CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT

The current salary cap scandal currently gripping the Cronulla Sharks will see club officials asked to give evidence to the NRL’s integrity unit to determine the depth of potential breaches, with irregularities found in the 2015 and 2017 books.

Head coach Shane Flanagan, former chairman Damian Keogh and former CEO Lyall Gorman will be called to front the NRL to explain their roles at the club when alleged salary cap breaches took place.

Sharks CEO Barry Russell, who self-reported the irregularities to kickstart the investigation three months ago, yesterday confirmed the overpaid player in question is no longer at the club.

However, much like the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Parramatta Eels scandals of years gone by, it is rumoured that the breaches were purely a measure used to convince high-quality players to relocate to their club’s catchment area.

“Cronulla, if not for the Premiership, is only really known for the rather embarrassing wog-bashing spree we had here in 2005” says one unnamed member of the Cronulla board.

“You’ve gotta understand, to convince a multicultural stable of players to move to Cronulla, we need to be able to pay them above and beyond what most NRL stars would get”

While many of the locals argue that The Sutherland Shire is in fact ‘God’s Country’ – it appears most NRL players would in fact rather live on the Gold Coast and play for a horribly underperforming Titans side.

“You can’t even find a bowl of pasta in this desolate monocultural abyss” said one of the Sharks Cheerleaders, Stacey.

“And all of the local kids are too busy huffing nangs and surfing to play professional football. That’s why we need to import them”

The current scandal has cast doubt over the Sharks’ maiden premiership in 2016, and questions remain as to whether they will have it stripped from them, Melbourne-style.