Anyway, he's not talking but he clearly believes the NRL's findings come from a witch-hunt, not an investigation. This is also the prevailing view at Manly, as the club readies itself for a legal battle. If you think the Sea Eagles are going to cop this, you are mistaken. They are incensed that their reputation is being trashed over what they believe are nothing more than "procedural" breaches of the cap, with "naivety" more at play than the more serious charge of "cheating" and "rorting" and all those other scandalous salary-cap verbs we've all been reaching for. There's even a suggestion that some of this is personal after Fulton went toe-to-toe in February last year with integrity unit boss Nick Weeks over head office's insistence that John Hopoate be sacked as Manly's SG Ball coach because of his alleged links with organised crime figures. On the flipside, the NRL remains more than comfortable with its findings from a five-month probe spawned out of Strike Force Nuralda's police investigation into match-fixing, which never came to anything. Those close to Fulton say he's more than comfortable with his position. Actually, they report he's furious with what's happening to the club's reputation and the way the NRL has handled the issue. But it's not his position to talk. At the age of 70, he is enjoying a quieter life.

In time, though, it would be constructive to hear Fulton's side of the story, if only to disconnect all the dots most people have been joining in the past few months. The easy assumption goes something like this: if any rules were broken at Manly, surely Bozo knew. Fulton's official title was "consultant" when Penn appointed him but he was always going to have greater influence than that. He is an Immortal, a legend of the club, a giant of the game. In an interview with this column in March last year, he opened up about some of the fundamental changes he made, headed by the crucial signing of Trent Barrett as coach after the board sacked Geoff Toovey (not Fulton, as others keep wrongly claiming). Equally important was sorting out the diabolical mess of the salary cap, a hangover from the previous administration that had forced halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran to sign with the Titans and Parramatta respectively. In those heady days when Fulton was working the angles, it was easy to draw comparisons with Mr Wolfe, the fixer-like character played by Harvey Keitel in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction. He just got it done. Fulton convinced Cherry-Evans to backflip ("It took some massaging and telling him what we were going to do") and went close to getting Foran to do the same ("Very close. We were as close as it gets") but he instead stayed at the Eels.

The other change that needed to be made was in the pack. Fulton understood the value of that more than anyone. In came Nate Myles, Martin Taupau, Lewis Brown, Apisai Koroisau, Darcy Lussick, Matt Parcell and Nathan Green. When Fulton became involved, Manly were in a dire position. "They were on the precipice," he said. This season, Barrett's side finished sixth. In October, Fulton said his work here was done and stood down. The salary-cap investigation was well under way by then, and his decision prompted the cynics to think he had something to hide. Because he was no longer an employee of the club, the NRL could not give him a show-cause notice, as it has this week, with former chief executive Joe Kelly and chief operating officer Neil Bare. What isn't commonly known is that Fulton had told NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg as far back as August that his time at Manly was coming to an end.

As for the investigation, Fulton handed over his mobile phone but not his laptop as some have claimed – because he doesn't have one. He was never formally interviewed. Like many people, I respect Fulton enormously. You get off the phone to him knowing more about the game than you did when you called him. He might not care what people think about him, but in time and perhaps after the legal wrangling between the NRL and the Sea Eagles concludes, let's hope he steps forward and puts everyone's mind at ease. Bluntly, of course. DON'T BLAME BRENDA

Manly officials and players are furious lawyer Brenda Duchen has been dragged into the salary-cap imbroglio, with some describing her as a "godmother" to the players. Duchen made above-board payments to a handful of players. There has been no wrongdoing on her behalf. Much to her and the club's bewilderment, her deals were cleared and registered by the NRL. Since her name has been out there it hasn't been difficult to learn more through the wonders of social media. Her Twitter profile reads: "Sports junkie and above all fanatical Manly supporter. Cavs 76ers & Jason Day & Tiger too. Then there are my 8 angels." We're assuming she's talking about her grandkids, not her favourite players. Duchen was certainly well known to many league reporters before this week because she hasn't been afraid to ask them pointy questions on occasion over footy matters. DIPLOMATIC DIB

Bulldogs chairman Ray Dib came face to face this week with some of the people trying to oust him at February's board elections, including former winger and coach Chris Anderson, at a function for life members at Belmore Sportsground. Typical of the man, Dib walked straight up to Anderson and shook his hand. Dib faces a challenge from a ticket that includes Anderson, his wife Lynne and former captain Steve Price – although we're told the chairman isn't shaking in his Hush Puppies about the election result just yet. We're told the $2.4 million legal dispute with former coach Des Hasler, who was sacked at the end of the season, is unlikely to be completed until after the elections. Meanwhile, we're also told Hasler's replacement, Dean Pay, is putting his side through their toughest pre-season in years. His instruction: "Run, run, run, run ..." OVER TO YOU, MADGE

"I came in here looking to blow up, but to be truthfully honest I don't think that's going to do anything anyway. They'll just hunt me up for a fine or something or other that usually happens in this situation." So said former Souths coach Michael Maguire on April 22 after his side lost to the Broncos following two controversial refereeing calls. On Thursday, the NRL announced that Maguire was its new high-performance coach for refs. We wonder if he will be so open to the criticism he was prepared to dish out as a coach. Atop his agenda should be the play-the-ball, which degenerated even further during the World Cup to players staggering to one knee before rolling it between their legs. Does. My. Head. In.

THE QUOTE "Somebody poured a beer on his head walking out of the stadium or something. I told him that's pro football. They pay to get in. They can do whatever they want." — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says his defensive end, Quinton Jefferson, shouldn't have detonated as he did when bottles and beer were hurled at him in Jacksonville. THUMBS UP Jeff Horn defended his WBO welterweight title with an 11th-round stoppage of Gary Corcoran in BrisVegas on Wednesday night, setting up a potential bout with Terence Crawford in Las Vegas in April. Crawford, considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, is expected to win but the more we see of Horn the more he resurrects Australian boxing. THUMBS DOWN