The Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal remains ongoing as a new appeal is in place to be lodged to re-examine the handling of the situation and penalties handed to the club, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
Former Melbourne chairman Rob Moodie and ex-Storm director Peter Maher are leading the appeal to the current NRL administration a decade on from the controversies.
The appeal has risen following legal advice that suggested the league did not coordinate with its own rules, with the request not denying the club cheated the salary cap but requiring an examination into the extent of the penalties.
The punishments handed to the Storm are seen as far more straining on the club than the penalties handed to the Eels and Sharks for their respective salary cap scandals.
It is understood that Moodie was notified two years ago that the NRL did not follow its own rules in handing the Storm a breach notice and allowing the club five days to submit written statements.
Instead for Melbourne, the breach notice, charges and handing down of the sanction was done in "an afternoon's work", according to sports lawyer Darren Kane.
Storm veteran Cameron Smith and former NRL boss David Gallop exchanged blows this week following comments made in the Melbourne captain's autobiography The Storm Within.
“When people ask me who I’m most angry with for what happened they generally think I’ll say (CEO) Brian Waldron but it’s not... My anger is mainly directed at the NRL for the penalties they handed down and the way the whole matter was handled. And for that I blame David Gallop,” Smith wrote, per The Courier Mail.
“By punishing us before undertaking a thorough investigation Gallop put the players in a position they should never have been in. It allowed the media to give the public the idea we had knowledge of what happened. We were hung out to dry by the boss of the game.”
Gallop denied the claims made by Smith in a column with The Daily Telegraph, stating the accusations were "plain wrong" as he was “surprised to read Cameron’s opinion”.
Gallop further retorted saying Melbourne was “under investigation for months” and that “Moodie specifically asked for us to get it over and done with.”
According to the Herald, Moodie and Maher remain to be persistent with the appeal, with the backing of Storm co-owner Gerry Ryan, as the pair also hope to receive support from the club to progress.
