Denis Fitzgerald wants to take Parramatta Eels to Supreme Court over board election fracas
Date
April 24, 2015 - 5:40PM
Daniel Lane
Sports reporter & Video journalist
Former Parramatta chief executive Denis Fitzgerald is expected to head to the Supreme Court on Monday after being advised he was not allowed to run in the club's upcoming board elections because he had previously had his contract terminated by the club.
Fitzgerald, who said he was made redundant in 2009 rather than sacked, said on Friday he had not yet received anything in writing from the club but the returning officer had advised him of the decision.
"I haven't spoken to the club or had anything from the chief executive [Bevan Paul] who sent the email to the returning officer," said Fitzgerald, who had declared his intention to run on the Parramatta Professionals ticket in Fairfax Media last month.
"They're basing it on the fact that I was in breach of the leagues club constitution, being 54(c), which says, 'A member is ineligible to be nominated for, or elected to the board, if that member is a former employee of the club who's services were terminated by the club for misconduct'.
"And I certainly wasn't. I was given a redundancy, a pay-out, and I had use of a club car until the end of 2009. People who get dismissed or terminated for misconduct don't get that."
A Parramatta club spokesman confirmed Fitzgerald had been told he could not stand.
"The independent returning officer has informed Mr Denis Fitzgerald that he is constitutionally ineligible to stand for election," the spokesman said. "This decision was made after extensive consideration by the Parramatta Leagues Club and its advisers."
Fitzgerald said he had advised his lawyer to seek a halt to the ballot draw for the club's elections. The draw is due to be held on Tuesday, while final nominations for candidates is on Monday.
Fitzgerald said he was confused by the decision to rule him ineligible.
"If the current board were that concerned about that particular clause, why haven't they mentioned that in the two years they've been in [power] or when I was convening all the meetings to assist ParraFirst take over the running of Parramatta Leagues Club," Fitzgerald said.
Last week, Lawrence Shepherd, who was aligned to Fitzgerald's Parramatta Professionals ticket, had his membership suspended for three years for misconduct as a result of conversations in which it was alleged he had threatened club executives with their jobs.
Meanwhile, former Parramatta player Mark Riddell said he had thought long and hard before entering the traditional argy-bargy of the club's upcoming elections.
Riddell, who played for Parramatta, St George Illawarra, Wigan and the Sydney Roosters, is expected to oppose former teammate Ben Smith, who was reported on Friday to be running on a rival rebel ticket to challenge the incumbent board, headed by Steve Sharp.
The 34-year-old Riddell will run on Fitzgerald's Parramatta Professionals ticket and said he had committed himself after deep discussion about the club's direction.
"I thought long and hard about it," he said. "I got asked a couple of times by a few different people and the more I thought about it, the more I talked about it, it made sense. I had very positive feedback and that's why I'm doing it."
He added: "My view is we have to get rid of the stigma of 'us against them', 'this against this', the agendas and the revenge attacks," he said. "I just want to try and get the fans on board, try to get everyone working together. The Parramatta Football Club and Parramatta Leagues Club needs to be the first priority for everyone."
Riddell declared his hand in the same week the Parramatta Leagues Club Group announced its best financial result in more than a decade, including a consolidated group profit of $6.5 million for the 2014 financial year and a $12.5 million Parramatta Leagues Club profit.
"I am delighted to say that our board charter of club first, team second, individual third has helped us achieve some remarkable turnarounds and progress on our journey," Sharp said.
Ben Smith, who retired from the Eels last year after playing 152 matches for them, could not be contacted for comment on Friday.
