By the NRL’s own admission, the total number and dollar amounts of such deals across the game is overstated and falling. Given only few clubs and players benefit – they are reserved primarily for the game’s representative elite – questions must be raised about persisting with a system that is rife for manipulation. Loading The Sharks situation must be put into its proper context. It has been suggested that, based on the information at hand to date, the club self-reported after coming across an undisclosed deal believed to be worth about $50,000. To compare this with the rorting on an industrial scale at Melbourne and Parramatta – or even Manly for that matter – is to overstate the situation. Whether the NRL uncovers other “discrepancies” from the tens of thousands of documents it is currently poring over remains to be seen. Regardless, the latest incident should cast a light on a murky area that is proving impossible to properly regulate. When the NRL and the union signed off on the latest CBA, the deal effectively put to bed plans to shake up TPAs. Instead, a handful of club CEOs were tasked with undertaking a review into the contentious tops-ups.

That work will be presented to the governing body in the weeks to come, but no major changes are expected. Certainly, the union doesn’t want to abolish a system that has provided 198 of its most marketable members additional income of $9.6 million in 2017. Biding his time: NRL CEO Todd Greenberg is awaiting a review into the TPA system. Credit:Brendon Thorne However, those payments not only undo the equalisation work of the salary cap, it is increasingly obvious that unscrupulous officials and agents continue to look at ways to bypass it altogether. “We have said a number of times this year ... that we will re-look at third-party agreements and how they are being shaped in the game,” NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said on Wednesday. “What I can tell you is they are being scaled down, the number of third-party agreements being registered year on year.”

It’s believed the total worth of TPAs registered over the past 12 months has fallen about $1.4 million. However, the belief in club land is that the number of deals not registered at Rugby League Central, those negotiated in the shadows, is on the rise. Loading The game is currently undergoing a case study in the prosecution of the latter. Manly was pinged for illegally paying players $1.5 million over five years. The club, in its defence before the appeals tribunal, has taken a very technical approach. It boils down to the eternal question: What exactly constitutes an arm’s-length arrangement? While the NRL’s decision is expected to be upheld, it is an issue that has been vexing former High Court Justice Ian Callinan QC for several months. Even some of the men negotiating TPAs – there are five different types of them – privately admit they are not au fait with exactly how the rules work. “I think TPAs have an ability for some of our marquee players to earn additional incomes outside their contracts and I support that,” Greenberg said.

“In fact, I encourage that where players use the ability of their own brand and their profile in the game to earn extra income. That is a good thing. “What I don’t want is it used as leverage in a negotiation with a player and a club. That negotiation with the club should be wholly and solely about the fee he is paid inside his salary cap.” Gallen made a fair point about the TPA advantage the Storm enjoyed during their decade of dominance. Now we wait to see whether the Sharks had a little extra assistance during their own title win.