EXCLUSIVE: BRETT Kenny, the former champion player who demanded change on Parramatta's board four years ago, claims to feel "let down by failed promises and miserable results". Kenny, who played 265 first-grade games for the Eels, was a key member of the rebel 3P ticket which toppled Denis Fitzgerald and his board in 2009.
With Parramatta Leagues Club elections tomorrow, Kenny has revealed he has walked away from the board he helped to win power under chairman Roy Spagnolo.
Kenny has gone as far as to link with the rival ParraFirst ticket, led by former Eels premiership-winning forward Steve Sharp.
On the ParraFirst "how-to-vote" card, Kenny said: "Four years ago, like many others, I supported the 3P ticket hoping for change. Today, I feel let down by failed promises, miserable results and the fact that those same board members that we lent our support to have accepted no responsibility or accountability for their performance."
In 2009, Kenny was full of hope for the club, saying at the time: "We want to ask some questions about what's been happening. We want former players back at the club, too. There are a lot of corporate boxes at Parramatta Stadium and it would be great if we could get guys like Mick Cronin back and visiting those boxes."
Kenny has now changed his stance.
"I will be holding the board to account for their lack of success and will be voting for Steve Sharp and the ParraFirst team," Kenny said.
The ParraFirst ticket has secured another high-profile supporter in Cronin, the brilliant centre for Parramatta, NSW and Australia from the 1970s and '80s.
"I fully support Steve Sharp and his ParraFirst team, who will put the interests of the club and its members first," Cronin said. "They will be honest, transparent and exercise the highest level of corporate governance.
"I will be voting for ParraFirst."
The leagues board runs the Parramatta Eels NRL franchise.
The ParraFirst motto is: "Putting members, footy and community first."
Sharp was part of the Parramatta Eels sides that claimed four premierships during the 1980s.