Parramatta Eels promise to fight points deduction if club is hit for salary cap breaches
PARRAMATTA Eels have promised to take the NRL to the Supreme Court should the club be stripped of competition points for salary cap breaches.
NRL
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PARRAMATTA chairman Steve Sharp is promising Supreme Court action should his club be stripped of competition points, saying: “We’ve exhausted ourselves to make this right”.
Despite opening the NRL season in 20 days, the Eels are yet to learn if they will be docked four points by the governing body for salary breaches.
Elsewhere, the club’s football department was also shown to have recorded a loss of $8 million in 2015, putting them deeper into the red than any rival.
Worryingly, the financial dramas come as the Australian Rugby League Commission is warning all club’s have two years to become profitable or risk losing their licence.
Yet speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Sharp insisted the Eels football department would be “self-sufficient” by 2018.
The chairman was also confident his club, already buoyed by a shock Auckland Nines title, would start the season on zero points.
“But I’ve always been confident of that,’’ Sharp said. “If we were sitting around on our hands doing nothing then, yes, penalise us.
“But we’re spending all our time and resources on getting this right.
“Staff here have exhausted themselves to make this right. We’re working hard and we hope the NRL acknowledges that.”
Parramatta have asked the NRL to complete its findings within the next seven days so their players have adequate time to digest the findings.
And if the penalty stands?
“If it does — and we don’t think it will come to that — we’d fight,’’ Sharp continued. “Supreme Court.
“Obviously I’m a Parramatta man and love the club. But starting on minus four points ... I just don’t think the game needs that sort of drama.”
Earlier this week, The Daily Telegraph revealed the football departments of all 16 NRL clubs had lost a combined $42.7 million in 2015.
Only three clubs — South Sydney, Brisbane and the New Zealand Warriors — made a profit last season while Parramatta and Penrith lost a combined $14.4 million.
Yet Sharp pointed out that, despite his club’s deficit, the Parramatta group was in an extremely strong financial position, with the Leagues Club turning a profit of $12 million.
The chairman added that of the $8 million deficit, $1 million was injected into juniors, $600,000 in a development program and over $1 million used to create the new Eels training centre at North Parramatta.
There was also a $460,000 salary cap fine plus additional money then spent on governance review costs.
“So we’re investing in the club’s future,’’ Sharp said.
“We’ve gone from training on a ground where dogs would run through ballwork sessions to a state-of-the art facility where everything is under the one roof.
“Gym, sprint tracks, kitchen, wrestling rooms, training fields with video cameras ... there’s even space for the players to watch TV or have a kip.
“We’ve come through a turbulent period but Parramatta is most definitely here to stay.”
Incredibly, the past week has actually been an outstanding one for the Eels, who not only won the Nines but had Jarryd Hayne confirm that, should he return to league from the NFL, it will be with his beloved Blue and Golds.
The statement was a huge show of support for both the Eels and coach Brad Arthur.
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