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http://www.cairnspost.com.au/sport/...he-quit-the-club/story-fnjpuwsz-1227291206939
Former PNG Hunters CEO and Cairns man Brad Tassell opens up about why he quit the club
ADORNED in a basketball singlet, facial hair slightly unkempt, Brad Tassell is a picture of leisure at his Trinity Beach home.
It is in the days after Australia won their fifth cricket World Cup, plastering a week-long smile on a rugby league man who freely admits his true sporting love involves a bat and ball.
How quickly times change.
It is barely three weeks since the Cairns-born former NRL player quit his post as chief executive of the PNG Hunters and PNGRFL in spectacular style.
An angry resignation letter took aim at the critics, the bad people, that undermined his long tenure in a league outpost still resistant to waking from its endless slumber.
The relaxed beach attire Tassell wears today cloaks the somersaults that have been governing his mind.
The pain in his eyes is evident. So too is the pride.
This was four and a half years of a life spent building a franchise others were remorselessly eager to lop down.
By the end of his days in the Pacific nation, the death threats and daily beatings on social media were so intense Tassell was lucky to sleep three hours each night.
Ultimately, walking away was not only his best option but his only one.
I love the Hunters and I loved working there and setting that up, he says.
It gives me great satisfaction but the other parts of the job were just too difficult to handle.
There are a lot of bad people that need to be flushed out.
Its a beautiful country and the majority of the people are beautiful people.
I look at what we set up and what we achieved in that small amount of time and Im very proud.
But most of that time I was under pretty extreme pressure, and not just work pressure.
I had pressure from people trying to undermine what we were trying to do.
That wasnt a weekly thing or a monthly thing; thats day after day, hour after hour for four and a half years.
It got to the point where I thought Whats the point? Im not enjoying being here, particularly the past six months.
On March 10, Tassell finally pulled the pin on a franchise he joined brother Jason, the Hunters strength and conditioning coach, in helping build.
Im pretty happy with my decision to leave, he says.
I would have liked to have stayed at least until the World Cup that was our plan.
Some of the people (who were criticising) I have never even met in my life.
I heard one bloke had a vendetta because I didnt give him a discount on merchandise when he came up to PNG. These things are ridiculous.
There are former administrators out to undermine us.
These are the sorts of guys who had a vested interest in the game being in a mess because its the way they made money.
Outside influences and the politics of the game up there is extraordinary.
Every politician wants to be involved in the game because its so prestigious.
Indeed, behind the deafening wall of adoring fans lies a seedy underbelly of PNG league greed, an ugly image that Tassell stared down for years.
There were repeated hackings of his Facebook and email accounts, as well as break-ins to his locked office.
Welcome to a day in the life of a PNG sports administrator.
The death threats, I tried to trace where they were from because there were random text messages and old email addresses, Tassell says.
At first I thought it was part of the job but it was pretty constant.
There were a lot of attacks on myself as a person and my integrity.
Then it spilt over to my staff, to Shane (interim CEO Shane Morris) or to Jason.
I found that pretty unacceptable.
It was just getting to the point that it was pretty unbearable and I thought You know what, Ive had enough.
I can go back home and do something else and have less stress.
Papua New Guineas loose laws on social media fed endless accusations ranging from the brazen to the bizarre.
I would have loved that if people came up to me on the streets, he says.
Then I could see who they are. But it was people hiding behind aliases.
When they are faceless, you cant do anything about it.
Everything we did, no matter what it was, was criticised.
I can handle criticism no worries.
But when it starts to get derogatory and defamatory, thats when you have got to think Enough is enough.
What Tassell did not bank on was the wave of support that followed his departure.
PNG Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko was among those who mourned the sports loss in the days after Tassells exit.
It is a great disappointment, the faceless people on Facebook and in the social media should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for what they have done to this man, he said.
He is a true champion of rugby league, he has done his best in what he can do and he will be definitely missed.
PNGRFL chairman Sandis Tsaka called Tassell irreplaceable.
He has never sought or asked for credit or recognition for his work, he just gets the job done and has done so much for rugby league in PNG, he said.
We will struggle to find someone of his calibre.
The Hunters playing group even drafted a letter urging a backflip, while a campaign was launched to reinstate Tassell.
