Manly’s alleged cap breach 'as blatant as it gets'

Details of alleged salary cap breaches by the Manly Sea Eagles have been revealed by News Corp journalist Paul Kent, after the club stated they disagree with several NRL findings regarding the issue.

Speaking on NRL 360, Kent described the alleged breaches as "blatant", explaining how the club would allegedly register some player contracts with the NRL for a different amount to what they would actually pay them.

"The NRL have uncovered evidence whereby, allegedly, Manly have been signing players to contracts, for example they sign you for $150,000 and yet they register the contract at the NRL for $100,000," Kent told NRL 360.

"Which is as blatant as it gets when it comes to cheating."

However Kent also stated that the alleged breaches were less significant than those committed by Parramatta in previous seasons, considering they had less of an impact on roster creation.

"It's not a lot of money, it's significantly less money than Parramatta, because it's spread over five years," Kent said.

"Parramatta were able to get players in and really significantly boost their roster in a quick hit, whereas Manly's (salary cap breach) has been a slow feed over five years."

Meanwhile, Manly have vowed to defend themselves against the allegations of salary cap breaches over the last five years.

The Sea Eagles are facing a hefty punishment after they were on Monday issued with a breach notice by the NRL.

The club has five days to respond to the NRL integrity unit's findings but says it disagrees with Rugby League Central's allegations contained within the breach notice.

"Based on our legal team's preliminary review, there is disagreement with several of the NRL findings," CEO Lyall Gorman said in a club statement.

"And consistent with our rights under the NRL rules and regulations, have commenced a path of legal review and response.

"As we have consistently stated, if there are historical compliance issues, we will work both internally and with the NRL to identify those issues and remedy them.

"There is a significant amount of material to work through, based on the documentation handed to us today and the club will be defending those matters through the appropriate channels."

The club has five days to respond but said it was planning to ask for an extension.

If the allegations are proven, the Sea Eagles are facing a "significant fine".

Two current club officials have been handed show-cause notices and are facing being deregistered.

They will also be forced to operate under an adjusted salary cap in 2018.

According to the breach notice, the Sea Eagles promised player payments outside the salary cap and the club could be forced to include those payments in next year's salary cap.

They were in the running to sign halves Trent Hodkinson and Todd Carney but any salary cap penalty would rule them out of pursuing the players.

With AAP