Storm chairman Matt Tripp has hit back at “rumours and innuendo” regarding the club’s salary cap after gun playmaker Cameron Munster re-signed.
The 28-year-old rejected the Dolphins’ four-year $5.6 million offer to re-sign with the Storm on a four-year $4 million-dollar deal.
Munster turned down becoming the highest-paid player in the game and stood to earn $300,000 more per-season to link up with Wayne Bennett.
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The Storm were stripped of two premierships for salary cap breaches in the past, and Tripp insisted Munster’s re-signing was “100 per cent above board”.
“First of all, everything we have done in terms of getting Cameron on board is cap-related and 100 per cent above board,” Tripp said to The Daily Telegraph.
“I can’t be any clearer than that.
“The last thing I want to do is cause any drama by having our club, given what we have been through, dragged through the mud again. We just don’t operate that way.
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“There are always going to rumours and innuendo and rubbish thrown at us, particularly from those that miss out on players like Cameron.
“I know where those rumours would be coming from. But that’s all they are – rubbish and rumours.”
Melbourne have now managed to keep their star-studded spine of Munster, Jahrome Hughes, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant together for years to come.
Meanwhile, Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins have turned their attention elsewhere and are hoping to secure on of Parramatta’s superstars.
Both Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown are off-contract at the end of next-season and are set to test their worth on the open market come November 1.
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Dolphins boss Terry Reader confirmed to The Telegraph that the franchise is in the market for either Brown or Moses if the Eels haven’t re-signed them by November 1.
“We are certainly in the market and nothing changes in that regard. We will continue what we are doing and making sure we sign players that we believe will be a good fit for our team,” he said.
“Now that we have clarity on Cameron Munster, we will continue negotiations with other players and their managers.”
Moses is also reportedly a target of the Bulldogs who are set to have a $7 million war chest to throw at marquee players.
