Osborne 'honoured' to be named Eels CEO
- Ian McCullough
- July 9, 2009 - 5:04PM
New Parramatta chief executive Paul Osborne has admitted he was ready to walk away from rugby league following the negative publicity generated by players' off-field antics this season.
The former St George and Canberra prop will officially start his new role on July 13.
However, he said he was ready to quit his position on the NRL's player-manager accreditation committee, before the Eels came calling.
After joining the NRL, following a six-year stint in the ACT Legislative Assembly as well as commentating for the ABC, Osborne said he had grown tired of the recent bad headlines the game had received.
"I'd had a gutful of Rugby League and had told the NRL they needed to start looking for someone else," Osborne told AAP.
"But when I was offered this job I couldn't turn it down. I'm really looking forward to it, it is a wonderful opportunity at a great club and I am honoured to have been appointed."
Osborne will take over at the Eels in the middle of an investigation by NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert over possible indiscretions involving property deals with players and new chairman Roy Spagnolo in 2003, but says he is hopeful the matter can be resolved.
"It's obviously a distraction but I have worked very closely with Ian Schubert in the past and I am sure we will sort it out and be as open and transparent as possible and try and resolve it," he said.
Osborne also hopes the slanging match between Spagnolo and former CEO Denis Fitzgerald, who was ousted in the recent club elections after 30 years at the helm, is soon resolved.
"There is one or two issues going on between a couple of personalities but I am sure that will peter out eventually and all parties can move on," he said.
"Denis needs to be applauded for the work he did and I am certainly not going to denigrate him on what he has done for this club.
"People decided at the last election they wanted change. I am not interested in a complete overhaul, but there are some areas we can change to revitalise the club."
One of those changes Osborne wants is more involvement from club greats such as Peter Sterling, who has had very little to do with the Eels under Fitzgerald's reign.
"It is a must to get these great names on board. I want to roll out the red carpet for them," Osborne said.
"I don't know what the issues were in the past, and I don't really care.
"It is great to have Ray Price, Brett Kenny and Eric Grothe on the football club board and I want to see Peter Sterling, Steve Ella and all those greats to come in feel welcomed and make a contribution."
Osborne also said he wanted the club to go back to how it was during the golden era of supercoach Jack Gibson in the 1980s.
"The thing I always admired about Parramatta under Jack Gibson was that he took an interest in not just how players went on the field but off it as well," he said.
"I want to create a club where when we get someone in, whether it be for 12 months or 12 years, they become not only a better footballer, but a better person.
"I think given what has happened in league in the last few months we have a responsibility and I want our players and fans to be proud of their club."
