Eels must stop ‘haemorrhaging’ cash, says administrator Max Donnelly

STRAIGHT-shooting Parramatta administrator Max Donnelly has conceded his club is in a parlous financial state.

Eels must stop ‘haemorrhaging’ cash, says administrator Max Donnelly. Picture: Gregg Porteous

STRAIGHT-shooting Parramatta administrator Max Donnelly has conceded his club is in a parlous financial state, declaring: “We’ve got to stop haemorrhaging.”

Donnelly told The Daily Telegraph that Parramatta Leagues Club had poured more than $30 million into the Eels football club over the past four years.

Yet the Eels NRL club still posted a $12 million loss this year, the next worst Sydney-based club being Penrith with a $5.4 million operating loss.

SPORT CONFIDENTIAL: Hawaii trial cancelled

ROOSTERS: Mini backs Mitchell over Teddy as Chooks no. 1

SILVERTAILS: Green ready to drive Manly’s new culture

DEBATE: Should Semi stay or should he go?

Donnelly’s comments come a day after The Daily Telegraph revealed some clubs could fold unless the NRL’s broken memorandum of understanding is reinstated.

Max Donnelly visits the Eels training ground in North Parramatta. pic Mark Evans

Parramatta’s heavy losses are another key reason why clubs want the NRL to honour their funding agreement reached last December.

There was a variety of extenuating reasons behind Parramatta’s blowout this season, among them player payouts and legal fees. Donnelly hopes to halve that loss next season and halve it again in 2018.

The extra NRL funding would assist Parramatta’s endeavours to one day break even. It comes a day after Manly boss Scott Penn said he had $10 million into the Sea Eagles over the past decade.

“We’ve got to stop the haemorrhaging,” Donnelly said.

“There are huge losses. Whilst Parramatta is possibly in a better position than some of the other clubs, it just cannot continue to sustain these losses.

“Parramatta needs the money, absolutely. The NRL clubs have to be united. I suspect the clubs have never been more united than they are now. We have to fund businesses in 2017.

“Our Leagues Club has poured over $30 million in cash over the last four years to fund the football club. And the Leagues Club now need to build their carpark, which is going ahead. The Leagues Club has to fund the football club but the Leagues Club also want to do other things with its money.
“The Leagues Club still makes more money than the football club loses but I have to run it as a proper business.

Beau Scott with the fans after fulltime. Picture: Gregg Porteous

“In theory, in 2018, with the new broadcast deal, the club should be more viable and get closer to being able to stand alone and trade at no loss. I’m realistic not to expect that but I’m expecting the losses to be halved this coming year and then I would expect it to be halved again the following year.”

Donnelly scoffed at NRL suggestions the money should be taken from the clubs funding model and injected in grass roots and digital.

“I don’t cop that,” he said. “I would sooner the money go to the clubs than this term, ‘grass roots’. Parramatta is a development club, we develop juniors.

“I don’t know why we should be punished in our cash flow for money to be spent on grass roots. It doesn’t make sense to me. We more than do our bit.

“We spend $1.5 million on our juniors. If there is talk about money going into grass roots, I don’t get that, because Parramatta has 5800 juniors that we promote, fund, put referees on the field and make a pathway through to the club. We do our bit for the grassroots.”

Meanwhile nominations close on Monday morning for the five independent directors for the new Parramatta football club.

“I am confident I will get five good, independent, skill-based directors,” Donnelly said.

Originally published as Eels must stop ‘haemorrhaging’ cash, says administrator Max Donnelly