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David Gallop - Source: Photosport
NRL chief executive David Gallop has described his meeting with Melbourne Storm players for the first time since their hefty salary cap penalties as a "worthwhile exercise".
Gallop met with club staff and the players today for the first time since the book was thrown at the club four months ago for salary cap breaches.
But he stood by the league's decision to penalise the Storm by stripping its 2007 and 2009 premierships and forcing them to play for no points this season as necessary to maintain the competition's integrity.
"There were many people down here who were merely passengers in a car doing 160km/h in a 60 zone," Gallop said after the meetings at the club's Melbourne headquarters.
"The mood was mainly positive. There were some forthright questions asked.
"I accept there are many people down here including the players, there are many people that were innocent victims of this.
"We talked about the penalties, the appropriateness of the penalties, and I 100 per cent believe the penalties were appropriate for what happened down here."
Storm chief executive Ron Gauci said he believed both the players and Gallop handled the meeting "respectfully".
"They asked the questions that have been on their minds for some time," Gauci said of the players.
"I thought the mood was good. It was handled very respectfully from all parties.
"It gives us the opportunity to have clarity in the answers to our questions ... and closure in many ways."
Gallop's meeting comes just days before the Storm bring down the curtain on their difficult season against Newcastle at AAMI Park on Sunday.