I was pretty shocked by the support, he says.
I didnt realise that the general community and public up there were so overwhelmingly in support of me.
When it was announced I just got incredible support.
That bowled me over.
It was good to know that the work that I had done had such an impact.
Some of the players I got messages from were pretty heartbreaking.
I have had a lot to do with a lot of these players.
I toyed with the idea (of returning) and thought I could go back and do just the Hunters job.
Id never want to do the PNGRFL job because its too big of a target on your back.
I think they are going to struggle to find anyone to take up that position.
But I have made my decision and thats pretty final in my mind.
Hopefully this might have a positive effect and people will realise that you have got to let people do their job.
Tassells empire is no fluke.
Long days spent trying to flip attitudes was tough.
He introduced new levels of structure into the games governance and modified the previously untouched 35-year-old constitution.
For the first time, the PNGRFL presented audited accounts dating back five years at its last AGM.
We felt it was important to be open to our rugby league members, Tassell says.
PNG has got a lot of issues as far as their rugby league structure goes and we were starting to get a base set up.
The Hunters are fine because they have been set up from scratch.
The other issues in the country are pretty endemic.
The Hunters program is the shining light.
We always knew it was going to take three years to weed out the bad attitude.
It needs to stay at the level it is. Its a program the whole country wont want to let go.
The results are becoming obvious to the point of in-your-face.
South Sydney Rabbitohs train and trial duo Wartovo Puara and Thompson Teteh are on the verge of NRL recognition, while the Cowboys have had their eyes trained on five-eighth and captain Israel Eliab.
The promise of three new Port Moresby-based stadiums by 2016, each with a capacity of about 25,000, means talk of an NRL franchise has gone from fiction to feasible.
Tentative plans have been made to base Hunters-aligned Cyril Connell and Mal Meninga Cup squads in Cairns during their six-week seasons.
There is also the $3 million turnover the Intrust Super Cup entity generated in 2014, including a first-year profit.
Security was the No.l concern the QRL had before we got in, Tassell says.
But we proved that it was not an issue.
The NRL should be thinking Well, if they can do that (make a profit) with a Queensland Cup team what can they do with an NRL team?.
Originally I thought 10 years and we could have an NRL team but it could be sooner than that. If the Hunters go as we expect them to then it could be much sooner.
Sadly, Tassell is no longer in a position to address key performance factors such as PNG not having a single level 1 accredited coach or referee.
He can only hope the rigid but vital processes put in place for the playing group remain untouched.
The talent is there and always has been but it never had a pathway, he says.
There was no talent identification or promotion of the players to ISC or NRL clubs.
What we have done is given them that pathway.
The players have their diet monitored, they are tested for speed and hydration daily and theres a fully equipped gym.
Imagine what its going to be like in two or three years.
Its made it easier for NRL clubs because they are seeing the players every week now.
Tassell leaves behind coach Michael Marum, a man he huge amount of respect for, as well as his brother.
Jason Tassell was initially due to exit PNG as well in a show of support but was talked into staying on for another year.
In a sign of the belief in the Hunters program, Jason knocked back a lucrative offer to join the support staff of NRL club the Sydney Roosters to remain.
He has been a massive part of the success of the Hunters, Tassell says of his brother.
They are big and strong and very fit and its because of him.
Michael as well, he is as good as any coach I have worked with.
I have had staff members with me from the start.
We had a tight-knit group built on trust and reliability.
I had a lot of meetings with players and staff saying This whole thing has got to be built on trust.
Sadly, that is a promise tarnished mercilessly by others.
nstead, Tassell is looking at the next chapter of his life.
Ill stay in Cairns for a while, the father of three says.
Ive got a few offers that Im thinking about.
Im not 100 per cent sure what I want to do but I want to stay involved in rugby league.
Ill sit down over the next few weeks and think about what I want to do.
All my kids are grown up so I can pick up my stuff and move to Sydney or Brisbane or Townsville tomorrow.
I went up to PNG by myself and it was one of the best things Ive ever done.
Any time I get the chance to watch the Hunters I will.
Winning the ISC in the next two years would be great and I think they will make the finals this year.
It would be great satisfaction if that happens.
Im a Hunters man.
