How does being on the Leagues Club board affect the Football club?
The Parramatta Leagues Club and the Parramatta National Rugby League Club (PNRL) have separate Boards, constitutions and management structures.
The Parramatta National Rugby League Club Pty Limited is a proprietary company limited by shares. Parramatta Leagues Club is the sole shareholder of PNRL.
That ownership gives the Leagues Club an important role in the governance of our football club, but it does not mean that Leagues Club directors manage the day-to-day operations of the Eels or make football decisions.
Under the current PNRL Constitution, the PNRL Board consists of seven directors: two PLCL Nominated Directors and five External Directors.
When one of the two PLCL positions becomes available, the Leagues Club nominates a candidate. The PNRL Nominations Committee assesses the nominee against the required Skills Matrix. If the Nominations Committee recommends the nominee, the PNRL Board must appoint them.
All seven PNRL directors are required to satisfy the independence requirements contained in the PNRL Constitution. A PLCL Nominated Director is permitted to also be a director of Parramatta Leagues Club.
What about changing the way the Football Club is governed?
The PNRL Constitution also gives eligible Parramatta Leagues Club Voting Members an important role in changes to the protected governance arrangements of the football club.
Changes to the Governance Provisions of the PNRL Constitution currently require three steps.
First, the proposed amendment must be recommended by a majority of the External Directors of PNRL.
Second, the proposal must be put to eligible Parramatta Leagues Club Voting Members, where at least 75% of the valid votes cast must support the change.
Finally, Parramatta Leagues Club, as the sole shareholder of PNRL, must exercise its shareholder vote in favour of the amendment.
This means a Leagues Club director cannot simply change the way the Eels are governed.
But it also means that Parramatta Leagues Club Members have a constitutionally protected voice when changes to the governance of our football club are proposed.
That is important to why I am standing for the Parramatta Leagues Club Board.
I believe it is time to have a serious discussion about whether the current governance structure can evolve while retaining the safeguards that were introduced after the problems of the past.
I have proposed a model under which Parramatta Leagues Club would retain 60% ownership of PNRL, while a new Eels Members organisation would hold 40% on behalf of eligible Parramatta Eels Members.
The seven-person PNRL Board would comprise three Leagues Club representatives, three representatives elected by eligible Eels Members and one Independent Director.
This proposal cannot be implemented by one director acting alone. It would require the constitutional processes described above, detailed legal and regulatory consideration, and appropriate consultation.
Whether I am elected or not, I believe the proposal is worthy of discussion by Parramatta Leagues Club Members and the wider Eels membership.
Strong governance and member democracy do not have to be mutually exclusive.
