Parramatta Eels face prospect of having to restage board elections
June 27, 2015 - 10:00PM
Chief Rugby League Reporter
View more articles from Adrian Proszenko
SIN BIN
Parramatta faces the drama of restaging its notorious Parramatta Leagues Club elections if Supreme Court action by former player Ben Smith is successful.
Smith was ruled ineligible to stand as a candidate because he was considered a paid employee of the organisation due to ambassadorial work undertaken at the club.
The elections were run without him and a ticket led by chairman Steve Sharp retained power in a strong endorsement of the incumbent board. Since then, the Eels have been pinged for repeated salary cap breaches, which have led to a $525,000 fine and the prospect of starting next year's competition four points in arrears, as well as revelations that absurd clauses inserted into the contract of prospective signing Kieran Foran threaten to scupper the deal.
Should Smith be successful ? the matter is set down for a Supreme Court directions hearing on July 6 ? the elections and associated madness will be on all over again.
It's fair to assume that, given the recent dramas, the current board would be very nervous indeed if there were a revote. The biennial election cycle brings out the worst in the blue and golds, pitting factions and former clubmen against each other in a sea of negativity.
An uneasy truce between candidates representing former powerbrokers Denis Fitzgerald and Roy Spagnolo meant most members didn't know who the majority of candidates were standing for the last time around.
