A GROUP of fed-up Parramatta legends have formed a rebel alliance to end the club's "vendettas, factions, self-destruction and divisions".
Former champion Eels players John Kolc and Steve Sharp have become so frustrated that they announced yesterday they would run for the Leagues Club board as independents.
The pair have the backing of premiership-winning stars Mick Cronin, Peter Wynn and Bob O'Reilly.
Kolc and Sharp have sent a letter - under the heading Parramatta United - to the club's 600 members which expresses their disgust at watching the Eels be "torn apart by politics and vendettas".
In a strongly worded letter - obtained by The Daily Telegraph - Kolc and Sharp talk about "construction, not destruction" and a desire to "unify our great club".
Parramatta's board has been under pressure all season over a string of issues, including the controversial sacking of coach Daniel Anderson.
"We have had enough divisions," Kolc and Sharp wrote.
"We have had enough leaks from the board. We have had enough of private club matters being splashed across back pages of the papers because confidentialities can't be kept.
"We have had enough of sackings and redundancies of managers and coaches and wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers and investigators. We have had enough of The Daily Telegraph supporting one faction and [radio broadcaster] Ray Hadley being highly critical of that faction. Our club is the big loser!
"We have had enough publicity of [Ray] Price v [Denis] Fitzgerald. Professionalism, not personalities."
Kolc is a former halfback who represented Australia, while Sharp was a hard-working second-rower involved with the Eels' premiership successes in the early 1980s. The pair claim they will not align themselves to a faction.
"We are about unifying Parramatta, looking ahead and learning from the past," they wrote. "We have had enough of self-destruction. Let's all work together to reclaim our position as the premier club in the NRL, the NSWRL and junior league. Parramatta, it is time to unite."
Cronin, an Eels great who won four premierships with the club, wants to see "things turned around".
Asked about Kolc and Sharp, Cronin said: "What they say sounds good - they want a united Parramatta."
The Parramatta AGM starts at 7.30pm on Tuesday, December 14. The football club elections will be held early next year.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/stop-tearing-eels-apart/story-e6frexnr-1225963574611
Replies
Sharpie, who got the first ever try scored at Parramatta Stadium, you have my vote!! Good luck!! You know I'm going to hit you up for a job if you get on the board!! haha
How awesome would it be to work with the Eels? Coming in to work would put a smile on my face 100% of the time.
You dont have to be einstein to work out whats going on here!!!!
I would have a fair bet and yes I maybe speculating that 85-95% of members wanted Fitzgerald out the 3 p ticket ran by Price Grothe and Leabeater gave members a choice, the members unaminously voted and ousted Fitzy and went with 3 P!!
Like the 3p ticket that swept to power to say their is no vendettas or personal conflicts involved with this new ticket is nonsense, 3P had the majority of the members and regardless if it was personal or not the fans were sick and tired of the Fitzgerald "dictator like administration" they were just happy to see the guy out of the club!!!!
The timing of this new ticket considering it is the first year for 3P and a turbulent one at that.seems way to bloody convenient to me and suggests the new ticket is going to use the teams poor form and bad press as leverage in the upcoming election
Clearly anyone who nominates themselves at anytime in the next decade are Fitzgerald stooges. Run them out of town FFS.
So what, us members don't have an option, it's stick with the current board no questions about it? After a season of endless leaks and terrible recruitment strategies?
The club needs unity, and we are not getting that right now.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 5 Next