Rugby league icon Cameron Smith has challenged the NRL to re-instate the 2007 and 2009 premierships won by his Melbourne Storm club.
The Storm were stripped of their titles in 2010, after they were found to have violated salary cap regulations. They also lost three minor premierships and had to play out the 2010 for zero points.
But Smith - well on the way to becoming one of the game's legends - claims the NRL has applied double standards with its treatment of Cronulla Sharks over "reasonably similar" charges.
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Last week, the Sharks were fined AU$750,000 for cap breaches daring back four years, but $500,000 of that was suspended, because Cronulla chief executive self-reported the offences.
The club must also operate $707,000 under the cap for the next two seasons, but was allowed to keep the 2016 premiership, after - ironically - beating Melbourne in the final.
Smith claims Cronulla received a "completely different punishment".
"[The NRL] have a lot on their plate at the moment and I don't want to take away from some of the things that have happened over the past six months," Smith told the Courier Mail.
"But if the NRL can have a look back and go over what happened at the Storm over those years, they may find there is a different outcome."
Smith, 35, is nearing the end of an illustrious career that includes two Dally M Medals as NRL's Player of the Year, two Golden Boots as International Player of the Year and 384 games for the Storm - the most-capped player in the competition's history.
He praised NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg for "taking the correct amount of time" over the Sharks case, instead of "wielding the axe" as previous administrations had with the Storm.
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