I, along with a small group of fellow 1 Eyed Eel members, had the pleasure of attending last night's State of the Union dinner.
It was a terrific night to put some faces to names as well as hear what the management of the club is putting in place to continue building towards being the biggest sporting club in Australia.
Parramatta Leagues Club CEO, Bevan Paul was the first speaker and he touched on a number of important issues.
Firstly, that the financial situation of the club has greatly improved. In the short time that the current management has been in power, they have reduced spending and increased the profit margin.
What stuck with me is that previously we had been out-sourcing a lot of the jobs within the club, including security and some in-house staff which simply bleeds money.
Paul's biggest announcement was of course the $100 million re-development of the precinct which included a new carpark, hotel, aquatic centre and bowling alley.
This re-development will hopefully go hand-in-hand with the re-development of Pirtek Stadium and will make Parramatta a real communal hub for Western Sydney, preventing a need to move to ANZ Stadium.
Scott Seward was up next and his address was one of the most forward thinking I've ever seen.
The rugby league club had been running at a severe loss for the past decade, putting the future of the club in doubt.
In the past year though, the rugby league club turned a profit. Seward iterated that his goal was to make the rugby league club run without financial assistance from the leagues club.
A further point was the focus on junior development with at least 50% of the playing squad in 2020 being Eels juniors.
The biggest point that Seward made though was the desire for on-field success. The want to play finals football continuously and to secure two premierships by 2020.
He also added that the club would not be measuring itself against local teams in terms of membership and finances, instead they wanted to measure themselves against the largest international sides from different codes.
Despite all that, my biggest point from Seward was that, at no time, did he say they were looking at moving away from Parramatta.
He mentioned that they wanted Pirtek Stadium re-developed and not once did he say that ANZ Stadium was an option.
After last night, I firmly believe that our club is heading in the right direction under current management and that we can definitely hit those benchmarks that have been set.
Replies
On the 50% of Eels juniors did you know if he meant local juniors or 16-18 year olds that would be brought in from other districts?
And on the stadium redevelopment and the $100million investment would that mean we won't be playing at Parra stadium for a year or 2 or will we still play with the construction going on?
I am very excited for the future, and with the transition the club is going through I believe we're on the cusp of something great. And I know I posted this in another blog but I just love it too much not to post it again.
Didn't specify Ham, but I'm guessing he'd be referring to kids who have come through our junior system and that would include boys brought in to our junior reps.
Hard to know what is going to happen Stadium-wise until the government finally make their announcement. I think most people are expecting something pretty soon, so hopefully that clarifies shortly. All the work happening in the precinct is being managed to cause as little disruption as possible. I think the Football office goes first and there will be temporary parking there, while they get the first two levels of the carpark up as quickly as possible, then I believe they open that up while the rest of the structure goes up around it.
In terms of the stadium re-development, if the State Government gives the go-ahead, they usually do it in stages over the off-season. I'd imagine we'd still play out of Parramatta.
Ham I disagree with your interpretation of what a local junior is. If kids are recruited from outside the district and play Matts and Ball for us as well as play for a local junior team like Wenty, Cabra or Hills (which is what they do after the jnr rep season is completed) - then as far as I'm concerned that qualifies them to be called a local junior.
We schooled them, we looked after their welfare with accommodation and the provision of local footy parents and we developed them as footballers. They're ours mate.
As for the stadium, the current government appears to be the crucial player. Change may mean back to square one.
Can I get a guarantee that a certain cameraman wasn't at work uploading discussions from last night? Top evening and enjoyed the company.
Hi guy's great news about Foran if it turns out to be true notice some of you were lucky enough to be present at the State of the Union dinner was that by invitation or a pot luck draw also can anybody bring me up to date re Bill Moss and the premier Club thanks guy's
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