http://www.afr.com/business/sport/p...g-way-for-offfield-turnaround-20170831-gy8lmm
Parramatta's on-field surge paving way for off-field turnaround
by
John Stensholt
Parramatta's top four finish in the NRL is one of the best turnaround stories in any football code this year. The sleeping giant of the NRL – it last won the grand final in 1986 – will play finals for the first time since 2009 and it has achieved its highest position on the ladder in 12 years.
But under renowned insolvency practitioner Max Donnelly, the club has also made a start on what needs to be a huge turnaround off the field as well.
The Eels will play minor premiers Melbourne Storm in the first week of the NRL finals this weekend, but Donnelly believes an upcoming meeting for the Parramatta Leagues Club, the huge licensed venue underpinning the football team, is probably even more crucial to the club's long-term survival.
On September 13, a specially convened general meeting for Parramatta Leagues' members will be held at Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse – carparking at Parramatta is tight due to a big refurbishment being undertaken – will vote on Donnelly's pitch to change the organisation's constitution.
Donnelly has put some strict conditions on who could be a Parramatta Leagues director, including a requirement that no previous board member be able to stand, a director must have qualifications from the Australian Institute of Company Directors or agree to undertake study within 12 months, not have previously been disqualified from being a company director, as well as having other board-specific skills and qualifications.
"Simply, what has happened in the past can't happen again," Donnelly tells
The Australian Financial Review. "And this is the way to do it.
"Yes it has upset some people and it is not going to be easy. The constitution says we need at least 75 per cent of people to vote yes and they have to vote in person. I want to change this in the future, but this is what we have to do now."
Perpetual crisis
Parramatta was
in a state of perpetual crisis when the Leagues Club board was sacked and replaced with Donnelly in July last year by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority after club officials were accused of using inflated invoices to secretly pay players. The Eels had by then been fined by the NRL for cheating the salary cap, had competition points deducted and some officials were deregistered.
Former chief executive Scott Seward was given a two-year good behaviour bond in July after he had earlier pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining $221,106.50 from Parramatta Leagues by arranging and authorising false invoices between November 2014 and June 2015. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has agreed to appeal his sentence in the District Court.
Meanwhile, the thriving leagues club had pumped about $30 million into the football team over four years to keep it afloat, and the board – which included some ex-players – had been providing advice to the coach about tactics and player recruitment.
Yet despite all the dramas, Parramatta managed to win their last two games of the 2016 season.
"I thought then that the coach is obviously doing something right and has the support of the players, given they were doing so well," says Donnelly. "There was matches I remember when we only had one of our top 10 [highest paid] players on the park."
After a slow start under coach Brad Arthur this season, Parramatta has surged in the past few months, winning 11 of their last 13 matches, including beating the top two – Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos – away from home.
Donnelly has helped rebuild the football club by appointing a new board – previously, some directors were on both the football club and leagues club boards – that included current and former Telstra, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank executives, new CEO Bernie Gurr and bringing in other key management staff.
Major sponsor
The turnaround is not complete yet, as Donnelly readily admits. The Parramatta Leagues Club last year provided about $12 million to cover the football club's loss, and will have to put in close to $10 million this year to plug the gap. It also has not cut spending on its junior development program or on the elite-level football department.
Parramatta were unable to attract a major sponsor this season, and while it has signed a record number of football club members, at 24,000, average crowds for their home matches have fallen for the fourth consecutive season.
Donnelly says the Parramatta faithful were not keen on the club's temporary move to ANZ Stadium while Parramatta Stadium is redeveloped into a cutting-edge 30,000 capacity arena that will open in 2019.
But a strong season on the field will set the club up for a brighter future next year and beyond off it, with membership, sponsorship and corporate support likely to rise in 2018.
The hoped-for constitutional changes will also likely see Donnelly out of a job by next year as well, though that is the nature of his administrator role.
Until then, he's got September 13 to worry about.
"We just need as many people to get there to vote as possible. That's my message to everyone out there. Please get there and vote."
