The Greenhouse

Cronulla Sharks confirm signing of Trent Hodkinson after Newcastle Knights release

Cronulla are confident they can manage Trent Hodkinson back to full fitness after signing the former NSW State of Origin winner as a back-up NRL halfback.

The Sharks confirmed the 29-year-old's signature on a one-year deal on Monday, just a day after the ex-Manly and Canterbury No.7 completed a long-expected release from Newcastle.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-l ... 0u08c.html

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 7db950abf1

Dugan booted from RSL while hanging out with Fifita.


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Well I for one am shocked and dismayed!

It can't be the same Dugan..

It just can't.

Act like drunken fool, tick.

Lock him in for a NSW spot, origin 1.

Dugan and Fifita together. What could possibly go wrong.

Graham desperate to force way back into Origin fold

Wade Graham is eyeing off a return to NSW in game two, but knows his injury-riddled start to the season for Cronulla has potentially cost him a spot in this year's Blues revolution under Brad Fittler.

Wednesday's 22-12 win over Queensland in Melbourne will leave Fittler reluctant to make any changes to his 17, which can pry the State Of Origin shield from the Maroons' grip on June 24 for just the second time in 13 years with a win in game two at ANZ Stadium.

Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/graham ... 4zk4p.html

Gallen remains undecided on NRL future

Cronulla captain Paul Gallen insists he's yet to decide whether to play another season despite a vintage performance in the Sharks' win over Wests Tigers.

With his team trailing by eight with half an hour to go on Sunday, Gallen sparked his team with a solo try from close range at Southern Cross Group Stadium.

Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/gallen ... 4zkq4.html

Gal will be playing NRL at the age of 38 next year... quite incredible

yeh raiders wrote: ↑August 16, 2018, 10:12 pm Gal will be playing NRL at the age of 38 next year... quite incredible

He certainly isn't losing any pep in his old age.

Best thing about this is that Gallen will definitely be the biggest loser by the end of his career.

But in all seriousness well done for playing so long he must have really come up with some effective ways to decrease recovery time from injuries.....

NRL360 reporting Cronulla under investigation for salary cap irregularities in 2017.

NRL 360 reporting Sharks under investigation for salary cap cheating. 2015 irregularity of $50,000, hundreds of thousands in 2017. NRL saying that in 2018 m, all clubs compliant. But they’ve not finished the three month old investigation.

Paul Kent saying Sharks could win a grand final... without the investigation complete...


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Sharks CEO called in NRL. Previous admin deals apparently

$50k is nothing. "Hundreds of thousands" could be anything.

initial report I saw said $250k but potentially more

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Sounds like it's minor, I'd say they will just cop a fine. Manly did 1.5m total and copped just a 750k fine and 250k cap reduction per year for 3 on a much higher cap.

This has made my day..

Funny how the Sharks reported the discrepancies from 2015 and 2017. Obviously nothing to see in 2016 when they won the premiership. Convenient that they stopped the dodgy payments that year.

They reported something from 2015. The NRL has found much bigger discrepancies in 2017 (so far).

Publish player salaries for God's sake. Cooperate with the ATO and get the Integrity unit to investigate players and families each year. Every player registered with the NRL agree to these conditions or find another employer. It really isn't that difficult. Fans have been asking for some bloody transparency for years.

Paul Kent was saying there was evidence of the Club paying an employee of the Sharks, who then funnelled the money to the players.

Even if they published salaries, it would be hard to trace movements like this


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Just imagine the smirk wiped of Mick Ennis's face if they were striped of 2016. I think i've found my happy place.

Fuifui Bradbrad wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 6:02 pm Paul Kent was saying there was evidence of the Club paying an employee of the Sharks, who then funnelled the money to the players.

Even if they published salaries, it would be hard to trace movements like this


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You can't but this is preconceived (alleged) cheating by making cash payments. Very hard tracing brown paper bags.

Published salaries will shine the torch on 3rd party payments which are on the books. Certain clubs siphon payments through these 'legal' channels to top up player salaries.

Incredibly, NRL 360 reported tonight that Todd Greenberg had kept the Sharks investigation secret at NRL HQ and had not advised the Commission it was taking place!

Also Sharks $500,000 Under the cap this year.

And the 2015 suspect TPA was for a player who played in the 2016 Premiership and is no longer at the club.

