Will Cronulla survive?

[Xman]

Cronulla players are believed to be considering legal action if they are suspended for inadvertently taking illegal performance-enhancing substances. There were suggestions the Sharks were considering offering financial incentives for players to voluntarily stand down for six months over fears the club could go broke if sued.
Up to 14 Sharks players are understood to have been offered six-month bans if they pleaded guilty to using prohibited drugs. A source at another club named in the Australian Crime Commission report said ASADA offered that club's players reduced bans if they ''gave themselves up''.
Sharks players are likely to argue that, if they had taken drugs, they did so unknowingly. But under ASADA guidelines the responsibility rests with the player to ensure they are clean. Athletes are normally handed two-year bans for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.


Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-l ... z2MtArmLjn

[Stewie]

This is great!

[piesman2011]

This is great!

You're a dickhead Stewie. How would you feel if this happened to Poort.

[Stewie]

This is great!

You're a dickhead Stewie. How would you feel if this happened to Poort.

Come on, you know Cronulla's not going to fold. The negative publicity is great, I can't wait to see Raiderdave's spin on the matter.

[Stewie]

Sharks' coach has been stood down. Guilty, guilty, guilty!

[Xman]

Sharks' coach has been stood down. Guilty, guilty, guilty!

Plus the doc and other staff.

Presser on at the moment

[Xman]

EXCLUSIVE


Denial: Cronulla Sharks Chairman Damian Irvine. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Cronulla Sharks players have allegedly received under-the-table payments from a security company sponsor, opening another battle front for the club at the centre of an investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency.

Fairfax Media has confirmed the Sharks have recently severed ties with the company E Group Security, which was a sponsor and provided security to the club, and replaced it with another security firm.

However, it has been alleged once the club realised the company, run by former rugby league player Sami Chamoun, had allegedly helped to top up the money for its star players outside the salary cap, the board went into panic mode.


Mired in scandal: The Sharks at training on Saturday. Photo: Sasha Woolley
The club informed the NRL's salary cap auditor when it became aware of the allegations, and the auditor is investigating the claims.

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A breach of the cap on payments to players is a serious offence under NRL membership rules, and crippled Melbourne Storm when its breaches became public.

The dispute with its sponsor is the last thing the Cronulla club needs on the back of allegations levelled at it by ASADA and Friday's sacking of four senior staff members and the decision to stand coach Shane Flanagan down.

Mr Chamoun, 37, confirmed his security company had lost its contract with the Sharks despite having two years left to run. His lawyers had written to the Sharks on Friday informing them they were taking legal action for a breach of contract.

''As part of the contract there was a sponsorship component with the club which we kept to,'' he told Fairfax Media. ''There's a lot more to it than that. I really can't say too much yet. We only served the letter with them on Friday and we want to give them the chance to respond.''

Asked if he had paid Sharks players directly instead of the club, Mr Chamoun said: ''I never said that.''

The Sharks, including chairman Damian Irvine and suspended coach Flanagan, denied there were any inappropriate payments made by Mr Chamoun while the head of Cronulla's commercial operations Patrick Woods said he had no comment at all.

''We changed security companies for this season and an ongoing contractual dispute with our previous contractors eventuates,'' Irvine said in a text sent from Los Angeles. ''The NRL salary cap auditor was informed of their inference when they were made and asked to ensure all payments were correctly registered.''

It was understood the club called an emergency meeting two weeks ago to discus the matter, and the possible ramifications. Apart from lawyers, Flanagan and skipper Paul Gallen were said to have attended.

Flanagan, who was sensationally suspended on Friday, was incensed by the story, saying it was something he did not want to get caught up in. ''I'm not getting into rubbish talk like that,'' he said. ''The rumour, I've heard it, but I'm not going down there now. I have more things to worry about.''

Mr Chamoun, a former front-rower for the Illawarra Steelers in the 1990s, established E Group Security in late 2004. The business boasts more than 1000 staff and provides security and cleaning services to more than 200 clients, which include the NSW government and the City of Sydney. It also does work for a number of other NRL teams, including the Wests Tigers, Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Knights. It also counts the NRL and Parramatta Stadium among its clients.

Mr Chamoun runs the company out of an office in Petersham.

The Sharks open their NRL season on Sunday night with a home clash against the Gold Coast Titans. They were listed as one of the pre-season favourites for the premiership in 2013 but the major setbacks suffered over the past week will be a huge hurdle to overcome to break the club's long-running title drought.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/shark-attac ... z2N53KQ9Ee

Cheating the salary cap and with PEDS at the same time!

Wow, what a filthy sport!

[Stewie]

Shit, with no major sponsor and no CEO for 3 years and now this, I'm actually starting to wonder if they can survive this. I'm thinking next year the nRL will pull an A League and quickly prop up a team out of nowhere. Central Coast.

[Xman]

Shit, with no major sponsor and no CEO for 3 years and now this, I'm actually starting to wonder if they can survive this. I'm thinking next year the nRL will pull an A League and quickly prop up a team out of nowhere. Central Coast.

this may actually suite their agenda. Reduce sydney team numbers and allow room to expand to Qld or Perth.

[Stewie]

Shit, with no major sponsor and no CEO for 3 years and now this, I'm actually starting to wonder if they can survive this. I'm thinking next year the nRL will pull an A League and quickly prop up a team out of nowhere. Central Coast.

this may actually suite their agenda. Reduce sydney team numbers and allow room to expand to Qld or Perth.

If they were serious about expansion, then they would do this. But we all know bad the nRL have been at expansions in the past.

[Drac]

This is win-win for the AFL.

1) Cronulla survive, continue to bring down the nRL crowd average.
2) Cronulla get relocated to Perth/CC. Swans helicopter in to the Shire and go into member recruitment overdrive, as they did on the North Shore after the Bears folded. Perth/CC won't embrace someone else's rubbish like they would a new team to call their own. Perth/CC Sharks continue to pull down the league average.

[piesman2011]

Latest rumour is that they were taking some sort of horse drug The sun was saying horse steroids but surely that would have produced some sort of positive result ) This was the reason behind the sackings. I just hope that the players didn't know and are able to get off with the 6 month ban.

[cos789]

Now it's salary cap rorts.

[Xman]

THE Cronulla Sharks rugby league club sacked four coaching staff members and suspended their coach Shane Flanagan because they did not reveal allegations some players were injected with drugs used on horses.

The club's chairman Damian Irvine alleged his football club staff had not notified the board about the allegations of drug use which date back to 2011.

One of the drugs is believed to be TV-500, a substance used on horses to increase muscle growth, strength and endurance.

The stunning claims were made as the club prepared to open the season tonight against the Gold Coast Titans.

Irvine broke his silence on the scandal that has rocked the club and the NRL. He spoke exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph Sports Editor-at-Large Phil Rothfield.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6593894057

There it is....their own chairman has confessed the team was injected with horse drugs!

Pack em up now, hold a garage sale. They are finished.

[cos789]

6 month penalty or two year penalty.
It sounds like one is 4x the other when in fact it's just one season or two.