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Parramatta Leagues Club board sacked, administrator appointed

Gronk

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Staff member
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73,555
Joe Tripodi back doing the numbers
Kate McClymont and Tom Rabe
September 16, 2019 — 12.05am
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There was something familiar about the man with the phone clamped to his ear who turned up to Parramatta Leagues Club last Tuesday night to vote against a reform to the club’s constitution. It was former Labor strongman Joe Tripodi.

It appeared Mr Tripodi, who has had three separate corruption findings made against him, was there to do the numbers for a group of present and former local politicians and prominent developers opposed to attempts by the club’s government-appointed administrator to appoint a new board. The group opposes the administrator's desire to progressively vote in fresh board members.

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Joe Tripodi enters Parramatta Leagues Club.

One of the key people in Mr Tripodi’s group opposing the proposed measures was Ming Shang of property development company Southern Han. Mr Shang and his company were embroiled in a political scandal last week after the Liberal Party was forced to forfeit an illegal donation he made at a fundraiser for now-embattled NSW Minister John Sidoti, the former mayor of Burwood.

Mr Sidoti and Mr Shang, a developer and banned donor, both hold stakes in a $70 million development in Cudgegong Road in Rouse Hill, where the government plans to build a Metro station.

Mr Sidoti was a parliamentary secretary for planning between October 2014 and March 2015 and parliamentary secretary for transport and roads between August 2015 and January 2017.

Mr Shang made the $1750 donation to Mr Sidoti at a February 2015 Liberal Party dinner. A fortnight earlier Mr Shang and his business partner paid a $20,000 fee to join the exclusive “Premiership club” at the Eels which was operated by John Chedid, who was also a Parramatta Liberal councillor.

On Tuesday night Mr Shang arrived at the club with about 20 Chinese supporters and was seen deep in conversation with Roy Spagnolo, the controversial former chairman of the Parramatta Eels. Mr Spagnolo, also a property developer, was barred from being a member of the club for several years. He and Mr Tripodi monitored activities from the club’s Chinese restaurant as neither was allowed to vote. They haven’t been members for the requisite period of time.

Mr Shang’s business partner in Southern Han, Rustom “Tom” Kudinar-Kwee, also turned up to oppose the reforms.

The Herald can reveal Mr Kudinar-Kwee has ties to Mr Chedid, who in 2015 and 2016 was on Parramatta council at the same time he was being paid $150,000 by the Eels to run government relations and their “Premiership Club” – which was taken up mainly by local developers including Payce and Southern Han.

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Ming Shang talking to Roy Spagnolo at the club's Chinese restaurant.

“It’s an honour to have you with us,” wrote Mr Chedid to Mr Kudinar-Kwee on February 10, 2015, after being informed Southern Han was forking out $20,000 for membership of the Premiership Club. Later that year, Mr Kudinar-Kwee emailed Mr Chedid with concerns he had about the council’s actions on his Hunter Street development.

In February 2016 emails show Mr Chedid, through his position with the Eels, organised a trip to New Zealand for the Auckland Nines tournament with Mr Kudinar-Kwee and another member of the Premiership club, developer Danny Fayad.

Mr Kudinar-Kwee was emailing Mr Chedid about his Parramatta development both before and after that trip.

In April 2016, Mr Kudinar-Kwee again emailed Mr Chedid personally about his development in Hunter Street.

“This might come to council meeting soon. Your consideration is very much appreciated and should you need further info please let me know. Thank you Tom.”

Mr Chedid replied he was “happy to look into it” but “Pls next time use my gmail [which he provided]. God bless you,” he wrote.

Mr Chedid lost his position at the club at the end of July 2016 with the arrival of administrator Max Donnelly, who was appointed by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority to run the Eels.

The perceived conflict between Mr Chedid’s Eels job and his role as councillor had been raised previously when he tried to get the council to pay Eels players Tim Mannah, Will Hopoate and Nathan Peats $75,000 each to act as city ambassadors. Also supporting this was another Parramatta councillor Paul Garrard, who was at the same time on the Eels board. The two councillors declared an interest and did not discuss the proposal when it came before council in July 2015. The plan was rejected due to concerns it could be seen an attempt to subvert the NRL’s salary cap.


