Since my last “incisive” [he smiles] post on this subject media types have been busy putting more of this picture together.  I watched NRL tactics on Fox {insert:Yawn} that inarticulately did not add much to the conversation.  However, the night that was, in the Man of Spin household, I was able to take in the deliberations of Channel Nine’s, The Footy Show!

What stood out for me, which I reflected on in my first post, was the possible player involvement, in the Storm deception. As the details were discussed, Phil Gould did not want to talk about the players, which is probably encouraged by his stance on the salary cap, and the need to get more money in the game, which means although absolutely disagrees with what has transpired, it seems he is more reticent to implicate the player’s in this scheme, as he understands their predicament.  The other, who didn’t want to consider player involvement was the “Big Dell,” a “Ra Ra” for the League fraternity, Wendell Sailor, is more supporter than critical thinker.  The only individual who was prepared, and from statement’s made or indicated live on Television, seemed to believe it was more likely than not that, at least some of the players knew, was Big Darryl Brohman.

Why would he be prepared to think and indicate this?  I believe it is because of the context of the details that have been revealed.  Take a read of how this Rort unfolded over the five years that it took place…

For five years the Storm, fully owned by News Ltd, paid twice for the marquee, booking a superfluous $20,000 payment for each game for something they already received as part of their ground-hire contract.

That money, which amounted to A$1.7 million, didn’t go to waste, being channelled to the Test and Origin stars the club accumulated and buying the Storm NRL titles in 2007 and 2009.

The rorting allowed Storm players to share in $1 million, with a further $700,000 estimated for this year.

Greg Baxter, the director of corporate affairs for News Limited, said last night that investigations had revealed the existence of extra player payments that could not be justified.

”There was a corporate entertainment and hospitality allowance in the club’s budget that was related to game days, and in particular home games,” Baxter said. ”But the money was being put into accounts as something that it was not.

”My understanding is that the money wasn’t being used for the marquee purposes, because that facility was already included in the club’s contract for the use of the ground.”

Baxter said that while the payments added up to a lot of money over time, the incremental nature of them meant they slipped under the radar.

”They escaped scrutiny in internal audits by both News and the NRL because they appear to have been made in small increments,” he said. ”It can be hard to find some things when you’ve got elaborate fraud and collusion by senior people.”

You can read the whole article, which also details who they believe is the chief architect… HERE!

Where Brohman’s thinking was leading him, which is also encouraging me, can described in the following manner: As these payments to players were made out of this context, is it reasonable to believe that the players would not have any idea that they were being payed through a system that was suspicious at best? I believe players are payed in periodic lump sums, so it is possible and even reasonable to believe that this money may have moved through appropriate channels, which means they are in the clear.  But, given where the funds were located, and how it would have to be documented and justified, I must confess that I am inclined to suspect that there are some players who knew more about this than they would like to admit!  Maybe it was in the realm of the, “Don’t Ask,” territory of explanations, but, particularly if the club could not main-stream the flow of these payments, the inexplicable nature of these, raises much smoke, sending many signals that something was indeed very wrong!

However, whatever this was and is in reality, one would think, given the nature of this scandal, and the motivation this will encourage those in the NRL and authorities, to get to the bottom of all the details, that, in the fullness of time, I will be surprised if all the player’s get out of this Rort-free!  I do not expect it to be a large section of the player group, as such a scheme, by the very nature of its deceptive cover-up, works best when the fewer who know about it, the better, and while it would be unfair to name any names, as in the fullness of time, should this be correct, these will surface, I am inclined to think that the love of money may be the key to smelling them out!

Who knows?  God and any individuals in question do, but we will have to wait and see!

As I write this piece, it is Friday Morning in New Zealand, and our Warriors take on the Storm in a matter of days, and while all this is swirling, it is easy to forget, this is still very much about a game!  I for one, can not wait and see what transpires on the pitch, as the story off the pitch will literally, play out, in these players performance.  It should make for interesting viewing…

… Particularly so, and with such a stark backdrop, we consider the Anzacs!  These men who, at much personal cost, lived and died for our freedom on a very different, bloody, and brutal battlefield!  As we consider their sacrifice of our behalf, not only does this provide a very imperfect picture of what Jesus did on our behalf, it does, at the same time this, put the selfishness and sin of the Storm fiasco in its true light.

O, How the Mighty Have Fallen [2 Samuel 1:25]

Always Informing, From the Always Reforming, From the Land of the Long White Cloud

Man of Spin