http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...drops-churchill-bombshell-20110903-1jrdv.html
PARRAMATTA reneged on a deal to appoint Clive Churchill as a coach and
Brian Smith guided the Eels virtually for free in his first year - these are just some of the revelations to come out of a new book,
The Parramatta Eels: March of the Blue and Golds, written by Neil Cadigan. Also touched on is how close the club came to merging with Balmain and Penrith, before ultimately knocking back Super League overtures at a cost of $20 million; and how Dean Pay, one of the ''Canterbury Four'' who led the revival under Smith, had to be talked out of a premature retirement in 1997.
Adrian Proszenko