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Roy Spagnolo, the former Eels chairman.CREDIT:SIMON ALEKNA

On Tuesday night the block led by Mr Spagnolo, the Southern Han group, Cumberland councillor and former Parramatta lord mayor Mr Garrard, as well Tony Labbozzetta, former head of the Marconi Club, was successful in opposing Mr Donnelly’s planned reforms. Mr Donnelly needed 75 per cent of those present on the night to vote for the changes. He received 73.5 per cent.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw...=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1568580357
 

ash411

Bench
Messages
3,410
Merit based appointments based on selection criteria. Apart from 2 who have to come from PLC board the rest are independents.
I get that they are merit based appointments, but appointed by whom? Someone will have to appoint them, right? It may be Max right now, but who does it when the reforms (finally) are adopted and Max (and by extension, the ILGA) leaves the club in the hands of the new board?

Essentially what I'm getting at is, what's to stop someone who wants control of the Eels to get themselves on the Board on the PLC, then just begin systematically appointing his own puppets to the PNRL board until he has enough puppets on there to assume control and "take over"the club?
 

emjaycee

Coach
Messages
12,868
I get that they are merit based appointments, but appointed by whom? Someone will have to appoint them, right? It may be Max right now, but who does it when the reforms (finally) are adopted and Max (and by extension, the ILGA) leaves the club in the hands of the new board?

Essentially what I'm getting at is, what's to stop someone who wants control of the Eels to get themselves on the Board on the PLC, then just begin systematically appointing his own puppets to the PNRL board until he has enough puppets on there to assume control and "take over"the club?
It would take him 3 years and he would be voted off the PLC board before then.
 

84 Baby

Referee
Messages
28,033
Surely ILGA has to step in again now. There are 2 businesses there I don’t really want near the club. Be better off bringing back Dyldam compared to those 2
 

Gronk

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An update from Eels Club Chairman Sean McElduff
Author
parraeels.com.au
Timestamp
Tue 24 Sep 2019, 04:07 PM

Dear Members and supporters,

I wanted to write a message of thanks on behalf of the Club for the tremendous support you have all provided this season and in particular those Members and supporters who travelled to Melbourne for our elimination final.

Whilst it wasn’t the result we wanted to end our year on, it is important to acknowledge that 2019 has been a good very year for our Club both on and off the field. I wanted to make a brief mention of some of those areas where we have excelled.

Football Program

The outcomes achieved by our footballing program deserve special mention with the key achievements being:

  • A top five finish and first finals win for our NRL team in 10 years.
  • A Canterbury Cup grand final appearance for our 2nd grade team.
  • Strong results across all our elite pathway teams.
  • Enhanced contributions from our Eels developed players.
  • The retention and recruitment of key players for 2020 and a salary cap position that provides strong flexibility for the coming years.
A number of recommendations from our Football Review have contributed to our progression in 2019 and as Club we can be pleased with the way that we addressed and harnessed that period of review so positively.

However, we are well aware that this is only the beginning in our football transformation and we must remain focused and vigilant to ensure we achieve our strategic objective of sustained success and regular finals football. I am sure this will be the driver for our players and coaches when they return for preseason later this year.

I would like to make special mention of Manu Ma’u and Tepai Meora who will be leaving our playing ranks this year. They have both made a wonderful contribution to our Club and we wish them well as they move to the next stages of their playing careers.

I would also like to call out Tim Mannah who has been an incredible servant of our Football Club since the day he joined our Harold Mathews squad. He has been central to our Club both on and off the field during this time and on behalf of everyone, I want to thank Tim and the wider Mannah family for what they have contributed to the Eels throughout his playing career.

Reconnection with our Members and fans

As an organisation, the most pleasing part of this year has been the reconnection of our Club with its Members and supporters which has been underwritten by the return to Bankwest Stadium.

This has been the catalyst for a number of key outcomes for the Club including:

  • Our Membership record being broken for the 7th straight year.
  • Recording the highest average crowd for a Sydney NRL Club and the second highest average crowd for all major sporting clubs in Sydney.
  • Setting the ground record for Bankwest Stadium twice in the space of six months.
  • Achieving record revenue growth in Corporate hospitality sales.
I am sure that like me, many Members and supporters have a number of long, lasting memories from this year which started with the opening of the stadium on Easter Monday and ending with that tremendous atmosphere for our finals win against Brisbane. Ensuring that the game day experience at Bankwest Stadium is the best in Australian sport and that we continue to replicate and even enhance on those memories will be central to our objectives in 2020.

