http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...t/news-story/1172bd21fdfbfdf9a4321d8be68120db
Incoming Parramatta CEO Bernie Gurr describes the Eels as the “sleeping giant” of Australian sport
Nick Tabakoff, Editor-at-Large, The Daily Telegraph
39 minutes ago
INCOMING Parramatta CEO Bernie Gurr has no fear of taking on the game’s most difficult club job, instead describing the Eels as the “sleeping giant” of Australian sport.
In a detailed interview with the Daily Telegraph, Gurr has also revealed he also applied for the NRL chief executive’s role after the code’s former boss Dave Smith departed late last year.
Speaking from the US on Thursday, where he is the American CFO of internal logistics group Crown Worldwide, Gurr said that rugby league remained his passion: “I have never lost my love of the game.”
Gurr talked up the positives of taking on a job many would run away from: turning around the fortunes of Parramatta after the worst year in its seven-decade history, highlighted by the salary cap scandal that ruined the club’s season on and off the field, and saw the entire board and senior management team sacked.
“If there’s a sleeping giant in Australian sport, it’s Parramatta,” he said. “It was the one club job I’d ever consider. For all the negativity about the year they’ve had in 2016, if you look at the club today, (Eels administrator) Max (Donnelly) has done some terrific things. He has removed two boards, and started to put some stability and good governance around the football club.”
Gurr is returning to Australia in October with his American wife Peggy on a three-year-deal worth in excess of $500,000 a year, after more than 12 years living in America.
He admitted he applied for the NRL CEO role late last year, ultimately won by the code’s current boss Todd Greenberg. One of his close friends, Brian Canavan, is also now the NRL’s head of football.
Why Gurr’s sudden interest in returning to Australia after so long overseas? “The reason was simply that my sons are grown now.”
Additionally, he is excited that he will now be in much-closer proximity to many family members in Australia. His brother, former Roosters star Marty Gurr, lives on the Gold Coast, while his parents — now in their late 80s — live in Armidale.
He said Parramatta had some issues “you can’t fix overnight, but others you can fix pretty quickly”.
“The footy program is in pretty good shape,” he said. “With all the off-field issues at Parramatta, they had $1-2 million of salary cap talent that didn’t play for significant parts of the season — Kieran Foran, Corey Norman and Anthony Watmough.
“They left a lot of salary cap dollars on the sideline, and were still very competitive. A lot of teams would have dropped their bundle after they lost 12 points like Parramatta did.”
His first order of business would be urgently to find support for coach Brad Arthur with a new head of football to replace the banned Daniel Anderson, after an initial search by the club identified no suitable candidates. “You need to be looking for a general manager of football. We need the right support structures for Brad.”
Asked for his opinion of Arthur, he replied: “Mate, I’ve never met the guy, but from an observational point of view, he’s certainly resilient. He has put out a very well prepared football team that has been in the contest every week. Brad’s ability to keep that team up every week this year has been just outstanding in the circumstances.”
While not mentioning them by name, he appeared to make a thinly veiled swipe at the previous Eels administration led by deregistered ex-CEO John Boulous and banned former chairman Steve Sharp.
Arthur, in interviews with the NRL Integrity Unit, had accused the previous Eels leadership of constantly interfering and meddling in his coaching decisions. “We are there to support the football club,” he said. “Off-field staff are there to support the football staff.”
But Gurr admitted the club would need some time to rebuild its corporate support, after a disastrous loss of sponsors in the wake of this year’s salary cap scandal exposed by The Telegraph.
“That is one of the things that will take time,” he said. “If companies are investing in the club, they want a commercial return. They want to align themselves with clubs that have good reputations, and the negativity around Parramatta doesn’t augur well with sponsors.”
Gurr believes 2017 is a year where the club needs to “demonstrate some stability and good governance, and engage with the fans again.”
He is comfortable with the outspokenness of Parramatta fans. “Passion is awesome,” he said. “We have to be aware of who our customers are: they’re our fans. We need to be a fan-centric club.”
He points to the fact that the Eels this year broke its membership record by topping 23,000 members this year, despite its off-field trials. In the context of what has happened to the club, there’s great potential for the club there,” he said. “It’s a supporter base ready to be activated.”
“If you take a huge supporter base, great junior league, and in two years, the best club stadium in Sydney — all in the geographical heart of Sydney — it could be a very potent mix.”
