Melbourne Storm officials secretly paid skipper Cameron Smith $60,000 to renovate his home
STUNNING new revelations have emerged that Melbourne Storm officials secretly paid skipper Cameron Smith $60,000 to renovate his home as part of a deal outside his contract.
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STUNNING new revelations emerged last night that Melbourne Storm officials secretly paid skipper Cameron Smith $60,000 to renovate his home as part of a deal outside of his NRL contract.
The Daily Telegraph has also learned that the complicated web of player payments at the centre of the biggest salary cap scandal in league history was set to continue for four more years.
Documents found since the scandal emerged show many of the illegal payments to some senior players would have continued until the end of the 2013 season if salary cap auditor Ian Schubert hadn't detected them.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal that at least two players signatures have been found on two separate contracts, challenging some players' claims that they knew nothing about the existence of multiple contracts.
All details of the cap rorting - including free boats, cars and Harvey Norman shopping vouchers - will be flushed out in court as part of the NRL's defence of legal action launched by the Storm's four independent directors yesterday.
Apart from his home renovation being paid by the club, Smith also had a guaranteed $100,000 deal with Fox Sports, while Greg Inglis was also given a boat valued at more than $30,000. Smith and his agent failed to return The Daily Telegraph's calls last night.
Details emerged last night that former Super League supremo John Ribot was a backroom driving force in the decision to launch legal action against the NRL. Ribot met with NRL boss David Gallop early last week and warned him of legal action if the decision to strip the club of two premierships was not immediately reversed.
Ribot also argued that the club should be allowed to compete for points this year.
One of the game's biggest player agents last night said he was greatly concerned about the possibility of the players' private earnings being made public in a court case. "They'll be the ones who suffer the embarrassment - not the officials who orchestrated the whole thing," the agent said.
"The players have already suffered enough from the penalties handed down without all their private information aired like dirty laundry. Isn't it enough that they've lost two premierships and all points this season."
Other deals are likely to be revealed in a court case including cash payments to at least two senior players to run coaching clinics in Melbourne.
These revelations will infuriate players at other clubs who have always done it for free to promote the game.
Up until now, the NRL has been determined to protect coach Craig Bellamy and his Storm superstars from having their deals exposed.
Storm players have all strenuously denied knowledge of the salary cap rorts.
"I was of the understanding that my contract would be under the salary cap," Smith said recently. "Our responsibility is to play football. The rest is left to our administration to communicate things with the NRL.
"There's never a time when you sit in the locker room at training and go through each other's contracts, and sit there with a calculator and add it up.
"You know, everyone's aware of what the salary cap is and how much it is, but the players don't add up what each other is making and do the final amount."Despite Smith's claims, a poll of 100 first graders in Rugby League Week reveals 62 per cent believe the Storm players would have known.