Farewell to Bernie Gurr

As he concludes his time with us next month, I want to acknowledge the tremendous contribution Bernie Gurr has made to our Club. When Bernie joined the Eels in October 2016 there were numerous challenges and issues to resolve across a broad range of areas. He worked extremely hard to bring stability back to our Club and rebuild trust with Members and supporters.

This contribution was not only vital to achieving the platform we have today but I am sure will be viewed even more favourably as we head towards a period of growth for our Club. We wish him and his wife Peggy well for the future and assure them that they will always be welcome as part of the Eels family.

I would like to conclude by reiterating how important your support is to our Club. We have an incredible opportunity to grow our Club across all aspects of the organisation in this next 12 to 18 months.

The opening of our new facility at Kellyville Park in December, the continued focus on being a development club, our target of having 40,000 Members by the end of 2021 and the implementation of our strategic plan are all positive initiatives for our organisation going into 2020. I am confident that these strategic objectives can be achieved as we continue to build a high performance and values based organisation.

Thank you again for 2019 and we look forward to a positive 2020.

Regards,
Sean McElduff

https://www.parraeels.com.au/news/2...om-eels-club-chairman-sean-mcelduff/arramatta Eels Club Chairman
 

Happy MEel

First Grade
Messages
9,377
Members check your emails.
We’re going to another vote on constitutional reform, but this time postal and electronic voting are permitted.

Should be interesting...


Dear Members and Supporters,

All Parramatta Eels members and fans who are three-year financial members of the Parramatta Leagues Club (‘PLC’) will shortly receive information regarding a new vote for constitutional reform.

A new general meeting for PLC Members will be held on Sunday 8 December 2019 commencing at 10am in Pablo's Restaurant, Level 3, Parramatta League's Club, Parramatta NSW 2150.

At the September meeting, the Members approved three changes:

  1. Changing the PLC objects of the constitution to provide that the Parramatta Eels must be owned by PLC (and its Members) and funded as reasonably required.
  2. Implementation of the triennial rule for the appointment of directors.
  3. The ability for postal and electronic voting.
These changes were important but there is one more reform that we believe should be approved. The last piece of reform that needs to be put in place is the appointment of the first PLC Board to ensure that there is a smooth transition back to membership control of the PLC (‘the Club’).

Now that the Club has the option for postal/electronic voting, the Football Club urges all eligible PLC Members who are unable to attend the next General Meeting to vote electronically or by post and support the last stage of constitutional reform of PLC.

You can do so once you receive your voting information by post or email. If you do not receive your postal or electronic voting details or are unsure of your eligibility to vote please contact Kiralee at Parramatta Leagues Club on 02 8833 0764.

It’s the Football Club’s view that the minority of people standing in the way of these changes should consider the fact that the vast majority of members and fans of the PLC and the Football Club want these changes to take place.

The Football Club with your support, continues to make progress and we want to ensure that we can reach our goal as one of the premier sporting organisations in Australia. We are not there yet but we are heading in the right direction. As previously advised, the stability of the Board of the PLC is vitally important to us achieving this goal.

It’s now time to ensure we resolve this issue once and for all. A successful vote will see the retirement of the Administrator under s41a (once the first PLC board is appointed) and guarantee a direct pathway for the return of the Club to Membership control.

It is critical to the ongoing success of the Parramatta Eels and the PLC that we have stability in our governance framework and this represents the best opportunity. As such, we are asking all Eels Members and supporters who are three-year financial members of the PLC to vote as soon as the ballot opens on Thursday 14 November 2019.

For more details on the reform and all the FAQs please read the below.

Regards

Sean McElduff
Parramatta Eels Chairman

https://www.parraeels.com.au/reform?camefrom=EMCL_3137726_149927111
 
Last edited:

eel01s

Bench
Messages
3,246
This will be an interesting vote. 130 odd people have been holding up the reforms. We know that they will vote NO again. Will voter apathy help or hinder the reform?
 
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