From the SMH- Adam Pengilly
Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur could walk out after administrator appointment.
Rival groups who attempted to wrest control of the Parramatta Eels board before the NSW government intervened fear coach Brad Arthur will walk away from the club and next season will be "dead" if an administrator lingers at the embattled club.
Having had their motions rejected for "legal reasons" on Friday, the three leaders of groups which agitated for an extraordinary general meeting next month have laid bare their concerns Arthur could turn his back on a club in administrative limbo.
Corey Norman convicted of possession
The Parramatta Eels five-eighth was caught with a container of MDMA capsules in May.
An administrator will be placed in charge of the Eels – possibly by early this week – after Deputy Premier and Minister for Justice Troy Grant announced he will remove the same seven directors on the leagues club and football club boards.
Eels chairman Steve Sharp wrote to Grant on Saturday night effectively quitting and requesting the appointment of an administrator, but the men who were previously behind a push to overthrow the board maintain Arthur's patience could be worn thin if an administrator remains in place into 2017.
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"The administrator has got to have time to find their feet and they've got to have time to deal with the urgent things, but you don't want them there for a long time because what happens to the team? That's my main concern," said Brendon Noney, who headed up one of three groups which generated support for an extraordinary general meeting.
"If this goes on for too long and it goes into next season then next season is dead. It's as simple as that. I think we would be in a lot of jeopardy of losing Brad Arthur to be frank.
"He's been a saint up until now – a saviour for our club – and some people might disagree with that. But he's the only bloke that's been running the joint in a competent way. And we don't want to lose him.
"I suspect if this goes on for too long we may lose the coach. And if we lose the coach we lose the players."
"I suspect if this goes on for too long we may lose the coach. And if we lose the coach we lose the players."
"I suspect if this goes on for too long we may lose the coach. And if we lose the coach we lose the players." Photo: Getty Images
Arthur is under contract until the end of next season and has not only held the side together during the salary cap scandal, but while battling high-profile incidents involving former skipper Kieran Foran, Corey Norman, Semi Radradra and Nathan Peats.
Local businessman Andrew Eagleston, who was also forming a ticket to help trigger the extraordinary general meeting, stressed the Eels needed some wise heads to immediately surround Arthur after a diabolical year off the field.
Tough times: There are concerns coach Brad Arthur could walk away from the club if an administrator lingers at the …
Tough times: There are concerns coach Brad Arthur could walk away from the club if an administrator lingers at the embattled Eels. Photo: Kirk Gilmour
"We can appoint the right people around football and those positions can provide the stability and platform for the club to move forward," said Eagleston, whose model for the new Eels board would include independent directors. "And the coach is a big part of those plans. Having an administrator appointed for a period of time is not positive for the club. It doesn't allow us to move forward."
Noney, Eagleston and long-time Parramatta Leagues Club member Chris Losco, who generated more than the 100 signatures to stage a coup before Grant's intervention over the weekend, all had their resolutions for a historic member-forced meeting rejected on Friday.
That decision could be revisited by the administrator.
"It was pretty disappointing none of us were personally phoned [to explain why they were dismissed]," Losco said. "The football part of the business needs urgent leadership and we need the administrator to appoint an interim CEO and interim football director to assist Brad Arthur and the team."
It remains unclear whether the Eels' appeal of the NRL's salary cap sanctions – lodged on behalf of the club's dysfunctional board on Friday – will stand.
Parramatta's de facto chief Ian Schubert was awaiting news on the administrator on Monday before confirming the status of the appeal
The NRL stripped the Eels of 12 competition points, the Auckland Nines title and fined them $1 million for cheating the salary cap by $3 million since 2013.
Noney and Losco stressed the so-called "Gang of Five" – chairman Steve Sharp, deputy chairman Tom Issa, director Peter Serrao and executives Daniel Anderson and John Boulous – should dip into their own pockets to fight NRL de-registrations now Grant has moved to axe the board.
"If they want to keep going they should fund it themselves," Losco said.
The Eels' threadbare finals hopes are all but extinguished after western Sydney rivals Penrith reeled in an early 14-point deficit at Pepper Stadium on Sunday.
