NRL shutdown: Raiders join Eels, Sharks, Cowboys in football staff stand down
Canberra is the latest club to make the toughest of calls as the NRL continues to grapple with the financial impact of coronavirus.
Sharks
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sharks. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Canberra Raiders are the latest NRL club to make the tough call to stand down all staff as of this Friday as the game fights the financial stress of the coronavirus crisis.
The Daily Telegraph understands that all football staff will be guaranteed their salaries up until the end of April and after that personal entitlements will carry through.
The Raiders are also expected to allow office staff a period of extra annual leave entitlements on top of what each individual has accumulated.
Chief executive Don Furner is expected to make the announcement in the coming hour.
Earlier, a shattered Brad Arthur has spoken about his welfare concerns for staff with young families who were stood down on Wednesday without any severance pay.
This follows similar cuts at Cronulla and North Queensland, while at South Sydney even supercoach Wayne Bennett has been stood down with only a week’s pay, while executives across the game have copped huge pay cuts.
Relive classic NRL matches from the 60s to today on KAYO SPORTS. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
As the game reels in the wake of the coronavirus crisis that has led to the competition being suspended indefinitely, Arthur was understandably reluctant to talk about his own predicament or the politics of who stays working and who doesn’t.
But it did seem strange that football general manager Mark O’Neill was kept on ahead of Arthur to lead a skeleton staff to help with welfare and football management.
At Parramatta no one has done more for the club in the past seven years than the head coach.
When Arthur took over the Eels were coming off a wooden spoon and were a basket case at management level.
But through the salary cap crisis and everything else Arthur has led the way to rebuild the club into a NRL powerhouse who were among the main contenders for this year’s title and started the season winning two from two.
Arthur conceded his main concern was for staff with families, some of whom don’t have any leave entitlements to keep them going.
Arthur and the rest his Eels coaching and recruitment staff numbering about 15 were delivered the news by chief executive Jim Sarantinos on Wednesday morning.
Only those with holidays owning would be promised a wage for as long as individual entitlements last. That now seems to be the story at most clubs.
“Look, I don’t want to complain and whinge and sook because it is what it is, there is a lot of people in worse positions than me,” Arthur said.
“I have been happy with what I have got out of the game.”
Arthur obviously feels for his staff in a time when so many Australians are hurting.
“100 per cent,” he said.
“I am not worried about myself, I am worried about them.
“Some guys are new to our organisation and don’t have any holiday pay.
“Some guys have got young kids and that’s the thing that concerns me.
“Blokes with families.
“Some guys live month to month on their wage.
“But you know what, none of our guys have complained.
“It is out of their control and, like I said, there are going to be a lot more people worse off. Those people who have lost their businesses.”
Arthur said all he and the rest of his staff want is to see the NRL return as soon as possible.
“With a bit of luck we can resume training and playing at some stage and we will go from there,” Arthur said.
Parramatta, like every club right now, regretted that the current climate left them with no alternatives, but maintained no one had been terminated.
“It goes without saying that like the rest of society, our Club and industry has some challenging times ahead that no one could foresee,” Sarantinos said in a statement.
“Within 24hrs our two main business areas were shut down indefinitely and this has had substantial impact on our organisation.
“As a result we will need to undertake a series of measures to limit the expenditure of the Club during this suspension period.”
Cronulla were the fourth NRL club to stand down their entire football department, including head coach John Morris.
Meanwhile, crucial meetings today at St George-Illawarra, Manly and the Roosters could see more clubs stand-down entire football departments as every club forecasts a bleak financial future during the NRL’s suspended season.
Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta told every member of the coaching staff at a meeting on Tuesday that the club would be shutdown and operating with skeleton staff only until May 1.
It’s understood Mezzatesta will remain in the CEO role without pay.
“The information that we’ve received from the NRL is that we won’t be back playing, at the earliest until June 1, with a four-week pre-season proceeding that,’’ Mezzatesta said.
“That’s why, like you’ll see many clubs will, we’ve decided to operate with a skeleton staff.
“The measures we’re taking are in response to making sure our entire staff’s welfare and safety is paramount.’’
The Cronulla coaching staff, including Morris and his assistant coaches have the option to use annual leave or long-service leave,
The Knights, Bulldogs and Panthers have already stood down their entire football operations as a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the NRL.
Despite the entire Sharks playing group being told to stay home, management will continue to treat players in a rehabilitation phase including Bronson Xerri, Josh Dugan, Cam King and Matt Moylan.
Like all clubs, the Sharks are awaiting direction from the RLPA and NRL on if their players can continue to train, under the direction of their high performance manager.
Unlike the Dogs and Penrith, financially, Cronulla are in the fortunate position of having no-functioning leagues club at present due to the two-year development of Sharkies League Club.
They also have close to $17 million in the bank from sale of land adjacent to Shark Park last year, while the club has also recently invested in Kareela Gold Club, which has a land value of $25 million.
However, without any revenue from games being played, the Sharks believes the decision to stand down the football department was necessary to cut costs.
North Queensland have followed suit, but will leave a skeleton staff on for the duration of the postponement.
Cowboys CEO Jeff Reibel said it was one of the hardest days in the clubs history.
“It was with a heavy heart that we talked with our people today about the decisions which were necessary to ensure the club’s survival of this unprecedented disruption to our 2020 season,” Reibel said.
“It was excruciatingly difficult to let our people know through no fault of their own and in spite of the incredible talent they share with our club on a daily basis, that their positions were stood down.|
Originally published as NRL shutdown: Raiders join Eels, Sharks, Cowboys in football staff stand down