IT’S the fans who suffer most. We’ve heard that line a lot since Parramatta’s punishment was announced and, of course, it rings true.
The players whose hard fought six victories have been quashed and now face a desperate struggle to get back into finals contention while the club’s powerbrokers drag the NRL through the courts?
They were understandably irate when NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg delivered the bad news. Yet, knowingly or not, some Eels players were the recipients of the contents of the infamous under-the-table payments. Perhaps they should fire their agents instead of shooting the messenger.
Parramatta fans have been directed their nger at the wrong people.Source: News Corp AustraliaCoach Brad Arthur? Wonderfully dignified in his acceptance of the tough challenge the punishment created — win 12 from 15 and still make the play-offs. It was a demonstration of the strength and integrity some of the slippery Eels in the board room lacked.
Yet, as unfair as this might seem, Arthur’s success is so far is built on a lie. He has been the seemingly unwitting beneficiary of a non-compliant team. Now he has to squeeze his squad and start again.
It is the fans who were, as ever, the innocent bystanders. The poor saps who believed their underperforming club was on the verge of a long-awaited renaissance.
Yet — predictably — the outrage of most Parramatta fans was directed at the NRL for punishing their club. As was the case with Melbourne Storm, the pathetically nonsensical “everyone cheats the cap’’ line was sprouted to defend the indefensible.
It was yet another case where the passion of fans is used against them by the conniving and the self-interested. Where the insular “us against the world’’ mentality leads supporters to grant infallibility to administrators — or in other cases, even coaches or players — who let them down, and howl about imagined persecution and NRL conspiracies.
Surely the evidence in the Parramatta case is so compelling disgruntled fans should have stormed Eels’ headquarters demanding the Gang of Five obey the NRL direction to stand down. Instead, Parramatta supporters have allowed their club to be hijacked by a succession of ham-fisted administrations who were so bad at cheating that all the NRL could take from the trophy cabinet was an Auckland Nines cup and a couple of wooden spoons.
Eels fan are organising a march to the ground for their next home game — should it be a protest?Source: News Corp AustraliaThis is not to blame Eels’ fans for the club’s plight. But the lack of outrage and calls for accountability from the club’s most important stakeholders is symptomatic of a competition where the fans voice is usually only heard on game day.
Ownership models where leagues clubs have as much control as voting members don’t help those fans trying to challenge the powers that be. At Parramatta, allegations of falsified membership records, dodgy elections and have also been rife.
But in too many NRL clubs the conmen and the corrupt have exploited docile and compliant members. Or, worse, fans who don’t even bother taking up voting rights. In that regard, it is still bewildering to those outside the game that the merger between historic Balmain and West Sydney was decided by just a few thousands votes.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has done his best to take the heat of the fans and players.Source: News Corp AustraliaIf fans don’t have the will or the means to hold their own clubs to account, then the NRL has seemed equally powerless. Parramatta’s economic muscle — a lucrative pokie empire and its share of media rights money — leaves the NRL with few levers to pull.
It is the great irony of NRL club administration — and the reason many top-flight businessmen refuse to join club boards — that the game’s wealth enables self-interested powerbrokers, club legends and “colourful identities’’ to run multi-million dollar business like sandwich shops.
The Parramatta disaster is merely one example of the retrograde management practices former NRL chief executive Dave Smith tried vigorously to address. But the Eels proved to be Smith’s Vietnam.
Rightly Smith’s successor Todd Greenberg has received lavish praise for the forthright manner with which dealt with Parramatta’s rorting. But over the long term, it will be fascinating to see if he can help engineer meaningful change or merely broker another uneasy peace.
Eels’ fans should stand behind those trying to clean up their club’s mess. Not those who dragged it into the swamp.
Replies
Yet another reporter giving Greenberg a blowjob
And I would like the NRL to appoint it
Most fans blaming the nrl? Ok let's see the stats please.
From what I see on here and out on the street just about everyone has called for the board to step down once due process has been followed or even before, but either way pretty sure the majority of us fans have spoken quiet emphatically on this and the message is loud and clear, fix our board issues. We have had enough!
What we want are details so we can make up our own minds. Who did what and when.
For example, break down the $3m on a per year and per event basis, don't just say we are $3m over. Not all of it is under the table stuff (if any how would we know haven't seen the detail) most as I understand it are NRL endorsed third parties which after closer examination became illegal ( citrus score cube) and were therefore added to the cap.
Spell it out for the fans please NRL. Show us what you found in detail not these grandiose figures which are so large they almost become meaningless.
Chris : You want things spelt out. Well, so do we all. But yesterday the wonderful NRL(according to that News Ltd hack Hines!) applied to the Supreme Court to have a confidential order place over the thirty four page breech notice placed upon the Eels by Greenberge at Tuesday`s press circus. This came about because the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday published part of that notice which implies Greenberge was complicit in TPA`s in that he gave advice to Seward to that effect. It was OK for the breech notice to be freely available from Tuesday to Friday but after seeing Friday`s SMH story they rush to the Supreme Court for a confidential order.! It just shows how smart Greenberge really is letting something like that out to the public domaine. It also show how smart and attentive were The NRL`s legal team in missing that. With that as our opponents were are in with a real chance.
Our board have done some stupid things but nothing so stupid as Greenberge and his legal team.
So now, because the board refused to go quietly and we, the fans have not run them out of town on the rail, we are being targeted. If we do not believe Todd Greenburg when he declares from on high that our club is guilty as charged then we are too stupid to feed, especially given all the undeniable evidence.
The only thing is that this evidence has not been presented to us. Show me the evidence and I will happily go fetch my pitchfork, Until then, stop trying to "insult" us into action!
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next