Sharks fined $800,000, Shane Flanagan deregistered, Tigers boss rubbed out

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan has been deregistered and the club has been hit with a $800,000 fine as the NRL announced its findings into his communications with the club as he served a year-long suspension in 2014.

The news has rocked the club, which is now without a coach just three months out from the start of the season.

The NRL also indefinitely rubbed out Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe for his role in trying to manipulate the salary cap with a $639,000 ambassadorial role for Robbie Farah, as revealed by the Herald on Tuesday.

The NRL had suspended Flanagan for 12 months in 2014 in relation to the peptides scandal in which Cronulla players "unknowingly and unwittingly" used banned substances over a four-week period.

One of the strict conditions of his ban was that he didn't have any contact with club officials. That especially involved the recruitment or retention of players.

However, as part of the NRL's recent investigation into the Sharks salary cap, it emerged Flanagan had been in contact with club officials between January and August, 2014.

Gone but not forgotten: Premiership-winning Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan has been deregistered by the NRL.Credit:Wolter Peeters

It is understood more than 50 emails were sent between Flanagan and club officials within weeks of him being suspended and despite him telling NRL officials via email in September 2014 that he had "no involvement in the recruitment process for potential players".

On one occasion Flanagan was understood to have reached out to the club and asked it to inquire about former Canberra playmaker Blake Austin and his availability for the 2015 season.

The $800,000 figure is a doubling of the $400,000 amount suspended the club's previous $1 million fine, issued in relation to the supplements scandal in late-2013.

Flanagan and the Sharks have until the end of January to respond to the NRL's findings. The premiership-winning coach is not allowed to coach in the meantime.

The pre-Christmas double blow for the Sharks comes not long after they announced a loss of $3 million. Their best player, Valentine Holmes, also walked out with a year remaining on his deal to pursue a career in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the NRL also issued the Wests Tigers with a breach notice for an undisclosed agreement to pay Farah as an ambassador at the end of his career.

Farah and the Tigers agreed to the post-career deal when he departed at the end of 2016.

The breach notice proposes a fine of $750,000 and that $639,000 – the value of Farah's ambassador's agreement – be added to the Tigers' 2019 salary cap.

The NRL also issued a notice of intention to cancel the registration of Pascoe.

There are no suggestions Farah did anything wrong.

Like Flanagan and the Sharks, Pascoe and the Tigers have until the end of January to respond to the NRL's findings.

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