NRL 2022: Manly Sea Eagles lose another senior official as search for new CEO continues

Manly chairman Scott Penn insists the club is in “great shape” despite confirming another senior official has quit the Sea Eagles.

Ex Manly SeaEagles CEO Stephen Humphreys

A second senior official has quit the Manly Sea Eagles.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal club chief operating officer Paul Murray has resigned to return to his native Ireland.

It comes as Manly look to replace Stephen Humphreys, who quit as CEO last Friday due to personal financial issues.

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The two resignations are not related.

Manly has appointed a new COO, who will start work on July 1. Murray made a positive impact during his short time at the club.

Manly chairman Scott Penn confirmed the exit of chief operetaing officer Paul Murray. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Losing a CEO and COO inside a week will hurt Manly as the club starts moving into the new $33m Centre of Excellence at 4 Pines Park, Brookvale.

Manly chairman and co-owner Scott Penn confirmed Murray had left the organisation.

“Paul resigned as he is heading back to Ireland with his family. They (Murray and Humphreys’ resignations) are totally unrelated,” Penn said.

“The club is in great shape and everyone is moving into the Centre of Excellence today and we are super excited about the future.”

Asked whether he could reveal the club’s new COO’s identity, Penn said: “It is a bit premature but he is a great candidate.”

Penn has already started a thorough search for a new chief executive officer. The hunt will be internal and external.

“We definitely weren’t expecting to be here but we are. We will start conducting a search over the coming weeks. We just have to move forward and keep the foot down,” Penn said.

Manly play Newcastle on Thursday night at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Manly forced to deny rumours over CEO split

Manly chairman Scott Penn has vehemently denied an internal culture problem was behind his club being forced to burn through 13 CEOs since 2000, declaring: “There is absolutely no systemic issue.”

Penn’s comments come as the Sea Eagles commence an internal and external search for a new chief executive to replace Stephen Humphreys, who resigned last week due to personal financial problems.

While details over Humphreys’ demise remain confidential, The Daily Telegraph can reveal the issue did not involve gambling, as had been widely speculated.

Manly officials continue to rally around and protect a shattered Humphreys, who has eight kids. There are no preliminary plans to pursue the matter.

It is known Humphreys approached several sponsors – who subsequently contacted the club – seeking monetary support. It is unclear whether those debts have been repaid.

Through a variety of reasons, the Manly CEO job has become one of the most cursed administration positions in Australian sport.

“The reality is they are all circumstantial. There’s absolutely no systemic issue whatsoever.

Former Manly CEO Stephen Humphreys. Picture: AAP Image/Tim Pascoe

They have all had their own nuances, a few due to health reasons, a few due to personal reasons,” Penn said.

“It’s been unfortunate to not have the consistency however I have been there for 15 years and the board in its current form has been there for over five years. We have certainly has consistency at board and chair level. It’s just been unfortunate circumstantial reasons around the CEOs.

“We would definitely like someone to stay a lot longer but there has been consistency at ownership level. It’s not through choice, the majority has been through circumstances.”

Manly’s board felt it had no choice but to recommend Humphreys’ exit but the CEO remains largely liked and respected at Brookvale. Some close to Humphreys claim his transgression was an error in judgment.

Penn was careful with his words when asked about Humphreys.

“What I can say is that Stephen and I had a very strong working relationship,” Penn said. “He achieved significant milestones over the last few years.

“The entire organisation likes Stephen. We definitely weren’t expecting to be here but the fact is we are as, and as a board, we had to take action.

“We will start conducting a search over the coming weeks. Everyone is moving into the Centre of Excellence over the next week so the timing is clearly not ideal. We just have to move forward and keep the foot down. We will be looking for the best candidate.

“It’s still very early and the club is in great shape, financially and with a new Centre of Excellence just opening. We have a terrific management team who really run the club day to day so we don’t have to rush it and we have a very strong board who will roll up their sleeves as well.”

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys had no concerns regarding Manly’s governance.

“With the Manly club, if you look at it carefully, they have been the victim of circumstances.” V’landys said. “They have not all left for the same reason. The reasons have been varied so we’re not concerned, no.

“If it was the same reason all the time then we would be concerned, if there was a culture problem in the club. In this instance, that certainly isn’t the case and I don’t think it has anything to do with the culture of the club.

“You’ve got to remember that Scott Penn, who is the chairman of the organisation, and his dad (Rick) are both commercially astute and are very good operators.

“So whatever they lack in CEO’s, that’s double downed by having such a good chairman and owner in his father. (Rick) is one of the very successful business people and someone I certainly look up to.

“Personally, while the Penn family is there, there is no concern whatsoever because that’s the consistency of management - Penn himself.”