Eels Blogs

Brian Smith coached Parramatta for nine seasons. His role as Eels football operations manager wasn't so enduring. Smith came one day; was gone the next.

It was late 2013. Yet again, the Eels were struggling to extract themselves from a cesspit of internal turmoil. Coach Ricky Stuart had just walked-out. Brad Arthur had just taken over, but not without a mind-boggling twist. His main rival for the job, Jason Taylor, was initially hired and even completed a video interview with the club's in-house media team. Then the board had a change of heart - and not for the last time.

Soon after Arthur became coach, Smith was invited to a meeting with senior staff and board members. The veteran didn't know what to expect. So he asked the directors to cut to the chase. "You're going to be our new football operations manager," they told him. Unemployed for the past year after being axed by the Roosters, Smith appeared happy to be coming home. His happiness was short-lived.

Another change of heart and Parramatta turned its affections toward another former coach: Daniel Anderson. In a strange move, Anderson was appointed directly by the board on a four-year deal worth around $1 million. It's understood that no other staff at the time enjoyed a fixed-term of employment, and what's more, Anderson's contract came with a generous payout clauses.

Anderson's coaching record was impressive, but not compelling. He'd reached grand finals with the Warriors and Eels, only to be sacked from both clubs shortly after receiving his runners-up medal. So what made him so irresistible to Parramatta in 2013, just three years after he was shown the door? Anderson enjoyed staunch support from one director, Peter Serrao, a former schoolmate from Parramatta Marist. The pair also earned their stripes as junior coaches together. Another director and now deputy chairman, Tom Issa, is also a Parramatta Marist boy.

While Arthur did not answer to Anderson at that time, the presence of an infinitely more senior coach in the same office unsettled the rookie. What un-nerved Arthur was the length of Anderson's contract: four years as opposed to his two. Anderson's role also extended into recruitment, which Arthur, as head coach, wanted full control over. Inevitably, the pair would clash and clash they did.

The first disagreement was over young prop Daniel Alvaro. The 22-year-old has earned the nickname 'Son of Daniel' because Anderson had to push so hard to sign him. The second disagreement surrounded Richie Fa'aoso, whom Arthur admired from his time as assistant coach at Manly in 2013. Anderson, however, was reluctant to sign a player who had not strapped on the boots for 18 months since suffering a broken neck. A red tape insurance nightmare with the NRL ensued, and Anderson was not inclined to work on the case.

But Anderson could not deny the appeal of Keiran Foran, who signed with the Eels purely to continue his career under Arthur. Foran's scalp was a huge boon for the club, not to mention Steve Sharp's board. It was announced just a month before this year's elections in May, which returned all seven members of Sharp's ticket to power.

While Arthur was the attraction that guided Foran to Parramatta, the deal was left to CEO Scott Seward to finalise. It was no easy job. Foran's management was highly reluctant to send their star client from Manly, a club famous for political instability, to in-fighting HQ at Parramatta.

After accepting Foran's determination to join Arthur, and negotiating a $1.2 million salary, his management still didn't feel comfortable. To complete the agreement, they required two extraordinary safeguards in the four-year contract. The first gave Foran the right to leave at any time he felt unsatisfied with changes to the club's administration or coaching ranks. And if he chose to activate that clause, Foran would be entitled to the following years' salary - paid-out in full and carried over into Parramatta's salary cap.

The Eels board and Arthur now claim they were unaware Seward had inserted these clauses until a few weeks ago. Insiders at the club describe them as "ludicrous". Now departed after failing to secure a fixed term contract of his own, Seward has been painted as a rogue operator. He's the Trent Elkin/Dean Robinson/Brian Waldron of recruitment. The one and only fall guy for a blunder of enormous magnitude.

Seward's allies scoff at this account. How can the board not have known? Seward felt pressured to deliver a prized signing before the election. He had the green-light to do whatever it took to give the board a campaign boost to overcome a record number of challengers. Agreeing to the clauses not only enabled to club to sign Foran, but was also a key contributor to Sharp's ticket trouncing its rivals at the ballot box. There is no way Foran's management would have allowed the contract to go ahead without them.

In any case, Foran only put pen to paper last month. Around the same time he visited Arthur's home for a barbeque with the coach's trusted offsider, Jason Irvine, who was made redundant on Monday. It was becoming clear that Arthur - and to a lesser extent Irvine - was where Foran's loyalties lay at Parramatta.

By that stage, Foran's contract had been lodged with the NRL for registration. The NRL claims it noticed the unusual clauses and took the precaution of contacting Parramatta to discuss them. With the Eels already under a salary cap cloud after last year's $525,000 breach, the NRL was sweating bullets over what position the club would be reduced to should Foran quit and trigger his enormous pay-out.

Understandably, Parramatta wanted the clauses gone too. With the contract signed and the Round 13 'backflip' deadline elapsed, the Eels felt more confident at the bargaining table. They requested the NRL to halt registration and are now attempting to strike a new deal with Foran's management. From any club's point of view, the clauses are a ridiculous concession because they give one player far too much power. Regardless of how likely Foran was to activate them, the mere menace is enough to create unnecessary paranoia and alarm.

Having done nothing wrong, Foran would be entitled to feel double-crossed when the Eels told him they wanted to re-negotiate. Incredibly, he was still keen to honour his commitment to the Eels, and more fundamentally, to Arthur. But the landscape changed when the story broke on Monday.

First Sharp was quoted in a Sydney newspaper the next morning, claiming no one player is bigger than the club. This gave Foran the impression that sections of Parramatta now thought he wasn't worth the investment. He felt disrespected and under-valued.

The next was Irvine's sacking, which has effectively isolated Arthur. Now Seward, another of the coach's big supporters, has also moved-on. Irvine has since engaged powerful player agent Wayne Beavis to negotiate the terms of his release. Eels players are also said to be upset over Irvine's sudden exit, and several held a meeting this week to discuss how they could convince the club to take him back.

With Seward gone, Anderson has now taken over the football components of the CEO's duties, placing Arthur beneath him in the club's hierarchy. Another Parramatta Marist alumni, John Boulous, has assumed the remainder of Seward's job and is a strong chance to become CEO on a permanent basis.

Arthur's strongest anchor at Parramatta was Foran's impending arrival, always conditional on the coach. Now with Foran's deal thrown into doubt, Arthur is exposed as his team brings up the rear of the competition.

But regardless of how vulnerable he might be, Arthur will not attempt to curry favour with his superiors. His only interest is winning games on the field, not playing them off it. That's a hallmark of his rough and direct character, which on one hand is refreshing, but on the other risky in such a highly politicized environment.

He still has two years remaining on his contract, but the payout figure of less than $1 million would not be enough to make this financially robust club flinch if they had yet another change of heart.

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