Parramatta Eels scandal: High time for an apology
I’m sorry for dragging down the reputation of the greatest little city on earth with our systemic lying and cheating.
I apologise for my board’s infighting that has denied Eels fans a premiership since 1986 and denied the players the strong ‘‘front office’’ they deserve. I’m ashamed of the role some player managers and players themselves had in the deceit and illegal payments, and I’m sorry that some claim ignorance as they spend their cash backhanders on drugs, hookers and their bikie mates.
I feel terrible other teams have lost to my team that evaded the salary cap, and for threatening the reputation of all NRL teams.
I am devastated the name Parramatta is now synonymous with incompetence and illegality and made us a laughing stock and I pity the Eels legends whose proud legacy is threatened by this chaos and the Eels members whose money has been squandered by management.
And, finally, I’m sorry that our love of the mighty Eels has allowed this sad tale to go on forever and that the people who are most guilty still won’t say sorry and hang their heads in shame. There. I’ve said it.
It’s tough to face the truth that your heroes are wrong. It’s tough to face the reality that a club you love to death is actually doing harm, not good. It’s heartbreaking to have to speak ill of blokes you have been friends with for years. But it’s even harder to watch the destruction of the once-great Parramatta Eels and to see the effect on a city that has raised and nurtured you.
I worked at Parramatta Macca’s, I saw Star Wars as an 11-year-old at the Roxy Theatre and played a few junior rep games for the Eels. I grew up chanting “Parra, Parra!” in the wooden stands of the hallowed Cumberland Oval, and I was at the Leagues Club the night we burnt the old rattler to the ground celebrating our grand final victory. (Luckily my old man was the local MP and minister for sport who convinced Hawkey to fund a new Parramatta Stadium!)
Later in life I set up the Parramatta Partnership Forum and helped spark an urban revival that has now seen billions of dollars flow into the city. I also formed the Parramatta Business Roundtable to give the Eels some uptown corporate support and authored the “Heartland Report” for the NRL Commission in 2012.
My pride in Parramatta’s potential is matched only by my shame in the actions of my football club. It’s time we all said sorry and demanded that all the local warlords walk away and allow the administrator Max Donnelly and NRL boss Todd Greenberg to clean it out. It’s going to be a struggle to regain credibility with sponsors, journalists and locals but integrity and transparency must be our mantra. The structures and cultures that governed rugby league in 1908 are not the best models for a billion dollar code in 2016.
Hardest of all, we have to endure another finals series without the Blue & Golds because of the NRL’s tough, but fair, sanctions against us.
However, they do breed ‘em tough in the west. Hope springs eternal in Parramatta, there’s a new sheriff in town and you can never write off the Greatest Game of All.
Christopher Brown is chair of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue and an Eels tragic
Replies
Fair call from Chris Brown, if he feels like he has to apologise because nobody at our club has, fair enough.
Never apologise for something you didn't do. Golden rule.
An interesting and pertinent apology from Sinners?
I won't apologise for continuing to wear my jersey.
I won't apologise for continuing to turn up for the matches despite having the points stripped from my team.
I won't apologise for spending the time to write about my team.
I won't apologise, especially because the actions of a few (including those not being sanctioned) have destroyed the efforts and the hopes of so many.
Maybe Chris feels guilty for voting the board in, maybe he even supported Spagnolo and Fitzy before, who knows, it is a little over the top though lol
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