Manly adamant club never set out to intentionally cheat as Scott Penn hands over salary cap report
MANLY Sea Eagles owner Scott Penn is hoping two years of turmoil can be finally put to bed this week when the club hands over its response to the NRL’s salary cap investigation.
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MANLY Sea Eagles owner Scott Penn is hoping two years of turmoil can be finally put to bed this week when the club hands over its response to the NRL’s salary cap investigation.
Penn will return from the United States on Monday to go over the final details of the club’s report before it is delivered to the NRL in the coming days.
The verdict has the potential to cost the club a significant fine and all hope of signing Newcastle’s Trent Hodkinson before the start of the season.
But Penn told The Daily Telegraph from Los Angeles that he was adamant the club never set out to intentionally cheat.
“The NRL has a list of areas they have looked at,” Penn said.
“We have always fully complied.
“There are some areas we need to defend but it is really technicality issues.
“There is no wholesale rorting or anything like that.
“We don’t feel like we have done anything outside the rules but some of it is down to interpretation.
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“No one has been paid anything more than is in their contract or that other third party people have paid them directly.
“The allegations are technical issues that perhaps weren’t done appropriately.
“But it has never been anything more than that.
“We have to defend ourselves so this week we will finalise that and put our case forward.”
Whatever the outcome, Penn said he just wants it over with so Trent Barrett and the players can concentrate on the 2018 NRL season.
Manly’s dramas started way back in 2016 when allegations first emerged police were investigating claims of a betting scandal involving some players.
While no charges were ever laid, the mud has certainly stained the Sea Eagles’ reputation.
“Look, it has been frustrating and disappointing,” Penn said.
“The last 18 to 24 months have been unnecessarily distracting.
“But you know what, that is the environment we live in and we just have to get on with it.
“I am certainly optimistic about the future and that is what I want to focus on.
“Certainly the whole match-fixing claims came out of left field, and were totally unfounded.
“That was really disappointing.
“With the salary cap (investigation), we just want to settle the matter to be honest.
“We just want to get it over with so we can all move forward.
“The outcome will be the outcome but we are confident that we certainly haven’t done anything purposely wrong.
“If there are areas that we have a difference of opinion on we will have to work it through.”
Depending on what verdict the NRL delivers, the salary cap penalty could potentially cost Manly any chance of signing more players.
It is understood Manly have about $600,000 of salary cap space and Barrett is still hoping to sign Hodkinson.
While it is not expected Manly will start the season on negative competition points, they are losing hope that a deal can be done with Hodkinson with Cronulla also chasing the former NSW No 7.
“We actually are in a really good place,” Penn said.
“We want to get it wrapped up as quickly as we can so we can all move forward into the new season.”
Originally published as Manly adamant club never set out to intentionally cheat as Scott Penn hands over salary cap report
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