REAL NRL: Eels keen on Maitland move
By JOSH LEESON
May 28, 2014, 10 p.m.
PARRAMATTA Leagues Club has confirmed it is interested in an amalgamation with Maitland Leagues Club.
The Newcastle Herald revealed on Saturday that the Parramatta club was one of two parties to have expressed interest in the cash-strapped backer of the Maitland Pickers.
At the time both parties were tight-lipped about the proposal, but Parramatta Leagues chief executive Bevan Paul has since confirmed that the western Sydney club is considering the move.
‘‘Parramatta Leagues Club has registered an interest and is considering the costs and benefits associated with an amalgamation with Maitland Leagues Club,’’ Paul said.
‘‘One of the potential benefits identified is tapping into local football talent. This analysis is being considered against capital expenditure projects already identified as a priority for the business.’’
Maitland Leagues Club chief executive Geoff Perkins said Parramatta’s interest was only in the early stages and he was yet to receive a proposal.
Any investment in Maitland rugby league by the NRL club could have major benefits for the Pickers and their juniors. Pickers president Frank Lawler welcomed any involvement from the Eels.
‘‘From my point of view I’m interested in the future of the Pickers, and Maitland Leagues Club is a big part of that,’’ Lawler said. ‘‘If Parramatta is the one, then I think that would be a good thing for Maitland.’’
Maitland is one of the fastest-growing towns in NSW and has long been a breeding ground for rugby league.
NSW Origin forward Greg Bird is from Maitland and Maitland products John Greaves, Noel Pidding, Don Adams and Terry Pannowitz represented Australia.
Last week, Pickers juniors Callen Edwards and Brock Lamb were selected in the NSW Combined Catholic Schools side.
‘‘If our young kids can go forward and make a career for themselves, if that’s Newcastle or Parramatta or Eastern Suburbs or Gold Coast, we’re certainly behind our kids going forward,’’ Lawler said.
Any push into the Hunter region from an NRL rival would likely affect the Knights.
But Knights chief executive Matt Gidley is not concerned.
‘‘Our focus lies entirely on creating clear pathways for our local juniors to come from our district clubs into our system and hopefully though to the NRL one day,’’ Gidley said.
‘‘We’ve been able to demonstrate that over most of our history and that has continued in recent years, where we’ve focused on quarantining the vast majority of spots in our junior rep teams for our local boys.’’
Chris Barrett reports: The Parramatta Eels are investigating the systematic tampering of memberships in the lead-up to last year’s Parramatta Leagues Club elections and a break-in and suspected theft of its records.
The investigation has found that up to 150 memberships were covertly entered into their database and backdated by three years in a ploy that gave them voting rights.
And the Eels have called in police after a break-in and the alleged theft of records last week from an archives facility near the club headquarters.
Witnesses also have told officials there was an attempt to break into a private audit room set up inside the leagues club building to carry out the investigation.
Six IT personnel have been quietly trawling through the club’s electronic records for several weeks.
Paul confirmed to Fairfax the Eels’ new inquiry.
‘‘What we know is that there has been some tampering of membership records and the tampering is of a nature that would suggest the objective is so those people could vote,’’ Paul said.
