Brian Waldron says it’s ‘disgraceful’ Melbourne Storm was not allowed to play for points in 2010

FORMER Melbourne Storm chief Brian Waldron has accused the NRL of double standards in allowing Parramatta to continue to play for premiership points this season.

Brian Waldron.

FORMER Melbourne Storm chief Brian Waldron has accused the NRL of double standards in allowing Parramatta to continue to play for premiership points this season.

The Eels have been docked 12 premiership points and face significant sanctions after the NRL found they had exceeded the salary cap by “around $575,000”.

Melbourne Storm was in 2010 stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships, the minor premierships of 2006-8 and its 2010 competition points after confirming a series of salary cap breaches amounting to at least $1.7 million over five years.

It was not permitted to play for competition points for the remainder of the 2010 season, which Waldron — who has taken full responsibility for his role in the saga — claims is unfair.

“My daughter rang and said ‘why did Melbourne cop this and Parramatta cop that?’,” he said on SEN on Tuesday.

“Melbourne Storm had won some premierships, and it happened too quickly. The whole process was quite absurd. They took premierships off ... and said Melbourne Storm can’t play for points.

“I find it difficult to understand how they (Parramatta) can continue to play for points. I think that’s something that’s very difficult ... Melbourne people would say that’s quite unjust.

“Perhaps what it says more than anything is that this is the right decision, and the decision to not let the Melbourne Storm play for points in that year (2010) was a disgraceful thing.”

@Hayesy24 @SENNews @HungryForSport Surely not .... that's just staggering

— Russell Gould (@gouldyheraldsun) May 3, 2016

Waldron said former NRL salary cap manager Ian Schubert has been working at the Eels since November of last year, and that ex-NRL head of finance Ed Farish had held the role of chief financial officer at Parramatta since mid-2014.

“When we got smashed, Ian Schubert came after Melbourne Storm … and wrote a report at the end and said I was the devil. He was the salary cap auditor,” Waldron said.

“The head of finance was Ed Farish.”

In 2010 then-NRL CEO David Gallop announced that the Melbourne Storm had been stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships and have had all their competition points for the 2010 season docked.

He also said the opportunity given to Parramatta to explain itself wasn’t afforded to Storm.

“They have come out with preliminary findings and said ‘we think this has taken place’. Looked at (everything) … and said ‘our preliminary penalties are this, but guess what? We’re prepared to listen to what you have to say’,” he said.

“The key difference and why everyone at the Storm felt it was so unfair, is that never took place. There was never an opportunity for people. I rang David Gallop myself and said ‘I’ll talk to you about this’.

“You’re never going to be able to put your story to the NRL, because the politics of the time made it nigh on impossible to defend yourself. When they throw you under the bus, you’ve just got to lie in hospital and come good over time. But you’ve got to take accountability.”

Originally published as Brian Waldron says it’s ‘disgraceful’ Melbourne Storm was not allowed to play for points in 2010