For months now, the predominant debate on this site has been who’s done right, who’s done wrong, who’s screwing who (sex tape pun unintended) and who deserves a good spanking (likewise).
And I’ve got to the point, after reading way too much of the constant back and fro, where I’m really tired of it all and need to have a vent. (If you choose to read on, you were warned!)
First and foremost. None of that past crap matters. The past is only relevant inasmuch as it guides our future. You can’t change the past, you can’t undo what was done. You can’t change the fact that people under pressure made mistakes. You can’t change the fact that the NRL chose the course it went down. And you can’t change the outcome all of this has had on our season. It’s done. And none of the recriminations, the vitriol, the conspiracy theories or the regret helps in any way shape or form.
What is going to help, is the realisation that the Parramatta Eels and the Parramatta Leagues Club are member-based clubs. As such, we are the shareholders. For most, the investment you make in the club is not necessarily a financial one, it’s an emotional one. And we all make that emotion investment, in the hope of receiving a positive emotional return somewhere down the track. Last Friday night, was a pretty nice return on investment.
However, at this point in time, we need to leave the emotion aside. We must step up as shareholders, because having been variously failed by boards, executives and regulators, the future good health of the things we love so much, literally rests in our hands. It’s time to be objective. It’s time to treat your decision-making as you would if this was your business - because if you’re a member, it actually is.
It’s time to focus on outcomes. If we get the right outcomes, the club comes out of this in potentially a stronger position than it would ever have gotten to without this level of seismic disruption.
At the end of the day, the outcome we’re after is not a new board. We have had a succession of new boards and the club is not the better for it. The right outcome is not even necessarily the right board. If you magically drop in the right board tomorrow, they still have to face election somewhere down the track and that potentially resets the entire situation anyway.
The outcome we’re after is sustainable success and stability. For that to happen, you need to fix the foundations of the club. The constitution, the way boards are selected, reporting processes and methods of accountability. Then you maximise your chances of getting a quality board, which in turns is likely to lead to having the right CEO, suitably overseen, all of which eventually flows down to success on the field and ONLY AFTER ALL THAT can we each expect to earn that positive return on our emotional investment.
Which brings us to the word of the moment - reform. You might think that after battling for so many years to have people take seriously the need for reform, that I’d now be delighted that there seems to be universal recognition that it’s needed. So much so that even those who have actively worked tirelessly against reforms, now seem to be jumping on the reform bandwagon. But it’s in danger now of just becoming a meaningless buzzword. Even the NRL who talk reform up freely when addressing the future of our club, have shown no real understanding of what is needed, because they’ve not stopped to even talk to the shareholders - yes, us members - about what needs to be done. Next we’ll likely have “tickets” who I’m sure will also preach from the gospel of reform, when the very composition of their candidature runs counter to the kinds of changes that are actually needed.
So we need to stop obsessing about the personalities. The Sharp’s, the Greenberg’s, the Moss’s. Until you fix the structure. Until you mend the processes, the club will remain broken. Nobody is God. Nobody is Devil. Don’t complicate what should be a simple, rational discussion about the future with personal judgement. Unite around a direction, rather than allowing false prophets to divide.
I ask that you keep in mind over the next couple of months, the very real need for three basic changes that are needed to turn this club around.
1. To raise the bar for the level of candidates who we trust with the guardianship of our club and avoid conflicts of interest.
2. De-politick the selection process to remove the influence of factions and facilitate education decision-making by the membership
3. Re-structure the organisation of the club so that its rules and personnel are appropriate to the businesses they relate to.
Or to put it simple, get the best people involved, get the best people selected, and then structure the joint so that it empowers good governance and strategy, rather than working against it. We get that in place, this club will turn around so quickly, we’ll wonder how it ever got into this mess in the first place. But it’s the responsibility of every one of us - and you don’t have to be a member to participate in this - to carry this message forward. This isn't a political blog and it really shouldn't be a political message. Politics is what caused all this mess. It's a business blog, because that's the approach that is so desperately needed right now.
Keep turning up for each other, people.
Replies
Great blog, Phil. It won't be easy though. As Fong put it, there are just too many dopey members who get sucked in by the politics and turn to popular figures who promise to turn things around. Even now there are heaps of people calling on Sterlo to step in despite the fact he has zero to offer. It's up to us to keep things in perspective.
Benedict, I have more faith in the NRL than you do. I liked all the messages we got from Todd Greenberg during the presser, in terms of ending the factionalism and moving forward with reform and so forth. Given that I can't see how they can possibly back a ticket where either a) the candidates are under qualified or b) every candidate can be identified with a faction/voting block and that ticker has pretty clearly been assembled on the basis of pulling enough votes together for an EGM. Now, at the end of the day, I might be wrong and end up looking naive, but I believe the NRL need and want a strong Parramatta, and if you need and want a strong Parramatta then surely there is only one choice. I've long said, the club needs healing from a factional perspective, and equally now I think it needs healing from an NRL basis. You need to have a positive relationship with all of your stakeholders if you want to end the instability and provide a platform for our business and team to succeed.
Yeh totally agree George, it is important to have these dialogues and this site is really valuable in getting a community discussion going on all of the issues we've faced. I just like to periodically press pause and get people to refocus their attention every now and again, and remember that behind all the drama, there is really important work that needs to be done and that we can't lose focus on that.
Phil, you're not worried about the links between TG, Seward and Moss? I do not trust TG at all.
Im not so sure Phil, the NRL is just really a very small amount of guys who have vested interests and bias, our best interests might not be at heart.
1eyed, great post and very thoughtful. Without knowing too much about it I agree reform of the Constitution would be a plus. I applaud you for calling for an end to the viterol.
My one caveat is that if the lawyers decide we have a good case, Parra's reputation and the reputations and livelihoods of 5 men need to be protected.
Factions however run deep. Some have emotional attachments to their respective factions the strength of which exceed the overall purpose of what should be the common goal. (K. Rudd 2010-13). We've seen that here for the last few years.
Clear thinking suggests that a merit based approach is a no brainer but the emotional attachment to an existing faction is a strong and formidable opponent and I predict will not be eliminated even if Chris' proposal is accepted and implemented.
I'll keep turning up!
That's a good perspective to have about business in general, nice one.
We need people who understand business to run the front office, not personalities and ex-players who don't.
We then need a director of football and a good coach, we have one of those, to run the football side of things. The two parts are completely different and should not be mixed. The director of football and coach decide what players they want and the board should then make it happen IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT!. If the price is NOT RIGHT then the director of football and coach need to think of someone else that the can get for the right price. That is how things need to be run, FULL STOP!!!
No more lord mayors and ex-players trying to run a business, it should not be a popularity contest, it should be the best and most qualified person for the job. We can hire a personality to do all the public speaking if our board can't stand in front of a camera.
The rubbish that has been the Parramatta board for the best part of a decade has to stop.
I'm probably asking for too much?
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