Parramatta Eels members invited to movie screening on same night as club AGM
t's expected to be the most fiery annual general meeting in Parramatta's history - and club officials are inviting members to go to the movies instead.
In what might be interpreted as an oversight by some and a diversion by others, Eels members have been sent an offer to "meet and mingle" with players before viewing a screening of the film Broke at Event Cinemas Parramatta on Monday, May 2.
That just happens to be the same evening as the Parramatta Leagues Club AGM where club chairman Steve Sharp and the rest of the Eels board, if they're still in power, are expected to be grilled from the floor about the salary cap scandal threatening to bring the team's encouraging season to its knees.
By that point it is likely to be abundantly clear just how seriously the NRL is taking the club's series of alleged third-party payment breaches, with a penalty involving a loss of competition points tipped before the end of next week.
If that is the case and Sharp and co are still clinging on, the AGM shapes as living up to its colourful recent history, even though it is not an election year. At the 2014 edition, the chairman's former premiership teammate and factional enemy Terry Leabeater was ejected from the auditorium after throwing his voting paddle in front of Sharp in disgust. On that farcical night a motion for a code of conduct for directors was even voted down.
On the agenda this year are resolutions that include a protection for members against privatisation and constitutional amendments including a rule that would prohibit ex-employees from running for the board for at least three years after they finish working at the club.
For those who brush the movie offer and opt for the AGM, though, the salary cap saga is sure to be a hot topic.
Broke, the fictional account of an ex-North Sydney player who in retirement struggles with alcohol and gambling, is apparently a fine drama.
The Parramatta AGM might well be filed on the 'action' shelf.
