If the NRL's recent action against Gold Coast and Brisbane following salary cap investigations is a "line in the sand", Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy wants to know whether the 2010 tidal wave that swamped his club left a beach mark that has now been washed away.

In 2010, the Storm were stripped of the 2007 premiership for an alleged but disputed salary cap breach of $450,000; the Titans have had four premiership points suspended for a possible $300,000 breach.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy: "I am simply asking what would have been the sanctions against us if the procedures taken against the Titans and Broncos had been followed in our case." Credit:Getty Images

We can't be certain what the size of the Titans breach is because the NRL merely reported a fine of $300,000 ($75,000 suspended). In 2010, the NRL published the actual amounts by which the Storm exceeded the cap for each season.

Insofar as fines tend to equal an excess payment, we can only assume the Titans breach is $300,000. It could be more but the NRL, in keeping with releasing the information on a day the rugby league fan base was focused on Jarryd Hayne leaving for America and the NFL, did not divulge the size of the salary spillover.