Does the punishment fit the crime?

This debate is now closed.

The Bulldogs admitted on Monday that they had breached the league's $3.25m salary cap by $600,000 in 2001 and $400,000 this season.

The team have now been docked all 37 points they earned from 18 wins and a draw from 21 games so far this season, retaining four points awarded from two byes.

The punishment leaves them bottom of the table with just three games of the regular season remaining.

Have the Bulldogs been treated fairly?

I have recently moved out to Sydney, and can't believe the press coverage this is receiving out here. To put this in perspective, the salary cap is AUD$3.25M per annum, this equates to about �1.3m, this is not sufficient to pay one top football (soccer) players wage in the UK - how is this right ?
John (ex-pat), Australia

The Bulldogs got an unfair advantage that must be punished with more than money. However, had the dogs been exposed earlier in the season, they would have been punished less points deducted for the same crime and maybe had time to get back into the top eight.

A team should not be punished more or less depending when in the season they are exposed. There should be a set criteria, whenever it is brought to light, much as the judicial system in Australia for player indiscretions. A consistent punishment, say, based on the dollars the cap was exceeded by would be better.
Raymond, NZ

It's not a rule I'm keen on, but while in place, has to be abided by. The punishment is incredibly severe, but justified as they have had an advantage over other sides in every match (assuming no other clubs are guilty).
Mark, England

I think the decision taken penalises too many people besides the Bulldogs to be fair. Whatever team wins now will have their victory tainted.

I would rather have seen the Bulldogs asked to stand down a couple of more expensive paid players and asked to bring in a couple of lower paid, so that the squad is within the cap for the remainder of the season.

The Bulldogs broke the law. There's really not much more to it - you break the law, you pay.

But for the sake of discussion, I'm not entirely happy with the salary cap system either. Even though I like the idea of a level playing field, I think homegrown stars (e.g. Raiders' Ricky Stuart and Bradley Clyde) shouldn't have to leave their home team for financial reasons.

Maybe if the salary cap didn't apply to home grown talent, the likes of Sailor and Tuquiri wouldn't have to switch codes or teams for that matter. This sort of system would make sure that wealthy teams wouldn't be able to buy too much 'foreign' talent but at the same time it would be rewarding them for successfully growing their own.
Adrian Hathorn, Australia

Although Canterbury have broken the rules and deserve to be punished, the whole idea of a salary cap is a ridiculous one and should be scrapped immediately.

Clubs should be allowed to spend as much as they like and should be made to sink or swim by their decisions and the artificial competition created by the salary cap is as bad as no competition at all.
Gavin Upex, England

Forget the issues over a salary cap or even an argument that everyone else is doing it - the rules have been breached - everyone else may well be doing 110 in a 100kph zone but the Dogs were doing 200 in a stolen car! The punishment fits the crime plain and simple!
John, New Zealand

The punishment fits the wilful, flagrant breach of the salary cap for not one, but two seasons. Bulldog fans have to stop crying and accept the fact that their clubs' management intentionally flouted the rules and got caught. There is no way the Bulldogs could have kept their comp points and taken part in the play-offs.
David Meredith, U.S.A.

You can argue till the cows come home about what should be done or not, but I think what we need to do is applaud the Bulldogs for having done so well, and show us next year that this wasn't all a fluke.
John, Australia

The penalties incurred by the Bulldogs may seem excessive, but surely that is better than an ineffectual slap on the wrist. You need only make a comparison with soccer where millionaire players and rich clubs are given fines of only a few thousand pounds for their misdeeds.

Rightly or wrongly, the salary cap is in place and the point of having such a rule is that everyone should abide by it. After this week it seems unlikely that other NRL clubs will dare to breach the salary limit.
Andy, Ireland

Whether the salary cap is a restraint of trade or a system which should be scrapped is not the issue. The issue is the rules have been broken, and other clubs who have played by the rules have been adversely affected by the actions of the Bulldogs administration.

One last point - the only reason the Bulldogs are on top of the competition is because they have a strong squad of fantastic players. If they had played by the rules, they definitely would not have had such a strong squad.
Tom, UK

The fine will make no difference. The Bulldogs have rich backers. All this saga has done is to show just how unworkable the salary cap is. If it was ever challenged in a court of law it would be thrown out as restraint of trade.
Mark, Spain

I don't think people realise that we are not the only club doing it...just stupid enough to get caught. There needs to be a full review of all club's books in order to start afresh for season 2003.