Turf the players and the managers who cheat. It's a very simple problem. The rules are very clear. Nobody is cheating the cap by mistake and no player receiving cash payments since 2000 could be forgiven for thinking cash payments are normal.

greeneyed wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 7:11 pm Incredibly, NRL 360 reported tonight that Todd Greenberg had kept the Sharks investigation secret at NRL HQ and had not advised the Commission it was taking place!

Also Sharks $500,000 Under the cap this year.

And the 2015 suspect TPA was for a player who played in the 2016 Premiership and is no longer at the club.

Is that player now a commentator at Fox or looking to re-enter the NRL after a stint in the ESL?

Northern Raider wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 9:08 pm

greeneyed wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 7:11 pm Incredibly, NRL 360 reported tonight that Todd Greenberg had kept the Sharks investigation secret at NRL HQ and had not advised the Commission it was taking place!

Also Sharks $500,000 Under the cap this year.

And the 2015 suspect TPA was for a player who played in the 2016 Premiership and is no longer at the club.

Is that player now a commentator at Fox or looking to re-enter the NRL after a stint in the ESL?

Don't know, there's quite a few players who fit that description.

Northern Raider wrote:

greeneyed wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 7:11 pm Incredibly, NRL 360 reported tonight that Todd Greenberg had kept the Sharks investigation secret at NRL HQ and had not advised the Commission it was taking place!

Also Sharks $500,000 Under the cap this year.

And the 2015 suspect TPA was for a player who played in the 2016 Premiership and is no longer at the club.

Is that player now a commentator at Fox or looking to re-enter the NRL after a stint in the ESL?

Or did they celebrate by going on an Epic Bender, and getting themselves kicked out of the comp?

greeneyed wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 9:22 pm

Northern Raider wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 9:08 pm

greeneyed wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 7:11 pm Incredibly, NRL 360 reported tonight that Todd Greenberg had kept the Sharks investigation secret at NRL HQ and had not advised the Commission it was taking place!

Also Sharks $500,000 Under the cap this year.

And the 2015 suspect TPA was for a player who played in the 2016 Premiership and is no longer at the club.

Is that player now a commentator at Fox or looking to re-enter the NRL after a stint in the ESL?

Don't know, there's quite a few players who fit that description.

Actually not that many who were sharks in 2015 and 2016 who aren’t there now. Of that list I can only think of 2 that would have needed 3rd party payments to sign up.

The media is trying to spin it as if clubs need to cheat the cap to win the comp but I think it has more to do with clubs simply trying to compete with the Broncos and Roosters. Blind Freddy can see there is something wrong when battling clubs shed players to stay within the cap and the Roosters are signing the best half in the game and arguably the best fullback. The Raiders showed their hand a few years ago with the Milford to Broncos fiasco yet the NRL just buries their head in the sand.

gergreg wrote: ↑August 29, 2018, 10:19 pm The media is trying to spin it as if clubs need to cheat the cap to win the comp but I think it has more to do with clubs simply trying to compete with the Broncos and Roosters. Blind Freddy can see there is something wrong when battling clubs shed players to stay within the cap and the Roosters are signing the best half in the game and arguably the best fullback. The Raiders showed their hand a few years ago with the Milford to Broncos fiasco yet the NRL just buries their head in the sand.

Thats pretty much it. Broncos and Roosters have nailed down the process of circumventing the cap via 3rd party payments. The only way they can get caught is when one of the organisations meant to be paying these 3rd party agreements decides they don't want to be involved and hand the money back.

Ironically this took place in 2014 when $300k was handed back to the Broncos. Andrew Gee accepted responsibility and resigned and the NRL decided there was nothing to investigate. The result was a high profile player got out of the Broncos citing unpaid 3rd party money. Said player then joined the Sharks in 2015, was part of the 2016 premiership and is no longer at the club.

The worst thing about the Gee situation was it happened before and the NRL did nothing differently the second time around.

In 2009 Don Nissen, the former Broncos Chairman, admitted under oath in a corruption trial that the Broncos outright cheated the cap. He just refused to co-operate with the NRL and so nothing happened. It was a blatant admission of cap cheating that went unpunished and was swept under the carpet.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/bruno- ... 1qwt5.html

That's the NRL for you.