Is paying a player two salaries by two different companies owned by the same guy classed as a fact? To me that is deliberately breaching the salary cap and therefore a hefty punishment should be dealt, both as a punishment, but also a deterrent to put other clubs off.

If the RFL bottle it and give out a fine and a couple of points deducted, everyone may as well do it, knowing that if the players they spend the extra cash on gain them two wins that they wouldn't have previously won, then its worth doing.

It is indeed, it came out in Puletua's employment tribunal hearing. He was paid 80k year by Salford but had a contract with a company called EuroMachTech worth a further 48k. No prizes for guessing who owns this company.....
What seems even worse is that it seems this "company" was set up for the sole purpose of paying Salford players secret payments. The company didn't actually exist in "real life" and didn't actually do any business.

And then what? Destroy whatever is being built at Salford and promote a side who can't compete? Seems like a sensible long term plan for the sport.

In response to NT, no I don't have cold hard facts but we all "know" that some of the top clubs must have very creative accountants to have never breached the salary cap with the squads some of them have carried over the course of the SL era. It makes me laugh that fans think Salford are the only team to dish out ridiculously overinflated wages to individuals. Brown envelopes, wives on the payroll etc have been going on for years.

The fact is Salford will be made an example of as they will be seen as the RFL as easy meat and not big enough to take them on. Wigan, however, got the absolute bare minimum as, God forbid, they ever dropped out of SL.

I've been banging on for years that this will be happening. The RFL are incompetent and it's taken Bradford's Chairman telling them what has happened for them to find it two years later.

For me, Salford should be kicked out of Super League. What they've done isn't accidental overspending, it's deliberate and is no doubt still happening now. I've said for years that all this salary cap rorting will come out inevitably as players from the SL era retire and release their autobiographies. The third party company contract is so easy to do, the RFL and their incompetent setup would never find it on their own. The owners of clubs these days have so many business interests that it's incredibly easy to employ a wife on a consultancy basis, or the player themselves. If no one squeals it will not be found.

(All of the above is based on allegations of an unverified nature and do not necessarily represent the views of the artist Saddened!, RLFANS.com or any of it's owners, moderators or demented patrons.)

I can't wait for Koukash's reaction to this. This could potentially see the end of Salford as a club. He will absolutely explode if they are given a significant points deduction.

Firstly, for once I think you are being harsh in the RFL. They simply cannot force independent companies or individual players to disclose financial information. Therefore, I'm not sure what you expect them to do?
It's also important to note that the Brandford chairman didn't reveal all this, it came out in Puletua's employment tribunal hearing. However, as Bradford were relegated in one of the seasons Salford may have breached the cap (having suffered a points deduction themselves) I'd say he has the right to feel aggrieved. If Salford had not been so deceitful, their alleged breach may have been discovered in the season it occurred, and Bradford may have remained in Super League.
To me, if this is proven natural justice would be Bradford getting promotion at the expense of Salford.

Quote [Gareth="[Gareth"The thing with Wigan is that 'we' didnt actually break the salary cap i.e. we didnt spend more in that year on wages than we where allowed to. The payments where simply back-loaded into into the contracts which is common practice in plenty of sports (the NFL being a prime example) The RFL had to be seen to be doing something about it so Wigan got charged with breaking the 'spirit of the cap' Will be very interesting to see the reaction to Salford's alleged breach'" "The Warriors were found guilty of busting the limit of £1.6m on payments by £222,314 (6.3%)." www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/j ... ague.sport

Quote [Gareth="[Gareth"The thing with Wigan is that 'we' didnt actually break the salary cap i.e. we didnt spend more in that year on wages than we where allowed to. The payments where simply back-loaded into into the contracts which is common practice in plenty of sports (the NFL being a prime example) The RFL had to be seen to be doing something about it so Wigan got charged with breaking the 'spirit of the cap' Will be very interesting to see the reaction to Salford's alleged breach'" "The Warriors were found guilty of busting the limit of £1.6m on payments by £222,314 (6.3%)." www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/j ... ague.sport

I'd say a few championship clubs could become competitive with the additional £1million funding difference. Your theory is, if you've got money, do what you want



I said this on our forum, this is a massive acid test for the new system and RFL. If the Salford are found guilty and depending on the severity (It's over a 2 year period and from what it looks like, they are being investigate for deliberately deceiving the SC, which IMO is serious) then it's no good deducting them points for the regular season, then them starting on zero with everyone else in the middles. Feel for the Salford fans as it looked like on the field they were starting to get things together.

I would love a competitive Bradford in SL buy that's not what we are going to get. We don't even have 12 clubs in SL who are competitive. We certainly don't have any outside it.

My theory is of Salford have the money they should not be allowed but encouraged to spend it. That wakefield or whoever don't is of no relevance

so we let cheats prosper then?

Of course Bradford could be competitive, as could Leigh. They both have a bigger fanbase than Salford do currently and with the same funding that SL clubs have, there is no reason why they couldn't construct the exact same squad that Salford are currently running with.
In addition to that, Bradford have a superb academy setup - graded superior to several SL clubs - that would only help to bolster their chances in the top flight.

Having said that, there is no way the RFL would ever drop a club down a division and do a straight swap like that, so such discussions are pointless.