Melbourne Storm salary cap breach

Following claims by a whistleblower that the club was keeping a second set of books, the NRL conducted an investigation in late 2009 and early 2010.

After initially denying the claims, Storm officials confessed on 22 April 2010 that the club had committed systematic breaches of the salary cap over five years between 2006 and 2010 by running a dual contract and bookkeeping system.

[6] Despite the stripping of the two premierships, Greg Inglis and Billy Slater continue to be recognized as the Clive Churchill Medallists from 2007 and 2009, respectively.

[7] On 23 April, the NRL seized a secret dossier hidden in the home of acting chief executive Matt Hanson.

For one player with a $400,000 contract lodged with the NRL, the letter of offer was valued at $950,000, and contained a $20,000 gift voucher for a national retailer and a $30,000 boat.

[10] On 16 November 2022, Brian Waldron broke his silence after 5 years and admitted in an interview that he was responsible for the salary cap issues.

One fan dumped his jerseys and other memorabilia at the team's Carlton headquarters on hearing about the incident, while others simply broke into tears.

and Martin Hirons (Melbourne sport business consultant) were reported in The Age, saying it could take little more than four weeks to two months to recover the $2 million it is believed to have already lost in sponsorship.

[21] On 15 July 2010, three months after the breach was exposed, News Limited referred the matter to ASIC and the Victoria Police to investigate possible fraud by the perpetrators.

Despite having to play out the remainder of the 2010 season for no points, Melbourne remained competitive finishing with a record of 14 wins (ten of which came after the salary cap breach was revealed) and 10 losses.

[31] In 2017, Melbourne held a gala dinner for the 10 year reunion of the 2007 team who were stripped of the title where coach Craig Bellamy (rugby league) spoke to the media regarding the 2007 NRL Grand Final result and penalty.

In July 2018, Melbourne player Billy Slater spoke to the media about his possible retirement, and midway through the discussion said "I've been fortunate to play in many grand finals.

[34] In March 2019, Melbourne captain Cameron Smith called for a new investigation to be conducted with the potential for both the 2007 and 2009 stripped premierships to be reinstated.

Smith was upset at the fact that the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks were allowed to keep their 2016 premiership despite being over the salary cap between 2013 and 2017 to a total of $700,000.

In the week that followed, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg ruled out the possibility of the 2007 and 2009 stripped premierships being reinstated.

I take full accountability for my role, as the chief of the business the buck stops with me and right from the start I’m very remorseful and sorry for what happened.