‘Chief rat’ Waldron could sue over News Storm attacks

Former Melbourne Storm CEO Brian Waldron is closely examining his legal options in the wake of an extraordinary attack launched by News Limited chief John Hartigan through his tabloids over the Storm’s salary cap rorts last week.

Sources close to Waldron told Crikey he is livid over his treatment at the hands of News and is examining all legal avenues, including defamation, after Friday’s front-page Herald Sun splash that pictured him and other former-Storm executives above the headline “Rats’ Face Jail”.

On Thursday, News released a 15-page Deloitte audit that accused the executives of rorting the National Rugby League salary cap to the tune of $3.17 million. But strangely, no current employee of News, which owns 100% of the Storm and half the NRL, came in for blame from Hartigan at the accompanying press conference.

The News supremo, employing the defence used by former US Defence chief Donald Rumsfeld in the Abu Ghraib scandal, described Waldron, former acting CEO Matt Hanson, former Storm recruitment chief Peter O’Sullivan and former finance chiefs Paul Gregory and Cameron Vale as “rats in the ranks”.

“A small group of senior managers at the club orchestrated and concealed the extra payments,” Hartigan claimed.

In April, Hartigan said Waldron was the “chief rat” and said he was preparing to “root out the bad eggs” in the organisation.

As the Storm’s sacked independent directors prepare to abandon legal action in the Victorian Supreme Court against News this afternoon, the broader News apparatus has continued a staunch campaign to shift the blame elsewhere. On Friday, the Herald Sun devoted nine pages to the story, including an editorial and an op-ed from current coach Craig Bellamy.

Vale has specifically denied any wrongdoing, and O’Sullivan, now with the Sydney Roosters, says he is seeking legal advice “on a number of issues”. There is now a possibility that the two could team up to seek vengeance for a run of potentially defamatory attacks since the scandal broke in April.

A joint action involving one or more of all the people Hartigan described as “rats”, might be able to extract the truth from News, the source said.

During the recent Bruce Guthrie unfair dismissal case in the Victorian Supreme Court, Hartigan was branded an unreliable witness by Justice Stephen Kaye over his shoddy recollection of events that contributed to Guthrie’s sacking.

Readers of Hartigan’s papers weren’t told about this, the source said, and “Brian thought that that point should have been considered newsworthy”. Waldron was “looking forward to the prospect of John Hartigan returning to the witness box in Supreme Court of Victoria”.

In April, Waldron used Fairfax newspapers to hit back against News and called for a public inquiry into the cheating, which he said was rife throughout the NRL. Crikey understands that around this time, he also approached law firm Holding Redlich over Channel Nine’s coverage, with the firm issuing the broadcaster with a strongly-worded letter of demand. Nine is believed to have rejected the letter.

In the 11 weeks since, News has kept up a consistent line against Waldron, culminating in the attacks last Friday.

The Daily Telegraph, with a page one headline “The Full Betrayal”, included a column from Sports “Editor-at-Large” Phil Rothfield which bizarrely accused Waldron of “telling lies” because his voicemail says he’ll get back to callers. Apparently, he didn’t return Rothfield’s calls.

The former St Kilda chief was apparently “holed up and hiding behind the dark security screen on the front door of his East Hawthorn home in suburban Melbourne”, but was believed to have been simply at home as usual. Rothfield also said he wanted to publish Waldron’s mobile phone number so irate fans could vent before lawyers intervened.

Defamation law expert and barrister Dr John Bleechmore told Crikey the News attacks were likely to lower the reputation of those concerned: “Clearly they do, the innuendo is that they’ve committed serious crimes and are facing jail.”

He said the prospect of Waldron being incarcerated was “far-fetched” because the suggested wrongdoing occurred within the NRL and not in a broader jurisdiction.

“It doesn’t have the same degree of culpability. I don’t think you can justifiably compare that with a serious crime that could be met with a jail term,” Dr Bleechmore said. The fact News could be accused of pursuing an agenda, given its ownership conflicts, would weaken its case in the eyes of a judge, he added.

But Bleechmore said that under recent changes to the Defamation Act, there were “very broad” defences available to media companies.

On Friday, the Herald Sun claimed there were “four separate agencies with an interest in what the report has found: Victoria Police, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Taxation Office and the State Revenue Office of Victoria. The paper said it was “likely” the Deloitte report would lead to further action.