The Sydney Roosters are facing an official sanction after an NRL audit found the club breached the 2024 salary cap by almost $40,000.
On a day when the NRL announced, in quick succession, multiple breaches, the Roosters and Melbourne Storm were both informed they have cases to answer for different matters.
Four high-profile agents were also suspended by the NRL.
In a statement, the NRL said the salary cap auditor “has found that Sydney Roosters spent $38,356 over the 2024 supplementary list and training-wage salary cap”. The breach was described as “at the lower end of the scale”.
The NRL salary cap for last season was $11.4 million, while allowances stretched it to $11.8 million.
Melbourne are facing a fine of $25,000 – half of which will be suspended for two years – for allegedly failing to follow “proper process around team selections on at least two separate occasions in 2025”.
The NRL said the breaches involved a player who was on a training contract.
Blore appeared in Downing Centre Local Court in October and received a six-month good behaviour bond, but no conviction was recorded.
After the court hearing, the Storm released a statement saying Blore had “fully cooperated with NSW Police throughout their investigation” and was “genuinely remorseful for his involvement in this incident”.
Due to the timing of Thursday’s announcements just before Christmas, the NRL said the Roosters and Storm would be granted “an extended opportunity” to respond to their breach notices, as would Blore.
Meanwhile, four high-profile player managers – Mario Tartak, Matt Desira, Nash Dawson and Chris Orr – have been suspended and fined by the NRL for alleged breaches of the rules for accredited agents.
The NRL issued breach notices to the quartet in June and on Thursday released a statement declaring it had “made a final determination” regarding sanctions.
Tartak, who manages Dragons co-captain Damien Cook, Parramatta winger Josh Addo-Carr and Manly enforcer Haumole Olakau’atu, among others, has been handed the most severe penalty – a 12-month ban and $25,000 fine.
The NRL alleges that Tartak “communicated with an underage player without a parent and/or legal guardian being present”.
Under current rules, player managers are not allowed to approach players before the year in which they turn 15. A parent or legal guardian must typically be present in any discussions with an agent until the age of 17.
The NRL also claims Tartak violated the rules when he “entered into a commercial arrangement with two NRL clubs”, which was regarded as a conflict of interest.
His sanction considered previous breaches, after which conditions were imposed to deter him from further transgressions.
Desira, whose company manages Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall, Gold Coast utility Jayden Campbell and Canterbury centre Bronson Xerri, was suspended for six months and fined $10,000.
The governing body said his sanction “relates to non-reporting and dishonesty following police charges and court proceedings which were brought against Mr Desira”.
Desira pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in May last year. No conviction was recorded after he was originally arrested at Kings Cross nightclub Sussudio.
Dawson and Orr have paid the price for a much-publicised “physical altercation” at last year’s Australian Secondary Schools Championships in Port Macquarie.
Dawson, whose clients include Reece Walsh, Ezra Mam and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, has been suspended for nine months and fined $15,000.
Orr, who represents stars Jahrome Hughes, Dylan Brown, Valentine Holmes and Selwyn Cobbo, was hit with a six-month ban and $10,000 fine.
As well as the incident in Port Macquarie, the NRL further alleged Dawson and Orr “failed to co-operate with the NRL integrity unit”.
