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QUILL AWARDS 2011

BEST SPORTS STORY IN ANY MEDIUM

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MICHAEL WARNER

Job For Dad

Revelations AFL newcomer Greater Western Sydney had secretly signed Tom

Scully's father, Phil, to a six-year contract worth $680,000 rocked the game and

led to the sacking of club CEO Dale Holmes.

The Herald Sun obtained a leaked copy of the ``Letter of Offer'' to Scully Snr

three weeks after breaking the story about the Giants' hiring of him. It revealed

Phil Scully had been guaranteed a job until October 2017 as GWS's recruiting

scout on an annual salary of $100,000, with an increase of 5 per cent every year.

The contract was signed in November 2010, the same time his son Tom was

presented with a record $6 million offer from the expansion club during an AFL-

endorsed signing window.

Scully Jr maintained throughout 2011 that he had not made a decision on joining

GWS or staying with the Melbourne Football Club.

The emergence of the letter contradicted initial claims by the AFL that the Phil

Scully deal was not finalised until after Tom had announced his decision to join

the club in October, 20011.

The Herald Sun investigation confirmed that the Phil Scully deal was locked

away 12 months earlier and raised fresh questions about when Tom committed

to the club.

Holmes was sacked by GWS the day after the Herald Sun broke the story, with

club chairman Tony Shepherd claiming his board ``knew nothing of the

arrangement'' until late last year.

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The club was also forced to include Scully Snr's wages in the GWS salary cap, an

unprecedented ruling based on the finding that his hiring was directly related to

his son's decision to quit Melbourne.

The Scully story dominated the national news agenda for several weeks and was

the result of a lengthy Herald Sun investigation into the dealings of GWS

officials.

It was a genuine scoop that shed light on the backroom dealings of Australia's

biggest sport.