Pascoe sanctioned by the NRL

[Coastie_Tiger]

I agree with Nelson on this one, NRL trying to save face here and make it not worth our time and energy to challenge them. Personally i still would stick it up them get Bryden's attacking these idiots at the NRL Beattie & Greenburg need to be put in their place but im stubborn we may well be just happy to get on with things Pascoe is probably still running things in an encrypted messaging app anyway :sweat_smile:

 

[The_Patriot]

Accept the Pascoe 6 month ban, its a good result. Not worth challenging.

We should fight the salary cap fine however.

No way we should have to play two season with 300k less than everyone else. Not for a techicality.

 

[Geo]

OK, facetiousness aside now, the general consensus is that the NRL has met us halfway and judging by the reactions most of us feel that the reduced penalties are fair. Why wouldn’t you put on a front to force the NRL to reduce the penalties?

I don't believe it is fair is why…the NRL want to appear to be tough and in control..is that like half way pregnant..we either deliberately did the wrong thing or we didn't if we didn't why cop anything...the Club itself through the Court option out there from the beginning...If they just roll over and accept half a fine big whoop..

 

[WT2K]

Get the signs ready!

 

[NT_Tiger]

Didn't Marina Go say that she would clarify the whole situation after it was over? I cant remember where but I thought she said that. If the Wests Tigers administration make comment today we might get closer to the inside picture.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Well it can be a little from column A and B. We could have done the wrong thing, but it wasn't deliberate? Especially when no advantage is gained.

 

[steve-o]

That’s a reasonable outcome. Personally I would’ve preferred to take the cap hit all in one year and just be done with it, but a $320k cap hit per year isn’t too bad.
Additionally, it’d be nice to have Pascoe back now as opposed to June… hopefully he keeps his distance and doesn’t make contact with the club like Flanagan did at the sharks

 

[the_third]

Well I’m really happy I was told the wrong thing 👍

 

[Nelson]

I don’t believe it is fair is why…the NRL want to appear to be tough and in control…is that like half way pregnant…we either deliberately did the wrong thing or we didn’t if we didn’t why cop anything…the Club itself through the Court option out there from the beginning…If they just roll over and accept half a fine big whoop…

Yeah I don't think the NRL would like the idea of being taken to court. I think they probably recognise that they made an aberrant and stupid decision but they were never going to come out and effectively admit that by drastically reducing all penalties or scrapping them outright. They made their little compromise move which allows them to save face and put the hard decision back on our club.
I wouldn't lightly make the decision to take them to court now. We're less likely to get a favourable outcome given the reduced penalties, there is less utility in the process and we know that by taking them to court we will make enemies of them. The last point should not be overlooked. There is no guarantee that there will be any change in administration in the near future and we could bring down some pretty petty and vengeful acts on ourselves by taking them to court.

 

[NT_Tiger]

I think that is a useful observation Nelson. We all seem to agree that the NRL is capable of random acts of pettiness against non-favoured clubs. Do we want to be in their sights for the foreseeable future?

 

[jadtiger]

The usual pile of manure from the NRL we get treated worse for an oversight which didnt happen (unsigned contract) compared to cheating by the sharks which did happen.
Take them to court and get a real fair decision based on facts instead of one from the priveliged boys club that is the NRL

 

[gallagher]

Didn’t Marina Go say that she would clarify the whole situation after it was over? I cant remember where but I thought she said that. If the Wests Tigers administration make comment today we might get closer to the inside picture.

She said she read going to respond to the misinformation being said about our club. Im expecting a very bland statement from the club.

 

[cqtiger]

Ok, as I see it - there was a contract offered to Farah signed by Pascoe but unsigned by Farah for a role after footy.

The NRL, via the Integrity Unit, saw this as an undisclosed incentive.

Other clubs have gotten away with similar deals because they have discussed them with the NRL to get approval - which we did not. Hence why we received penalties for undisclosed monies which should have been included in the cap at the time.

Also why Pascoe was deregistered - because he signed the contract and offered it to Farah. If we had of discussed this offer to Farah with the NRL before drawing up and signing it everything may have been OK. The NRL may have allowed it or they may have advised against it.

I’m sure Pascoe will learn from this.

 

[Fraze23]

I'm still not satisfied with that outcome. I think the reduction is the NRL's way of saying yep the Tigers will just cop that and roll over. I think the 640K salary cap fine is over the top along with the de-registration of Pascoe for 6 months as well.

When compared to other salary cap penalties I don't think it can come down as either consistent or fair giving the nature of our alleged breach was involving one player who had left the club and other clubs has involved multiple players over multiple seasons.

The club should take them on. The NRL can't enforce harsher sanctions than what they have already. If they believe they're in the right and are innocent then by all means I hope we stand up to them.

If the club comes out and accepts the sanctions, then there must be more to the case and we may be more to blame than what has been lead on.

 

[mike]

Woodsy your back?

 

[Tiger2135]

I still don't get it.
An undisclosed incentive - to play for Souths - not us.
Shouldn't the cap fine go to Souths.
There was no benefit to us.

 

[jadtiger]

By reducing the fine i feel the NRL are hoping we will feel it is not worth pursuing in court to get a fair and just result.It did not take long for Toddles to display what he meant by not being consistent the sharks have been treated far more leniently for systemic cheating.

 

[Guest]

Makes you wonder how things would turn out if we took these peanuts to court.

 

[TheDaBoss]


 

[Geo]

**Released: Monday, March 1, 2019**

**Wests Tigers Statement**

Wests Tigers have today accepted the sanctions handed down by the NRL in relation to the Ambassador agreement.

The club accept that it made an error in not declaring the agreement as part of the salary cap. While maintaining that it was not its intention to breach the salary cap, the club has confirmed the agreement should have been declared.

Wests Tigers has been fined $375,000 (with a further $375,000 suspended) and a salary cap penalty of $639,800 will be applied to the Wests Tigers over 2019 and 2020, meaning the club will lose $319,900 of its cap each year.

In addition, Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe has been suspended for six months, backdated to December 19, 2018.

The Board of Wests Tigers has accepted these final actions and said that the club looked forward to moving on from this issue with the start of the 2019 season just two weeks away.

“Our initial instinct that the club had not breached the cap was not correct after assessing all of the compiled evidence alongside the NRL rules. We now accept that we should have declared the Ambassador agreement as part of the salary cap.

“We apologise to the NRL for our initial response.

“We look forward to welcoming back our CEO Justin Pascoe in June and would like to acknowledge the strain this has placed on him and his family. Their wellbeing has been a priority throughout this process, and we will continue to provide them with the necessary support.

“We’d also like to take this chance to thank all of our Corporate Partners, Members, fans and sections of the media for the overwhelming support, both public and private, that we have received through this period. Wests Tigers is an extremely proud and united club and we are all very confident that we can put this matter behind us and have a successful season in 2019.”

Source..Members email