Insight tackles NRL scandal

Next week Insight will throw down the gauntlet to other NRL shows, with a live to air forum discussing the Melbourne Storm scandal. Guests will include Ex-South Sydney coach Jason Taylor, Ex- Melbourne Storm player Clint Newton, and a Melbourne Storm sponsor.

Rugby league has been hammered by scandal yet again.

But this time it’s not a sex scandal.

This time it’s about money, and cheating to win.

Amid reports of dodgy deals and secret bookkeeping, the game’s fans are being given more than a hint of just how complicated the links are between the sport, the media covering it, and the people running the game.

And it’s getting ugly.

Allegations have been made about “rats in the ranks” and the finger has been pointed at former Storm boss Brian Waldron as the “chief rat.”

Waldron has hit back, calling for independent inquiry, with full disclosure from everyone connected to the running of the club.

Questions are being asked about who knew what about the breaches, how the cheating was able to continue undetected for years, whether other clubs are also flouting the salary cap, and if the National Rugby League’s penalty against the Storm will damage the entire 2010 season.

Can News Limited afford to let the Storm fold and lose a rugby league presence in Melbourne? If there is an open inquiry into the rorting, can the game handle the truth?

This week a special INSIGHT will bring together fans along with key figures from across rugby league and other football codes, to discuss the real story behind the cheating at the Melbourne Storm, and what it means for the business of sport in Australia.

Guests will include: Ex-South Sydney coach Jason Taylor, Ex- Melbourne Storm player Clint Newton, and a Melbourne Storm sponsor.

It airs 7:30pm Tuesday on SBS ONE.