It has wrecked our season but I hope that the players stick together and show everyone next year that the success we had was not down to money, rather great examples of how rugby league should be played.
Adam Prince, Australia

Congratulations to the NRL... rules are supposed to be adhered to and if they are broken, the penalty should fit the crime. Perhaps Fifa should take a lesson, and stop their nonsensical fines policy such as the one given to Rivaldo at the World Cup.... do you think that will stop him doing the same thing in future?
Ken, Romania

The whole idea of a salary cap is ludicrous. League will loose more and more of its star players to union and the standard of the game will head into terminal decline as a result.

The best players will also have to play for different clubs as more than one or two players at one club will ensure the salary cap is exceeded. This will prevent the best players from developing because they will not learn each other's skills or push each other's standards. I applaud the Bulldogs stance; this is a very sad day for rugby league.
Michael Theaker, England

Dave Morgan hits the nail on the head. If the competition has rules you must abide by them whether you agree with them or not. To therefore calculate to break the rules and to conceal it is deserving of punishment.
Gareth Shepherd, UK

First off, the players signed a contract with the club, so they would not have known what each other gets (it's nearly taboo to ask or know).

Before people trash the reputations of the players, learn the facts. People know only a small part of the story, and I do not think anyone in England knows even 10% of the whole story which has been in the media here for the past week.
Jimmy Simms, Sydney, Australia

The NRL has set an ugly precendent here. They now MUST audit all clubs. Knowing the way rugby league players are paid in Australia, and if the NRL are consistent in their approach, there is grave danger of this season being cancelled.

Good luck NRL and RL in general, because of these rash actions you will certainly need it.
Andrew, Scotland

I have every respect for the NRL's bold decision - no one can accuse the Bulldogs of unfairly gaining advantage this season from their breach of the rules.

They cannot retro-actively make amends for the transgression in the previous year's salary cap by the Bulldogs, but they have certainly shown the world that they can make tough decisions (as they did a few years back in cutting the famous Souths club, and Balmain, etc) They have defended the integrity of the sport, but also thrust the spotlight of controversy back onto the game of rugby league. But at least they are setting an example to other clubs that the game must be run properly by all in team management.

The Bulldogs are a proud club and the players and fans must be dejected. We risk losing players to union if we enforce these rules too harshly. Could they not have imposed a stricter cap on the Bulldogs for the next two years, to make up for the last two year's transgressions?

What bothers me is that if the Bulldogs can afford it, and it's bringing them success and it is not placing them in financial dire straits, then surely they should allow clubs to be treated individually as per their balance sheets?
Dave Morgan, UK

Unfair for the fans ... yes, but unfair for the players...c'mon! These guys were gladly accepting underhanded payments all along and know full well that it was in order to dodge the salary cap.

I do feel the penalty is a bit harsh and should be a suspended penalty pending a thorough investigation and audit of ALL of the clubs finances as I'm sure they aren't alone. In fact I reckon the rugby league is in full knowledge of salary cap breaches and to an extent encourages it.

The only reason the Bulldogs were punished like this is because after the media uncovering it, the league had to make an example of someone. Rugby league has been a game in crisis for sometime now...
Greg, Singapore

Bang out of order - who's to say the Dogs are the only ones? This is just going to lead to finger pointing. The salary cap is too low anyway - the only reason Sailor & Tuqiri left is because the richer league clubs aren't allowed to spend more than their poorer union rivals.

Canterbury have been the best side this year, almost all their players have come through their junior ranks, they should be put in the eighth spot & fight it out from there.
Cas Vegas, UK

I'm impressed at the NRL for making ANY decision so quickly! Even an 'imperfect' decision is better than endless waiting and wondering.

The whole league can now get on with playing, everyone knowing where they stand once more - though I'm fearful that the final three Bulldogs games might now be non-events.
Ian Patterson, New Zealand

I didn't think they'd go that far, but at least they can still compete in the comp. This has been swamping all other sports stories down under, from what I've heard, it's not over yet. The shame is that they have punished the players as well as the people responsible, and a better club rugby team you will not find anywhere in the world.
Daniel, England

This is so unfair - the players and fans are being punished for the 'failure' of management. Just because the cap was being breached does not mean the players did not still give 100% each weekend. The question is did it give them an unfair advantage over other teams who are operating within the cap? If so, the yes, fine them, deduct points but this could ruin the club - it's far too harsh.
Mike Burgin, England

I have the greatest sympathy for the fans, and the players, but none at all for the club's managers. The worst of it is that the club as a body will be fined (which may be partly picked up by the fans in membership fees), the players will be paid a great deal less next year (to make up the remainder), and the management will probably come out of this crisis financially intact.

There was always going to be one club to seriously test the boundaries of salary-capping, but it's a shame to see the least guilty suffer the most.
Sophie, Australia (originally UK)