Him wrote:Absolutely. It was terrible. 2 people who are paid to understand the issues in our game don't even know the absolute basics of a big news story that had broken days beforehand and was reported by the organisation they work for.

Sadly it's not an isolated incident and exemplifies the shoddy and unprofessional nature of the Sky RL team at the moment.

Dr Chim Richalds wrote:I didn't see the item so I can't comment on what was said but how much of the Salford story is publicly out there as stated fact?
i.e. there is a lot of talk about the contract situation, plenty of details about who these contracts were with, who was employed under them and the sort of money being paid but how much of this is in the public domain officially and how much is known 'through the grapevine'?
Broadcasters obviously have to be careful what they mention on air. I notice that that RFL statement itself doesn't provide much detail.

Andy Gilder wrote:The part which irked me was Hemmings questioning why the RFL hadn't picked these breaches up in the seasons concerned, now they have a "live" salary cap. It's a major news story within the game and most fans have at least a basic grasp of what the allegations are, but neither he nor Clarke seemed to have bothered to do even the slightest bit of research. They didn't need to run a major forensic investigation on it, but it's pretty clear why they didn't come to light in the seasons concerned which made it a dumb question to ask.

John Gilbert Reds wrote:I don't understand. Wigan breached the cap by £222,000 in 2007, it was the biggest breach in Super League history. They were given a 4 points deduction, surely a precedent has been set. Salford are being charged with an alleged breach (or breaches) totalling (best case) £40k and (worst case) £80k. When I say best and worst case, I am unsure whether they can use 2015 against us as the whole reason behind Tony Puletua's very public fued and subsequent tribunal was due to non-payment.

Whether or not one seems unlikely or not, there is only evidence to suggest at this moment in time there is. Unless other players come forward with appropriate evidence, which I doubt as HMRC would jump straight on them, then we'll never know.

John Gilbert Reds wrote:I don't understand. Wigan breached the cap by £222,000 in 2007, it was the biggest breach in Super League history. They were given a 4 points deduction, surely a precedent has been set.

bezzerscr wrote:Strange the number of people quoting Koukash saying he would break the cap choose not to include the rest of the quote that went on to say "like others have done"
For clarity the full quote was "if it means breaking the salary cap to challenge the legality ofit I will do it LIKE OTHERS HAVE DONE"

bezzerscr wrote:Strange the number of people quoting Koukash saying he would break the cap choose not to include the rest of the quote that went on to say "like others have done"
For clarity the full quote was "if it means breaking the salary cap to challenge the legality ofit I will do it LIKE OTHERS HAVE DONE"

[Gareth] wrote: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'