Hey Parra fans,

It’s Roly-Poly here. Welcome to TCT Golden Point: an “in the news” focused regular column on all things Parramatta Eels & Rugby league in general. There will be no click bait headlines or unverified breaking news stories. Just evidence-based analysis and engaging professional opinion pieces “Point’s” if you will, on substantiated headlines and happenings that are relevant to the club, the fans and the greatest game of all.

I have been a die-hard Parramatta Eels fan for many decades. Long enough to understand the origins of the term “The Cumberland Throw”, free entry after half time, Jesus on the hill and coining killer (allegedly). I also descend from a long line of Parramatta Faithful with reference to the football club, the Leagues Club, and the wider Parramatta local community. Most people who have met me for more than 5 minutes will likely recall my love of Parra over my name. I genuinely believe that if it were scientifically possible, I would bleed blue and gold.

Alright, let’s get into it!

The sweet (pre-emptive) smell of victory
Can you remember a season when as a club, fan base, and community we were all this united, proud, and excited all at once? While every year I feel a sense of excitement and optimism as we head into round 1. This year there is a new and very sturdy layer of confidence to my excitement and optimism. I haven’t joined the waitlist for Grand Final tickets just yet, nor am I running to place a bet on a premiership. My confidence comes from our robust position as a club with respect to overall governance, leadership, tangible resources, pathways prospects, senior-team-attitude-commitment-depth, and fan-member-club-unity. Not to mention the impressive way the club have recently demonstrated intentional improvements to the way risks, incidents and crises are managed at an individual, player, member, operational and corporate level. Sure, there have been years where the top squad has been more highly regarded by its peers and pundits as genuine premiership contenders. However, I don’t recall a period in the NRL era where the club has been this strong and united across all of its business functions, and after 40 years in the wilderness, this is as exciting to me as a premiership.

There is an undeniable energy that is difficult to match whenever the Blue and Gold are flying high as one. That energy is what makes the lead-up to each season so special for the diehard faithful. Whether you’re heading down to Melbourne for “The Nomax Bowl”, to Parra Leagues for the TCT watch party; or watching on the telly. Wherever you are watching from tonight, be sure to raise your voices as one, with the volume of a jet engine and the ferocity of a blow torch, to help motivate our squad to achieve an epic round 1 victory.

NSW Supreme Court Case: 2026/00029594
Tuesday 3 March marked Day 1 of the official hearing for the most significant contract dispute case Rugby League has seen since The Super League War. It has been widely publicised that an agreement between parties was reached and that agreement was endorsed by the presiding judge by way of a consent order. Parramatta Eels members, fans and followers were sent transparent and gracious communications via email, official website and social media channels, with reference to this agreement/order and the clubs’ overall intentions/sentiments.

Two former Eels

I do not believe it is appropriate to reiterate or analyse these communications in any detail, other than to share the link to the Eels official statement on the matter, and define the technical language used that might help clarify/breakdown the crux of what was communicated. So on that note, here you go:

Understanding the term “Consent Orders”
A consent order is a legal mechanism that formalises an agreement reached between two parties during court proceedings. Once this order is authenticated or signed by a judge, its terms become legally binding, ensuring that both parties are obligated to uphold the agreement.

When parties arrive at a mutual agreement during a hearing, the court will typically issue a consent order only if the presiding judge is satisfied that all involved parties have been notified and have expressed their agreement. It is essential that the court independently confirms it has the appropriate jurisdiction to make such an order; as this jurisdiction cannot be established solely through the consent of the parties.

The desirability for a judge to resolve all issues in question is paramount. In particular, the judge should where possible make findings regarding costs and damages, even in cases where a claim does not succeed. This ensures clarity and finality in legal proceedings, prevents clogging up the courts backlog with expensive damages claims relating to the same issue and has shown to provide a more transparent resolution for all parties involved. The judge may bypass the cost and damages part of the consent order only if these elements are deemed to be “De Minimis” (an amount too small for consideration that would provide no significant impact on the findings).

The Media’s Game
I’ve never been a strong advocate for mainstream media, especially in the era of social media-driven clickbait. The poor quality of journalism across mainstream media throughout the case has been disappointing, as has the widespread acceptance of unverified reports as fact and the almost daily unsubstantiated, sensationalised, biased and on occasion ethically compromising “breaking news” stories from supposed professional pundits. We appear to have reached a new level of low in the quality and authenticity of professional sports journalism throughout this case. I miss the Chippy Frilingos/Ian Heads days where even if it was a slow news day, the stories had some substance and integrity.

Brent Read has been relentless in his support of the Storm and Lomax

Conclusion Statement
I stand with my club on all counts regarding this matter. I am proud of the way they have managed, fought and held their ground on these matters and I am thankful for the way they have transparently and appropriately communicated their position and intentions with fans throughout the legal process. I believe this decision will initially be viewed by some as disruptive, but in time will be considered as a defining legislative moment for Australian Sporting contracts. A case that clarified and articulated what are considered appropriate behaviours/actions, rights and obligations of all relevant parties (player-club-league-regulator) when managing contracts & employee relationships in the landscape of professional sports.

Those Photos
The club’s actions in response to the photos were proactive, transparent, accountable, professional and ultimately appropriate under the specific circumstances and when considering the integrity and intentions of the alleged source. I do not believe this incident is indicative of any underlying cultural issues within the squad and I do not anticipate a reoccurrence or similar event any time soon. The squad will learn from this by way of experience, consequence and/or observation.

Career Co-piloting
This week I would like to give a shout out to TCT top fan, Ivan from western Sydney, who last week attended a judicial hearing to advocate for his son after a violent incident in the workplace. He successfully persuaded a committee of experts to conclude that “if his son didn’t attack first, he would have become the meal” so to speak and successfully downgraded management’s ruling.

A recent generational behaviour study on young adult employees found that over 80% of Gen Z employees regularly bring a parent to performance reviews and 45% to conflict resolution hearings. This behaviour is formally being referred to in the corporate world as “career co-piloting”, which stems from Gen Z’s need for additional support, when processing professional shortfalls as a young adult.

In this case, the positive result differs from earlier findings, which indicated that career copiloting often negatively affects career prospects in the short term and reduces employee resilience and independence in the long term.

That’s about it from me for now. Cheers for making to the end of my first official slightly long winded TCT Golden Point. As always, I hope you found it interesting, helpful and productive.

Roly-Poly-Parra

If you liked this article, you might consider supporting The Cumberland Throw.