At TCT we make no apologies for our positive view of the club. However, we will not be guilty of burying our head in the sand. In this instance we will offer an opinion that is based on some core values.
* Transparency must be the key in the club moving forward. Nothing to hide means nothing to worry about
* Accepting and owning past mistakes can only gain NRL faith in our club
Is this Third Party Agreement a breach of the cap?
It could well be. In itself, this would probably be a minor issue, that in isolation may not have drawn the strong ire of the NRL. It is likely to have its roots in past administrative practices, but that cannot be used an excuse. It may well have remained undiscovered for a while, but again this is no excuse. The most obvious speculation that we can make is that if Parra knew about it before the journalist, then the club should have been the ones informing the NRL and/or the fans, not a journalist.
Are we likely to lose 4 points?
I wouldn’t like to speculate. I’m anticipating that all will not be sweetness and light off the field in the early part of this season. There are questions to be answered and possible repercussions. We do have to answer to our past and we can only achieve the best possible outcome by moving forward using best practice. In the past I have been critical of the constant negative reporting of our club. In this instance, we should definitely not shoot the journalist messenger.
Hopefully a lesson learned.
Sixties
60’s I agree, as I wonder if its been found by Schubert, if it has then the NRL would have been aware of it, or at least should have been. Seems to be another little leak at the start of the season to derail the eels once again, & while, at least to me its not unusual for this journalist to be near the top of the ledger for disclosing negative press regarding the club. In saying all of that, the report is also in the Murdoch press as well, which does include Foxsports, so its a wide spread one.… Read more »
Colin, I don’t know all the ins and outs but the club can only move forward by absolute transparency. As fans, we can support the club and the board but we cannot kid ourselves about reality. We have to be better. I’m looking forward to the footy but won’t be in denial about consequences from the past.
I don’t know enough about this, but think its minor and needs to be treated as minor and separate. The NRL seem hell bent on all this and I wonder what would happen if it went further? As in other clubs..?
I believe that the NRL are so fired up about this is because they need a Parramatta team firing on all cylinders. Not only for TV rights, ratings and GWS competition, but for fan engagement in the game. The NRL studies that have been shared with us at the Members Council place Parramatta with over 500,000 active supporters which is more than any other rugby league team and only behind Hawthorn in all sporting franchises in Australia. The NRL need these people loving the game and loving their Eels, all the way to the first weekend in October.