Are the Melbourne Storm cheaters?

[@haddarac1]

It really annoys me that only Storm are known for cheating the cap.
1.7mil over the cap over a 5 year period is negligible compared to teams before and after 2010.
Manly cheated the cap by over 800k in a single year.
Sharks cheated the cap by over 3mil in a 4 year period as well as doping and managed to keep their premiership.
You mentioned the Dog in 02.
And also the eels though I can’t remember how much by and when.
Every single year more than 3 Quarters of the comp are found to have cheated the cap.
Also Gus Gould has eluded to the NRL’s shady business when it comes to allowing specific teams from 2000-2010 to cheat the cap.
We all know which 5 teams were involved in this, wonder why Storm was the only one named and shamed.

[@mixxxer]

Difference is the enormous success they had for a few years

[@TeWhero]

Also just dont cheat if you’re that good. If you’re really that good you wouldn’t need to cheat.

[@nozza4742]

No the difference is they're not a Sydney team. The NSWRL might have dropped the SW from their name but they haven't changed a bit.

[@ziggyhogan7560]

Obviously missed where it was actually 3.2 mil over the cap minimum

[@haddarac1]

@@ziggyhogan7560 go and look at the official records and while you are at it, look at every team that has cheated the salary cap since the cap was brought in.
Every year more than 3/4 of the comp is cheating the salary cap. Some of them worse than the Sharks, Manly, Storm, and bulldogs.

[@dullyization]

The level of quality of this video, compared to your view count is criminal. Great work my guy. I’m the most biased Storm fan alive and while I agree with a lot of what you’re saying I do think the Storm have some right to at least celebrate the 07 and 09 wins. Firstly, what Gus said about us developing these players. Unlike Penrith, or any other club really, we have no options for development, so our right to keep these players is a special circumstance. Also the club celebrating those wins, was at our home ground, and was specifically for the players. If you’re being truthful as well, for a club to succeed and in Victoria, we had to maintain success. In saying this tho, I agree with the titles being stripped, and all the punishments that fallowed. The 2012 win, our second year after the breach where we played for points did prove we never needed to cheat in the first place. Keep up the quality content tho mate as there isn’t enough content creators creating rugby league content as good as this.

[@TuiPolitics]

I am sympathetic to the argument that the Storm made league work in Melbourne against all odds. But would we be saying the same thing if they were dopping? If their team was on gear and that's why they won during that period would people still justify it? If not then its more people not understanding the severity of the advantage this cap breach gave the Storm.
The cap is what keeps this game competitive and why I would argue in 2024 at least 5 of the teams could potentially win this year (Panthers, Broncos, Storm, Warriors and Sea Eagles). Imagine how dominant the Panthers would be now if they were able to keep their 2021 team as well as supplement it with their new development, Panthers would literally be untouchable.
The Storm team during that period was comparable to to that imagined Panthers team. Just look at Greg Inglis, he had to leave the club to make them stay under the cap in 2010, one of their best players. He was allowed to play with them for years because of their intentional salary cap cheating. Players like Slater and Cronk stayed in the team and helped them win in 2012 sure but I'm sure had to take pay cuts, and they had already been paid hundreds of thousands of illegal money to stay in the club.
I honestly think the win in 2012 is more of a reflection that the team were not sorry for their actions and defiantly fought to keep proving themselves, even sacrificing the money they had taken previously (but remember that $3 million + was still in the bank accounts of those elite players who took illegal money). If the team could win within the salary cap previously, they would not have cheated. They 2012 team is more of a remnant of the cheated team than what the Storm looks like when it follows the rules.
They won their 1999 comp fair and square and that was remarkable a team winning after just being in the comp for so little of time. I wish that was celebrated more than justifying this period of cheating.
I obviously respect you supporting your team, I would probably do that same for a similar scandal at the Warriors lol.

[@paulmartin3962]

Yes I agree as a rare Victorian who started following rugby in the mid 80's following belmain tigers as I was a AFL tigers supporter. When belmain merged with the bloody western suburb magpies an Melbourne came in it was a simple decision an that 1999 premiership against the dragons was unbelievable. I still have my 1998 jersey I got cheap in Cairns far north Queensland when I was doing seasonal work tobacco picking. Go the mighty storm 💜🤍💜

[@tommacpherson5852]

I'll acknowledge that Storm no longer have those premierships when the competition strips Sharks of their 2016 premiership. They cheated so where's the consistency? Oh wait, this game doesn't know the definition of consistency... :,)

[@Akxyamum]

Storms weren’t on drugs

[@Raidyn98]

