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From the bottom line to the Eels' front line
Adrian Proszenko
February 12, 2012
Gun for hire new Parramatta chief executive Bob Bentley. Photo: Jon Reid
IN HIS teenage years, Bob Bentley conducted business with a gun under his desk. ''It was in the days where they trained you to shoot people,'' Bentley said of his first job as a teller at the old Rural Bank. ''If you got held up, you had a gun under your counter.
''I was only about 18 or 19, it was crazy.''
Fortunately, Bentley never had to draw following a withdrawal.
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Having survived and thrived in his stint in the banking sector, Bentley is now the hired gun as Parramatta's new chief executive.
The 52-year-old will retain his previous post, as the boss of the leagues club, giving him the same control enjoyed by the self-proclaimed ''emperor of Parramatta'', Denis Fitzgerald.
''I'm not the emperor, I'm not the king. I'm not any of those titles,'' Bentley said. ''I don't have an ego, my background will tell you it's not something I aspire to.''
Bentley's background will also tell you that he has enjoyed success wherever he has gone. He worked in financial institutions for the first half of his career, becoming one of the youngest senior managers at several retail and merchant banks.
The Blue Mountains resident also held executive positions at Ernst & Young and, in what could prove handy in the league world, has dabbled in politics at local government level. Significantly, he has improved the bottom line of the leagues club and will turn his attention to the football club.
''Officially they're auditing that at the moment but the figure is likely to be close to $10 million [in profit for the leagues club],'' he said. ''After football grants, that's probably going to be $5 [million] to $5.5 million. Last year it was $3.3 million it's moving in the right direction.''
With the exception of Brisbane, every NRL club runs at a loss. However, Bentley predicts the Eels will be in the black ''within 18 to 24 months''.
In further positive news, a standoff with main sponsor Pirtek has also been resolved following the resignation of the company's director, Glenn Duncan, last year. ''They've indicated they're 100 per cent behind us for the next two years,'' Bentley said.
The biggest challenge Bentley faces is breaking a premiership drought that has stretched into a 27th year. To that end, the club has set up an academy and development programs to identify, nurture and retain its best juniors.
''We want to become a development club, not a recruitment club,'' Bentley said.
