each week to play an opponent knowing it is worth nothing
• will their opponents bother fielding full strength sides against them this year
• how many stars (often a source of suspicion) will they have to cut to get down to the salary cap in 2011
• will its owner, News Limited, continue to prop it up
• would the Victorian Government have bankrolled a dedicated rectangular stadium for them
• will there be a police investigation
• was the story leaked, as some punters placed bets on the Storm finishing bottom despite being a premiership fancy part way through the season
• will the Storm and Rugby League in Melbourne be damaged beyond repair
• will rorts be uncovered at other NRL clubs
• will the scandal spread to the AFL, given that officials appear to have pointed much of the blame at the Storm's former boss Brian Waldron, formerly St Kilda's chief in the AFL, and now in charge of the Melbourne Rebels, the state's new Rugby Union club