Eels’ salary cap dramas drag on

Parramatta’s ongoing salary cap dramas are set to continue with fresh allegations of impropriety and fears deregistered officials are considering appealing against their ban from the NRL.

Just 24 hours after the NRL handed down its final decision on the Eels’ cap saga fresh allegations of the extent of the rorting involved at Parramatta were revealed.

Fairfax Media reported on Sunday that Eels employee Peter Nolan handed over cash to star playmaker Corey Norman in a western Sydney car park, when the current Brisbane recruitment official was at Parramatta.

According to a sworn statement provided by former Eels boss Scott Seward to the NRL and obtained by Fairfax Media, Seward wrote: “Corey Norman was promised additional payments of $36,000 which was to cover rental payments of approximately $3000 per month.

“On one occasion I recall Nolan telling me that he handed Norman a cash payment in the car park at Top Ryde. I recall Nolan saying words to the effect: `that’s what this is for. I handed money over to Corey Norman in the Car Park at Top Ryde. I remember saying to him [Norman] mate, did you ever think we’d get here and have to do this?'”

The new allegations come a day after the club was officially stripped of 12 competition points and fined $1 million for salary cap rorting.

And the saga will also continue to be fuelled should the ‘Gang of Five’ fight for their jobs.

The five Eels officials deregistered by the game on Saturday are considering whether to protest their bans, while the club have also left the door open to appeal the punishment.

“The club will review carefully all documents provided by the NRL in the coming days before issuing any public response,” the Eels said in a statement.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said the five deregistered officials – chairman Steve Sharp, deputy chairman Tom Issa, director Peter Serrao, chief executive John Boulous and football manager Daniel Anderson – and the Parramatta club had one more avenue to challenge Saturday’s decision.

“There is a final appeals process in the NRL rules if they determine to do that and that’s the only decision they can make,” Greenberg said.

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