Parramatta Eels to tackle factional warfare
Margie MDonald
The Australian
May 02, 2014 12:00AM
PARRAMATTAs faction-riddled politics will become a relic of the past if members vote on Monday to admit former Macquarie Bank executive director Bill Moss to the board.
He would become the clubs first independent director, bringing a sizeable chunk of domestic and international business acumen.
What it also does is show how serious the club is about transforming to a modern-day football business, Eels chief executive Scott Seward said yesterday.
And in further good news for the Eels, it is expected co-captain Tim Mannah will resign with the club next week.
Chairman Steve Sharp has sent a letter to all Eels members ahead of next Mondays annual general meeting at the Parramatta Leagues Club.
A copy was obtained by The Australian and in it Sharp asks members to vote on two special resolutions: (1) extending the term of the board from two to three years (2) allowing the board to appoint an independent director (Moss).
A difficulty that the club has faced over the last few years has been board instability, Sharp wrote.
The in-fighting recently has seen executives shoved out the door like Denis Fitzgerald, Paul Osborne, Roy Spagnolo, and Ken Edwards along with coaches Daniel Anderson, Stephen Kearney and Ricky Stuart.
We want people of the calibre of Bill Moss playing a role in the Parramatta Eels, Seward said yesterday.
And he wanted to be part of this club. Hes been a member of the leagues club on and off for 40 years but hes chosen now under the new leadership of Steve Sharp to come.
Someone of his pedigree wouldnt want to be part of something he doesnt think is going in the right direction.
The NRL has tied club funding to progressive and more transparent procedures by clubs including independent directors.
But Seward said the plan was hatched as far back as November last year.
We were thinking about this for a while. Its not the kind of thing that you say `The NRL believes its a good idea. Lets do it.
We as a club actually believe its a good idea. It brings business acumen and respect to our board of directors.
Seward hopes to have three independent directors on its board in the not too distant future.
To be an honest thats more a personal view, but its my goal to have more people like Bill Moss on our board.
During Moss two-decade tenure Australias pre-eminent investment bank, he led the Macquarie Real Estate Group to a point where it managed over $23 billion worth of investments around the world. He now runs his own consultancy, Moss Capital.
I dont want to sound too pretentious about this but I do think I can bring business experience, the 58-year-old said yesterday.
Ive built up lots of businesses successfully both internationally and here in Australia across all areas including sport and leisure as well as banking and real estate.
Ive learned a lot and one of the secrets of how to succeed is how to get people to work together and how to work creatively, Moss said.
Theres no doubt Parramatta rebuilding. But you need to make this sustainable for much longer. You dont want to rebuild for one successful year, he added referring to 2009 where Parramatta reached the grand final.
His appointment has the stamp of approval from NRL boss Dave Smith, who himself was a top executive at Lloyds Bank before moving across to sport.
We support the appointment of independent board members because it gives clubs improved governance and a strong future, Smith said.
Having an independent board helps ensure that decisions are made in the best interests of the entire club so it is encouraging to see the Parramatta Eels move in this direction.
