Storm directors challenge NRL in Victorian Supreme Court
Russell Gould, Neil Wilson From: Herald Sun May 14, 2010
Melbourne Storm chairman Rob Moodie Source: Herald Sun

FOUR independent Melbourne Storm directors today confirmed they have launched a Supreme Court challenge to the NRL penalties imposed on the club

A Supreme Court writ was lodged today by the directors, who argue that Storm was not afforded procedural fairness by the NRL as it determined the penalties.

The directors - Rob Moodie, Peter Maher, Gerry Ryan and Pertra Fawcett - will initially challenge the fairness of the process before later dealing with the specifics of the punishments against the Storm.

The club has been fined, lost its Premierships, plus have been stripped of all penalty points in matches this season.

Storm chairman Dr Rob Moodie said today that the NRL not dealt with the Storm in a fair manner.

"The NRL's decision-making process was not fair, impartial or transparent," Moodie said in a statement.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
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The Australian, 1 day agoEnd of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"The NRL also did not provide the club with an opportunity to obtain independent legal advice before imposing penalties or to argue about the appropriateness of the penalties."

Players regard the loss of the two premierships as devastating to their reputations, while the decision to strip Storm of all points for this season has drawn arguments from some other clubs' officials that it has distorted the competition and devalued the Premiership.

Moodie held a press briefing at lunchtime at the city offices of law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler.

The independent directors claim that NRL chief executive David Gallop acted outside his authority in imposing the penalties.

Gallop has declared his decision to strip Melbourne Storm of premierships would withstand any legal challenge.

Gallop last night took a swipe at Moodie, suggesting any legal action challenging the league's decision-making process could be a smokescreen.

Three weeks after Moodie said his club would accept the sanctions imposed for severe salary cap breaches he has, with three of the five other club directors - those not aligned with Storm's owners, News Limited - engaged legal counsel to investigate grounds for a challenge.

The four directors voted at a board meeting on Monday night to investigate their legal options.

It's believed the NRL reluctantly handed over guidelines outlining the powers available to the NRL in cases of salary cap breaches that the directors have presented to their legal counsel, Allan Meyers QC.

News has made it clear that any proceedings against the NRL will not have the company's support, or funding.

It left open the possibility of standing down the directors.

Spokesman Greg Baxter last night said News - publisher of the Herald Sun - would "review its position" on the directors should the legal action go ahead.

Gallop was unequivocal his decision and the process was within the NRL rules.

"The NRL acted at all times in accordance with the rules that govern the competition and the law," he said. "The club's practices could not be any more under the spotlight and if the threat of legal proceedings is an attempt to divert attention from that issue then it may have the opposite effect.

"There is no doubt that any proceedings could help to identify if any Storm directors were aware of the club's salary cap deception.

"It may also explain how that deception could have taken place without the knowledge of directors and in a way that led the board's chairman, Dr Rob Moodie, lodging statutory declarations that proved to be false.

"We will strongly defend all aspects of the decision in court if necessary."

News still supports Moodie as chairman and, while not responding directly to Gallop's outburst, Baxter said no one at Storm would be judged before the forensic investigation was completed.

"We have no reason to believe anyone on the board has done anything wrong," he said. "We'll support anyone who is straight. If we find out they are not, they will be held accountable."

THE hits keep coming for Storm - winger Anthony Quinn is expected to miss at least a month after surgery on his right thumb this week.