Melbourne Storm insist they are not cheating the salary cap again in wake of Cam Munster’s payday

Melbourne have affirmed their salary cap is in good stead amidst a mammoth effort to extend Storm star Cameron Munster, who chose to stay despite a mouth-watering Dolphins offer which would’ve made him the games highest-ever paid player.

Following weeks of trade suspicion, the Queensland no.6 stopped speculation when signing with Melbourne on a four-year $4million deal, $1.6million less than Wayne Bennett was prepared to pay for Munster.

Cameron Munster was on track to become the NRL’s highest paid player – but chose to stay loyal to Melbourne on an extended four-year $4million deal

The Storm have since rejoiced after the 28-year-old inked his ongoing tenure, but club officials now face cries of a salary scandal once again, in order to keep their man.

Melbourne were infamously stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships after the NRL integrity unit found the club worked with two sets of books to cover up salary breaches of $1.7million over five years. 

Melbourne Storm player Greg Inglis (C) leaves court with Brian Waldron (R), Melbourne CEO, when he faced charges over allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in 2009, the year their premiership was stripped

The club was fined $500,000 and forced to repay $1.1million in prizemoney which was distributed to the 15 other competition sides. 

Storm Chairman Matt Tripp defended the club, saying all processes to retain Munster were by the book. 

‘First of all, everything we’ve done in terms of getting Cameron on board is cap-related and 100 per cent above board,’ Tripp told Newscorp. 

‘The last thing I want to do is cause any drama by having our club, given what we’ve been through, dragged through the mud again. We just don’t operate that way.

There are always going to be rumours and innuendo and rubbish thrown at us, particularly from those that miss out on players like Cameron.

We still have plenty of firepower in our salary cap to make sure we bring in more quality players.’

Storm coach Craig Bellamy addresses the media with a prepared statement after finding out about Melbourne’s salary cap breaches 

At $5.6million over four-years, Munster’s proposed deal at the Dolphins would’ve blown out big coin players James Tedesco, Ben Hunt, Kalyn Ponga and Nathan Cleary.

Before Munster begins his $41666 per game season, he will take on the no.7 jersey for Australia at the world cup – an odd jersey shake-up that has caused stir among personalities like Matty Johns. 

Storm CEO Matt Tripp says Melbourne did everything by the book to retain Cam Munster’s signature

Nathan Cleary remains the NRL top boy, cashing in a monster $1.3million per season – but Munster’s new deal adds another roster query to the Dolphins list.

Melbourne were so undecided about Munster’s mind, they wrote two statements for press conferences, prepared for his exit or re-signing. 

Sean O’Sullivan and Anthony Milford will line-up as the Dolphins first string halves, while the recent signature of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow brings a flare to their backline. 

Munster takes part in a gym session whilst preparing for the Rugby League World Cup in England

Tripp believes Munster’s decision to stay South could inspire a new motivation for coach Craig Bellamy, who has been tipped to leave Melbourne at the end of 2023.

Bellamy steered the ship when the Storm were barraged with salary penalties, and says he was completely unaware of the club’s misconduct. 

At the time, Melbourne fielded a cracking outfit with Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.