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ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys says the NRL integrity unit will launch a salary-cap investigation if there is evidence of illegal rorting involving Roosters recruit Brandon Smith.
Speaking exclusively to News Corp last week, Smith’s manager Stan Martin made the explosive claim that at least one NRL club had offered an illegal payment outside the salary cap to sign the Kiwi Test star.
Martin made it clear the Roosters’ successful offer to sign Smith was completely legal under NRL salary-cap rules.
But V’landys urged Martin to come forward with evidence of salary-cap cheating if he has any correspondence that could uncover any proposed illegal transaction involving an NRL club or official.
“We won’t tolerate salary-cap cheating,” V’landys told Sport Confidential.
“If Brandon Smith’s manager has some information, I encourage him to make that information available to the NRL integrity unit.”
New Zealand-based Martin said last week he was shocked by one club’s offer of an under-the-table payment and rejected any impropriety.
“No brown paper bags,” he said. “Everything we do must be above board.
“There was one club that offered me a backhander, but I had no interest in anything dodgy like that.”
The NRL has only had two major salary-cap scandals in the past 13 years. The Storm produced the worst rort in history in 2010, stripped of two premierships after cheating the salary cap by $1.7 million, while Parramatta had 12 competition points deducted for their breach in 2016.
There is no suggestion those clubs are involved in any wrongdoing in relation to Smith’s eventual move to the Roosters.
V’landys has put the 17 clubs on notice, saying any allegation or information of salary-cap cheating will trigger an immediate NRL integrity-unit probe.
“It’s a serious allegation,” he said of Martin’s revelation.
“If he has evidence of some club trying to cheat the system, he should immediately hand it to the integrity unit for them to investigate.
“If he can provide some evidence, we will certainly be taking action, no fear or favour.”
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