Parramatta to resist calls to bring in an outsider to run club
News Limited
May 14, 2016 12:00AM
Brent Read
Senior sports writer
Sydney
Parramatta is set to resist the urge to bring in an outsider to claw the Eels out of their salary cap mess as leagues club boss Bevan Paul prepares to take over the day-to-day running of the football club.
The Weekend Australian understands that Paul, chief executive of Parramatta Leagues Club, has been offered the opportunity to take on more responsibility as the football club looks to compensate for the loss of chief executive John Boulous and head of football operations Daniel Anderson.
Boulous and Anderson had their registrations suspended by the NRL amid allegations the club had committed breaches of the salary cap to the tune of $3 million over four years. Both men, along with three directors implicated in the investigation, are devoting their time to answering the allegations that have been levelled against them.
The club had looked at bringing in outside help, with former North Queensland chief executive Peter Jourdain and ex-Sydney Roosters boss Bernie Gurr mooted as potential interim officials. However, it is understood the remaining four members of the board have decided that Paul represents the best option given his intimate involvement with the leagues club, which funds the football side to the tune of several million dollars each year.
Paul has a burgeoning to-do list. The club has lost two sponsors in the wake of the salary cap scandal, leaving a space on the back of their jersey that needs to be filled. The club is also in the throes of negotiating contracts with several of their stars, most notably five-eighth Corey Norman.
Norman has made no secret of his desire to stay at the Eels and it is understood the decision to let hooker Nathan Peats go was in part to ensure the club had the funds to make a competitive offer to Norman.
The classy No 6 is expected to sign a new deal in coming weeks, helping provide some solace to the club’s supporters as they attempt to find some blue sky on a cloudy horizon.
