Club first. Team second. Individual third.
That is the mantra of Steve Sharp, the Parramatta chairman who ran straight up the steps of the Supreme Court the moment the NRL identified him as one of the five officials responsible for systematically rorting the salary cap.
The previous evening Sharp fronted the faithful at the Parramatta Leagues Club's annual general meeting.
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"If there have been things that have been done wrong, we will have to accept that, that it has happened on our watch," Sharp told the faithful, adding that he would stand down if his presence risked competition points.
That Sharp – along with his deputy chair Tom Issa, fellow director Peter Serrao, CEO John Boulous and footy ops manager Daniel Anderson – is now in the mire is bad news for Eels tragics. Unless, of course, you are a grinning Denis Fitzgerald, the self-proclaimed Emperor holding court at your own press conference in Moore Park after the NRL announced its preliminary findings against the Eels.
So how did it get to this? How does a club with so much going for it – a proud history, a massive junior base, a rusted-on following and a home ground set to be redeveloped – tear itself apart? A club with no points and, if the allegations against the club and the so-called 'gang of five' are upheld, no idea?
Parramatta was caught out not because it rorted the cap on an industrial scale, but due to the Clouseau-esque manner in which it went about the task. The NRL alleges that, since 2012, the Eels illegally overspent to the tune of $3 million. Given the team earned two wooden spoons in the ensuing period, one can only imagine how it would have performed had it been cap compliant.
There are many internal and external factions at the Eels. There hasn't been peace in the west since Fitzgerald was ousted by Roy Spagnolo in the board elections of 2009. Sharp then dethroned Spagnolo, setting up three distinct blocs all jostling for power.
The divisions between them have blurred over time as Sharp became a common enemy for the other two. Then fractures appeared within the Eels organisation itself. Employees were turned into disgruntled former employees.
The 'Marist Mafia' – a term given to a clique including Anderson, Serrao and Issa because of their links to Parramatta Marist – were viewed with suspicion by those inside and outside the operation.
Some fear former Macquarie Bank executive Bill Moss is secretly putting together a consortium to privatise the blue and golds.
Under threat on so many fronts, the cheats couldn't afford to slip up if they were to prosper. Minuting their deceit in board minutes wasn't a good start.
Even the official record keeping at the club raised questions. There had been rumours that, in contravention of the rules, third-party agreement sponsors had illegally been offered corporate hospitality in return.
A former Eels employee and life member stood up at the AGM seeking answers. None were forthcoming.
"There is $200,000 extra [spent] in servicing sponsors," said the member, pointing to the club's own figures via its annual report.
"There is a significant increase in sponsorship servicing but income has only increased by $16,000 … it's exorbitant that income has not increased relative to expenditure."
The response from Parramatta Leagues Club boss Bevan Paul: "I agree."
Parramatta have churned through six CEOs, four head coaches and 25 directors in the space of just seven years. What they needed was a steady hand. Instead, they went for a quick fix.
Inflated and fictitious invoices were raised. TPA sponsors watched the action at Pirtek Stadium from corporate boxes they didn't pay for.
There were plenty of clues something was amiss and, on February 3, Fairfax Media provided the public with the first. A TPA for Anthony Watmough wasn't properly disclosed to head office. And then as late as last Sunday, we revealed the NRL was poised to make a determination on whether a separate TPA for the man dubbed 'Choc' was sufficiently at arm's length from a club consultant to avoid a salary cap breach.
The former consultant, Tracy McKelligott, spoke to the NRL integrity unit voluntarily in March. Given Rugby League Central then chose to engage her company's services to promote Friday's Test match between Australia and New Zealand indicates there was no issue with her version of events.
Those anomalies were just some to arise from the 700,000-plus documents the NRL had been forensically examining. Another oft-quoted Sharp-ism is his desire to get Parramatta "smelling like a football club again". The NRL smelled a rat and ended up catching five.
What is patently clear is that those currently responsible for running the salary cap at Parramatta should be wearing dunce caps. So badly has the roster been mismanaged that the Eels, before their cheating came to light, were over the limit for five seasons out of the last six.
In 2014, it took just one game to bust the second-tier threshold. On 17 occasions that season, the club was pinged for fielding players without the prior consent of salary cap auditor Jamie L'Oste Brown, ultimately resulting in a $465,000 penalty.
If that wasn't fiscally irresponsible enough, the club's initial contract offer to Kieran Foran included a clause that allowed him to walk away at any time of his choosing – and be rewarded with a $1 million payment for his troubles.
Upon taking over from Scott Seward as CEO, Boulous surveyed the damage and declared, via a blazing Sun-Herald headline: "This will never happen again".
That the side remained competitive in this environment is testament to Brad Arthur. Now, with his captain and playmaker in rehab, his executive in disarray and his team 12-point backmarkers in a Stawell Gift-style race to the play-offs, the coach must again hold the Eels together.
Arthur has been through this before. He was an assistant to Craig Bellamy when the Storm were busted for systematically rorting the cap. Back then Arthur saw the club's former CEO, Brian Waldron, step forward and accept all the blame.
For a brief period, Waldron considered penning a tell-all book but, in proof there is some honour among thieves, he threw no one else under the bus.
No one is taking responsibility at Parramatta. Of all nights, the club chose Monday to screen and promote the outstanding Australian movie Broke. However, the record number of punters at the AGM suggested the members were keen to witness a different locally produced drama. Sharp used that occasion to again hit out at "smear campaigns" and "personal agendas".
He reiterated the view that the latest crisis was the result of the current administration working through problems it had inherited from the previous one. His refusal to stand down after receiving a breach notice suggests his views haven't changed.
"In your own mind you justify bad behaviour," Waldron told Fairfax Media during the week. "That's what took place at the Storm.
"Acceptance is a huge part of the whole process. Clearly there are five people that have been implicated [at Parramatta] and they have two choices."
