Bruno Cullen Resigns

Unbreakable

Unbreakable

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May 21, 2013
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Long-term Brisbane Broncos servant Bruno Cullen stepped down as chairman of the club's Red Hill leagues club at Thursday night's annual general meeting following the release of an annual report that admitted governance failings over $300,000 of unapproved spending by former football manager Andrew Gee.

Cullen told members he was retiring consistent with a two-year-old succession plan, while others speculated he was a casualty of a palace revolt over poor governance practices at the licensed club.

A former chairman of the Broncos NRL club, Lawry Brindle, is the new leagues club chair, while Tony Joseph, another long-term Wayne Bennett supporter and Broncos director, joins the board of the licensed club.

The exit of Cullen and the ascension of Brindle and Joseph are perceived to be a victory for Bennett, whose exit from the Broncos six years ago was partly because of a falling-out with Cullen.

A Herald story on Tuesday raised questions about the lack of governance at the Broncos Leagues Club.

The NRL took no action against the NRL club over the unexplained $300,000 spending because no salary cap breach could be proved, but questions persist in Brisbane and the wider league community.

Gee, who was also a director of the BLC, resigned both his posts and refused to co-operate with the NRL's salary cap investigation.

The NRL has indicated Gee will not be registered should he apply for a position in the game.

Fans joined the protest with NRL chief executive Dave Smith acknowledging receipt of a letter pointing out that previous admitted salary cap breaches by the Broncos have not been punished and the officials concerned allowed entry to NRL games.

The letter, seen by the Herald, complains: "This [inaction against the Broncos] is identical to how an investigation was closed down after the Broncos' former chairman Don Nissen admitted on oath that the club cheated the salary cap under him.

"In July 2009, Nissen testified in a Brisbane corruption trial that mining billionaire Ken Talbot was a 'through and through' Bronco fan who 'made generous gifts to a number of players'. Star players, Nissen confessed, were paid cash by Talbot which was never repaid. Talbot, he testified, was also secretly paying Broncos coach Wayne Bennett $100,000 a season. [Talbot died in a plane crash six weeks before his court appearance.]

"But when Nissen refused to co-operate with the NRL, the investigation was abandoned. Bruno Cullen, the Bronco chief executive, told the media: 'When people won't talk, you obviously can't get anywhere.' The NRL agreed and did nothing. Incredibly, Nissen was still welcome at NRL games. On 11 April 2011, at the Bronco-Knights clash at Suncorp Stadium, Nissen watched from a private box alongside Nathan Tinkler, Bronco officials, and Wayne Bennett's wife Trish."

Smith responded to the letter, writing: "An investigation was conducted into the Brisbane Broncos but it found no evidence of any breach of the cap."

News Corporation, the majority shareholder of the Broncos, is concerned at the distraction the club causes to its core business, publishing and broadcasting.

The sloppy accounting at the BLC, together with innuendo of salary cap breaches, follows the 2010 revelations of cheating at the Storm, then owned by News Ltd.

News has the power to appoint the three top officials of the BLC: the chairman, deputy chair and treasurer. Traditionally, it endorses those elected at the AGM.

Relationships between the Broncos football club and its licensed premises have become strained, exacerbated by competing explanations about how the $300,000 was spent by Gee.

Former Broncos premiership player Shane Webcke, who was one of the players mentioned by Nissen as receiving payments from Talbot, resigned as a director of the BLC earlier this year. However, he brought Phil Murphy, a wealthy developer, into the Broncos fold. Murphy is now the Broncos' second-largest shareholder.
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Bruno Cullen steps down from Brisbane Broncos after report admits failings over spending
 
The fact that this couldn't be investigated to the bottom leaves a sour taste.

It might have cost the club money or even points, or it might have cleared the current management of any wrong doing, but either way would've been better than the cloud that was left hanging...
 
Great, Bennett gets even more power by having more friends and supporters on the board. Next he'll get to write and sign his own paycheck.

The rest of the article is a bit of an eye opener. I have no doubts we cheated the salary cap pretty substantially. The whole thoroughbreds/talbot thing just stinks IMO.
 
Yeah the whole payment cover up is disappointing. Definitely feels like we are hiding something.

Also kudos Unbreakable for using resigns properly!
 
Anonymous person said:
Great, Bennett gets even more power by having more friends and supporters on the board. Next he'll get to write and sign his own paycheck.

The rest of the article is a bit of an eye opener. I have no doubts we cheated the salary cap pretty substantially. The whole thoroughbreds/talbot thing just stinks IMO.
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Maybe WB sent his son Darius to assassinate Talbot before he could testify in court and reveal the true identity of WB ... a sith lord!

On a serious note, this is all really shit and just adds substantial fuel to the fire and gives my mates more reasons to keep up the 'cheating Broncos' chant. Where there is plumes of smoke...
 
Mosyzlak said:
Maybe WB sent his son Darius to assassinate Talbot before he could testify in court and reveal the true identity of WB ... a sith lord!

On a serious note, this is all really shit and just adds substantial fuel to the fire and gives my mates more reasons to keep up the 'cheating Broncos' chant. Where there is plumes of smoke...
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Meh, it's all just a smokescreen to distract everyone while the Roosters sign Ferguson, Merrin, and Foran, while losing two fringe forwards that are on 2nd tier deals.
 
Meh, I really don't care. Every club does it, not every club has uncle nicks etc.

Cya Bruno ya useless prick
 
The article lost credibility when it claimed WB was 'secretly' receiving 100 gs a year lol....as if it matters ! Coaches can earn 10 billion a minute if they want, nothing to do with anything unless he was avoiding tax in which case the ATO would have been involved.
 
We were just better at cheating than most other teams.
Glad to see the back of Cullen
 
Huge said:
The article lost credibility when it claimed WB was 'secretly' receiving 100 gs a year lol....as if it matters ! Coaches can earn 10 billion a minute if they want, nothing to do with anything unless he was avoiding tax in which case the ATO would have been involved.
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It lost all credibility to me when I opened the link.

Roy Masters is a complete fuckstick and has long held grievances against Brisbane and for that matter any QLD club and or league identity.
 
Mosyzlak said:
Maybe WB sent his son Darius to assassinate Talbot before he could testify in court and reveal the true identity of WB ... a sith lord!

On a serious note, this is all really **** and just adds substantial fuel to the fire and gives my mates more reasons to keep up the 'cheating Broncos' chant. Where there is plumes of smoke...
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His son in Scott Minto.
 
He was still with the Broncos? Even when he was temp CEO of Cronulla?
 
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