Parramatta Eels dressing room and chairman's suite out of bounds for five officials
Date
May 10, 2016 - 8:29PM
Chris Barrett
Sports Writer
The Eels dressing room and the chairman's suite at Pirtek Stadium will be off limits for the five suspended Parramatta officials on Friday night - unless they want to risk having the NRL retrospectively remove more competition points from Brad Arthur's team.
The NRL agreed in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday that they couldn't instruct chairman Steve Sharp, directors Tom Issa and Peter Serrao, chief executive John Boulous and football manager Daniel Anderson on how they should carry out their duties during the show-cause period of the salary cap saga but the governing body has made it clear that when it reaches a final determination on the Eels' penalty next month it will frown upon any actions that extend beyond the basic.
That includes performing formal duties in the corporate hospitality areas at Parramatta's home ground, as blazer-wearing directors would ordinarily do, or hanging around in the dressing room after full-time.
The NRL's expectations of suspended officials' conduct on game days, starting on Friday night against Souths, were expected to be discussed on Tuesday night when the Eels' four fully active directors - Geoff Gerard, Paul Garrard, Tanya Gadiel and Andrew Cordwell - were gathering to meet with auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
With the club and the individuals implicated in the scandal having until June 3 to respond to breach notices, there is an all-hands-on-deck approach being taken at Parramatta, with Sharp and co largely sidelined.
The club has functioned as recently as last year with only four directors and when the board of the Parramatta National Rugby League Club sits down for its next scheduled meeting later this month there will be only that many at the table.
While Sharp, Issa and Serrao have taken a back seat aside from responding to the breach notices and attending to their statutory and fiduciary duties, sources say there has been no suggestion of any of the remaining quartet being elevated into an interim chairmanship.
The remaining senior officials have in recent days held extensive talks with the club's legal team - Carroll & O'Dea Lawyers and barrister Peter Skinner - as they contemplate their response to the allegations levelled against Parramatta, separate from the court action taken by Sharp, Issa, Serrao, Boulous and Anderson over their suspensions.
While it is understood there will be a mea culpa of some description when the club files its submission to the NRL they will push for a reduction in the preliminary penalty announced on May 3.
The Parramatta hierarchy maintains it should have been given a chance to respond to claims made by former CEO Scott Seward and ex-team manager Jason Irvine in interviews with NRL investigators before League Central settled on a 12-point deduction, $1 million fine and deregistration of the five officials, and that evidence has not been tested.
They also argue there has not been an appropriate disclosure of the transcripts of NRL interviewees, citing the fact they have only received a statement from Seward not his full interview. The NRL insists it has provided all material upon which it based its decision.
Sharp, Issa and Serrao remain on the board of the Parramatta Leagues Club but Liquor & Gaming NSW, which is investigating the matter itself, has the power to remove directors if it sees fit.