I remember being a kid when this happened. The uncertainty of the club's future was eerie. Went to their first open training session at AAMI Park in 2010 after the saga and only a couple hundred of us turned up. Fast forward 14 years, 3 premierships later and thankfully we're still one of the best teams in the NRL. People hang crap over us all the time for cheating, but we weren't the first or last to do it - we just got hit the hardest. Dont think anyone gives the Storm enough credit for their resiliency to bounce back after the salary cap scandal, but I guess its an easy go-to dig haha. I kinda just roll with the punches now, yeah we cheated the cap. Oh well. Great video mate ⚡

[@TuiPolitics]

Easy to bounce back when the players who were cheating the cap felt a chip on their shoulder and stayed with the club for less money and were able to win in 2011.
If the team didn't over pay their superstars for years, some of them would have moved on for more money earlier. The evidence of that is the fact that they got the illegal payments in the first place. Slater and co wouldn't have gotten those hundreds of thousands under the table if the club thought they were likely to stay for less.

[@Raidyn98]

​@@TuiPolitics Yeah fair mate I'm not justifying cheating the cap. But you could make the same argument for the Bulldogs who went on to win in 04. Slater, Smith etc could've easily moved to QLD for more $$ if they wanted to especially after the cap drama, but they're loyal clubmen and earned their way, worked hard bc the Storm gave em a chance. They were getting paid under the table but they were just collecting the check, same way we do when we get paid from work. You don't ask the company questions about all the finances, you get your money and unless it looks under then no dramas. How are they supposed to know they're getting overs in context of the salary cap? That's not their job. It was our CEO at the time that did the dirties and hoped it would slip under the radar, no questions asked. The club admin stuffed us over hard, and the players and fans had to pay for it. All the years of hard work, time spent, money spent from fans, GF trips etc all down the shitter. So oath they had a chip on their shoulder, they had a point to prove that the $$ isn't what won the prems - it was hard work and the talent we had. We had to earn our way back from a tarnished reputation and half our roster gone including GI. That isn't an "easy" feat that's just a simplistic way of saying we made it look easy.

[@jdub9664]

Bro everyone cheats in all sports. You just hating on the Storm!😂

[@tunite12]

The first cheats were the Broncos in the modern era under Wayne, they had the Queensland team and it was a joke. The Storm were the next biggest cheats, owned by Murdoch, given special treatment in terms of the cap, we are told this cheating was fair because Rugby league needed an instant success in AFL country.
The thing is, AFL country despite being given a cheating cap set up, never adopted the Storm en mass.
The Storm paid dearly under the watch of an honest CEO who got fired for it.
Then the Dogs were a sideline Cap story.
Which brings us to today. The Roosters are cheating the comp and everyone jokes about it. Which is a damming indictment on how corrupt the NRL has become.

[@Nepatez]

The Storm has always been looked at as the bastard child of the NRL, the northern state elites hated the fact that the NRL was even looking at Victoria for an expansion club, so of course when the Storm started to have success they didn't like it one bit, and yes I am a Victorian and a bias Storm fan and will fully admit that what they did was wrong and should have been punished but like what has been written in the comments the whole league is fraught with scandal every year, there has been a handful of teams that have done equal or even worse breaches of the code of conduct throughout history of the comp but of course, the bastard child has to be made an example of.
What made me the happiest was the players saying F U to the comp, staying together for less pay and winning the championship again 2 more times.

[@davidroe1409]

I think the panthers are cheating in more ways then one

[@mikediao15]

Rooster cheated every year and no one bat an eye. all storm did was keeping their players. saying 1.7 mil in 5 year is the worse is just yelling to the cloud.

[@TeWhero]

The fact noone was punished, players included probably means the whole NRL is filled with corruption

[@spangi91]

I don't know how the NRL CEO sat there listening to Gus 😂

[@ziggyhogan7560]

To show the impact just one player can have. Look what happened in 08 without smith. They lost 40 nil. They could have stayed for less they wanted the money and were happy to lie and sign 2 contracts. Cheaters dirty cheaters. Didnt even mention the tactics they introduced like chicken wings rolling pins crusher tackles ect. Or even billy slater and his karate kicks at try scores.

[@user-wt2xl3gh6y]

The bottom line is the cap amount is to small of a amount it did start at 3.25 but

[@stev01965]

Its just a grub club even on the field they were grubs refs let then get away with heaps more then other clubs

[@PresGrove]

Cause we’re the favorite 😂

[@robertireland6215]

They lost 40-0

[@whatagup4799]

We still won those premierships

[@TuiPolitics]

By cheating

[@Palmwhat]

Did you run on the field ? If you didn't theres no we about it mate