The biggest news since Super League ruined the sport.

Wow!

Just, wow!

Rugby League really did produce one of those 'where were you when' moments. I remember where I was on April 22, when I found out Melbourne Storm had broken the salary cap and had been stripped of both NRL Premierships and Minor Premierships since 2006. I was being my typical student self. having just woke up, I switched on my laptop, accessed the News Now website and thought I had woken up on April 1.

I don't think there has been a punishment like it, and highly doubt there ever will be another like it. This was truly a once in a lifetime moment for rugby league fans in both Australia and across the world. On top of the stripped titles, the club will pay back $1.1million of prize money to be distributed between the 15 remaining clubs, and be fined $500,000.

To summarise, under the leadership of then chief executive Brian Waldron, Melbourne Storm operated their salary cap with two sets of books. One to show the cap invigilators, the other to show the real accounts for the club's finances. Once Waldron jumped ship to the new rugby union franchise in Melbourne, the new owners responsible for the running of the club blew the whistle and came clean. From what information was released, the club have over spent on the salary cap for the past five seasons, including a $400,000 breach in 2009, and a projected $700,000 breach for this season.

By all accounts it was a clever system, designed so that there was no possible way the NRL could discover it by themselves. It is also believed to the the brainchild of Waldron, and that none of the players in the past five years knew anything about it.

So where do we begin to dissect the news here?

Lets start with the punishment. Was it justified? Yes, it was. Is it fair on the players and fans? No, not at all.

The reason its justified is that as a club they cheated. Not everyone in the club was aware of the wrong doings, but the senior figures did, and as a result the club has been punished. However, it is deeply unfair on the players, who are only going to take whatever lucrative deal was offered to them individually. As a team and a group of mates, you do not talk about what each player is earning. Deep down you may know you aren't earning as much as the guy next to you, but it is never talked about. You get on with the job of succeeding on the field and playing well.

As for the fans, well they have been cheated. They have been royally screwed over by the club many of them have supported since 1998. The small consolation is, and this goes for the players too, David Gallop can never take away those feeling of joy that were being expressed on September 30, 2007 and on October 4, 2009. Whilst in hindsight those memories may now be tarnished, the thoughts back to that day will still live in the memories of players and fans alike.