EDFL: Burnside Heights punished for salary cap breaches

The man who oversaw an NRL salary cap scandal ten years ago is now steering a Melbourne football club out of its own breach saga.

Burnside has learned of its penalties.

The former boss of Parramatta during its NRL salary cap scandal is now aiming to lead a Melbourne local footy club past its own breaches.

Former Eels chief executive Scott Seward is the new president of Burnside Heights Football Club, which competes in the Essendon District Football League in Melbourne’s northwest.

Seward held the position at the NRL club for two years and resigned in June 2015 when the Eels were accused of breaching the salary cap by $3m over four seasons – eventually being stripped of 12 competition points and fined $750,000.

On Monday night, Burnside was found to be $20,650 over the EDFL’s third tier cap of $83,300 last season.

Speaking to this masthead on Tuesday, Seward said he had personally learnt lessons in the past and was determined to lead the club forward.

Seward is heading up a new Bears committee which wasn’t in charge for last season when the breaches occurred.

“I’ve had lessons at other clubs and other levels, you try and take the lessons from the past,” he said.

“You have to be transparent and you have to be authentic. This has happened. The report and review which came from the integrity committee is clear.

“There’s no use trying to deny it, there’s no use trying to defend it. It is what it is.

“We just need to make sure we’re never put in this position ever again.

“That is one thing this new executive and committee will guarantee is that, we made the guarantee to the EDFL, you will never see us here again.

“Hopefully we can help the Bears be as great a club as you can be.”

Scott Seward took over as president in late 2024.

Burnside’s punishments included having their player points totals reduced by four below the competition maximum for the next three seasons and the club’s cap reduced by 20 per cent.

The Bears were the second EDFL club to be punished in a matter of weeks after Premier Division power Keilor was stripped of its 2023 premiership.

Seward said the club was now moving forward.

“You need to move on from it,” he said.

“We went in there and fully co-operated with the process. The statements from the EDFL state that. We’ve done everything we can being a new executive.

“We own this but our focus needs to be the future. We move on and make sure it never happens again.

“That’s the key outcome.”

The Bears reached the preliminary final last season, going out in straight sets after finishing in the top-two to earn the double chance.

Seward acknowledged the perception which would come with breaching the cap.

“It is hard, I do feel for them. We’ve got a great bunch of guys, we’ve got a fantastic coach (Cole Harvey),” he said.

“We can build this around. We’re going to have to have some tough conversations, there’s no doubt about that.

“Hopefully this bands the guys together and there’s a real resolve about them.

“The guys are going to cop it as everyone associated with the club will. And we need to make sure that what we do is provide a really clear direction as to how we move forward.

“And make sure we paint the picture we are all in this together. We will deal with this the right way.”

The club’s new committee has been in place since late last year and Seward said they were determined to help put the club in a better light.

“We’ve effectively been in this role for four months. We came into this knowing we had challenges, what we didn’t know is we were going to have this challenge,” he said.

“What’s disappointing is that it’s taken away from the focus on what we needed to do as a club, to make the club the very best it can be again.

“And to be a source of pride for our local community. That’s frustrating because we’ve lost a serious amount of time dealing with a past issue.

“It’s not to downplay that because it’s taken away from what we wanted to focus on – our juniors, review everything.”

An EDFL statement regarding Burnside’s punishments said “in determining the sanctions, the committee took into account, in the club’s favour, the full co-operation of the new executive committee of the club”.

“Burnside Heights was completely honest and cooperative throughout the Integrity Review and Disciplinary Committee Hearing, which is appreciated by the EDFL,” league chairman Ian Price said in a statement.

“Our clubs must continue to understand, and adhere to, the League’s rules and regulations, and we’ll continue to support and educate our clubs in providing a fair and vibrant competition.”