In 2010, the Storm were stripped of the 2007 premiership for an alleged but disputed salary cap breach of $450,000; the Titans have had four premiership points suspended for a possible $300,000 breach.

We can't be certain what the size of the Titans breach is because the NRL merely reported a fine of $300,000 ($75,000 suspended). In 2010, the NRL published the actual amounts by which the Storm exceeded the cap for each season.

Insofar as fines tend to equal an excess payment, we can only assume the Titans breach is $300,000. It could be more but the NRL, in keeping with releasing the information on a day the rugby league fan base was focused on Jarryd Hayne leaving for America and the NFL, did not divulge the size of the salary spillover.

NRL general manager of integrity Nick Weeks said: "All clubs are on notice that we have drawn a line in the sand", prompting Bellamy to ask questions of the tsunami that washed over Melbourne in 2010.

"I owe it to my players to say something about this," he said. "I am not going to be critical of the present administration. Nor am I demanding the premierships taken off us be restored. I am simply asking what would have been the sanctions against us if the procedures taken against the Titans and Broncos had been followed in our case. It seems to me that there have been two different procedures taken with salary cap investigations, separated by four years, but with widely different results."

The Broncos have also escaped any punishment for a possible $300,000 breach involving an unexplained payment from the Broncos League club.

The breaches in the case of the Titans and Broncos were self-reported.

However, Broncos football manager Andrew Gee, who was responsible for the missing money, resigned and has refused to co-operate with the NRL investigation.

The Titans breach was reported by the club's incoming chief executive, Graham Annesley. Coincidentally, he once worked as the NRL's boss of football and was part of the executive team that punished the Storm. The executioner has turned mercy seeker!

Weeks indicated that the Titans punishment was mitigated by the self reporting but do we conclude that while the Gold Coast club received lesser sanctions than the Storm for volunteering guilt, the Broncos escaped all punishment because their official refused to co-operate?

Storm chief executive Brian Waldron, who had moved to rugby union's Melbourne Rebels when the salary cap breaches were discovered, was never interviewed by the NRL. Nor was the club given an option of appealing. Club owner News Ltd sacked the board before they could proceed with court action to challenge the draconian punishment.

Perhaps the NRL took no action against the Broncos because of the possibility the club, also owned by News Ltd, would appeal. Consider the irony here.

To be fair, the Titans breach referred to one player, Scott Prince, while the Storm breach referred to four players. Therefore, to reveal the size of the breach would be to disclose Prince's salary, which the NRL is restricted from doing. However, the rest of the rugby league world has never been coy about printing, even promoting, what players receive.

Perhaps Weeks' "line in the sand" refers to a new course where clubs will be punished with points deductions for deliberate cheating. The NRL would surely be aware that monetary penalties are not a sufficient deterrent.

What does seem to be clear is that each new administration of the NRL appears to believe it can draw new lines in the sand, oblivious to beach marks promoted by their predecessors. Climate change has come to rugby league.

The rising tide of new revenue streams has lifted all boats in the code but washed out old marks, allowing administrators to chart any course that suits them.