The Melbourne Storm have qualified for Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) grand final, but the team has been hit with a record fine for criticizing the league over captain Cameron Smith’s suspension.
On Friday, the defending champion Storm beat the Cronulla Sharks 28-0. They’ll play the winner of yesterday’s other preliminary final between the Manly Sea Eagles and the New Zealand Warriors in next Sunday’s grand final in Sydney.
Smith was suspended for two matches — ruling him out of the grand final — for an illegal tackle on Brisbane forward Sam Thaiday in last week’s semi-final win over the Broncos.
The NRL yesterday imposed a A$50,000 (US$41,400) fine on the Storm for comments made by coach Craig Bellamy and chief executive Brian Waldron over Smith’s suspension.
After Friday’s win, Bellamy criticized the league and media, and also intimated that betting on whether Smith would be suspended was heavily in favor of him being found guilty, and that it may have influenced the league judiciary.
“The other thing that was very smelly about the whole lot was when I saw in the paper on Wednesday morning and there’s a betting market — A$1.18 he’s going to be found guilty, A$4.25 he’ll be found innocent,” Bellamy said. “That’s a fair spread in a two-horse race.”
NRL chief executive David Gallop described the remarks by Bellamy and Waldron as “an unprecedented premeditated attack on the NRL and its judiciary system.”
“The accusations that they made were irrational, baseless and at times bordered on hysterical,” Gallop said. “Those accusations attack the integrity of the NRL and its judiciary system and for that reason on Monday they will receive a breach notice for the sum of US$50,000.”
The fine is an NRL record amount handed out to a club for commenting on the game.
Smith was suspended for a so-called “grapple” tackle, which the Storm has been accused throughout the season of using on opposition players. The high tackle targets the shoulders and head and critics say it can result in serious injury.
Waldron was critical of the system which allowed Sharks coach Ricky Stuart to make comments about Smith’s tackle, saying he was adamant those words influenced the judiciary.
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