Eels CEO Report

JIM SARANTINOS

I am pleased to present my report for the 2019 financial year for the Parramatta Eels Rugby League Club.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge and thank on behalf of our Club the tremendous contribution that Bernie Gurr made to our organisation over his three-year tenure. His contribution in providing stability and direction provides a great platform for our Club to grow. There is no doubt that the 2019 season was a positive one for our Club both on and off the field. I would like to make mention of some of the major highlights.

Following a disappointing 2018 season, our football program made some key strides in 2019 including: • A top five finish in the Home and Away season and our first finals win in a decade

• A Canterbury Cup grand final appearance by our feeder Club Wentworthville

• Strong and consistent results across all our elite pathway teams including our inaugural Andrew

Johns and Laurie Daley Cup teams. • Enhanced contributions from our Eels developed players and the retention and recruitment of key players for 2020 • The selection of numerous Eels NRL players in major representative teams It’s clear that a number of recommendations from our Football Review in 2018 have helped to contribute to the improvement in our football program this year. However, our football transformation strategy is based on driving sustained on-field success and regular finals football and therefore, continued improvement will be a key focus for our players and football staff in 2020.

The move to our new training facility at Kellyville Park, the introduction of our own Canterbury Cup team and the continuation of our development Club philosophy are key pillars for our football program going forward. I would like to make special mention of Manu Ma’u and Tepai Moeroa who finished their time at the Club following the end of the 2019 season. They have made a significant contribution to our Club and we wish them well as they move on to the next stage of their playing careers. 2019 also saw the retirement of Tim Mannah who has been an incredible member of our Club since the day he joined us in our junior representative program.

He has been a great ambassador for our Club both on and off the field and we are pleased that Tim is continuing his involvement with our Club by joining our corporate team. On behalf of everyone at our Club, we want to thank Tim, Stephanie and the wider Mannah family for what they have contributed to the Eels and look forward to the next phase of his career.

The Football Club will have a net loss of approximately $5.3million for the year ended 31 October 2019. This result was impacted by the investment in new facilities for both football and administration (including an $821k write down associated with the exit of Old Saleyards) as well the additional investment in football post the review in 2018 – both key elements of our medium to long term strategic objectives. Our underlying performance demonstrates that the return to Bankwest Stadium drove substantial revenue growth across membership, corporate hospitality and gate receipts, which we expect to build on moving forward.

The Board and management are acutely focused on our goal of improving the financial position of the football club to ensure it reduces its reliance on funding from Parramatta Leagues Club and importantly, deliver a surplus within the coming years. The Parramatta Junior League has nearly 6,000 junior participants across our catchment and importantly we continue to see growth in numbers year on year, especially at boys in the 5-9 age group and girls across all levels of competition. We also continue to see major growth in the varying forms of the game that can only be a major positive as we evolve our participation strategy across our 31 junior Clubs. As an organisation, the return to Bankwest Stadium provided a major platform to reconnect in a positive way with our Members and fans. The return to our spiritual home in Parramatta not only delivered a superior game day experience but also a number of key outcomes for our Club including: • Our Club Membership record being broken for the 7th straight year. • The highest average crowd for all Sydney NRL Clubs and the second highest average crowd for all major sporting clubs in Sydney. • Setting and then breaking the ground record for

Bankwest Stadium within the space of six months. • Achieving a cumulative live TV audience of over 15m • Ranked Top 3 across NRL for digital audience and engagement I am sure the highlight for many Members and fans were the great memories of the opening of the stadium on Easter Monday and the amazing atmosphere of our finals win against Brisbane. Combined with the PLC precinct, our game day experience at Bankwest Stadium is the best in Australian sport and we are committed to ensuring that is enhanced further in 2020.

Another major highlight of 2019 was the funding commitment from the Federal Government and Hills Shire Council to commence building the largest Community Rugby League facility in Australia. The multi-million complex in Sydney’s north-west will be a community-based facility that will include a five international rugby league fields, an elite standard match venue and a 5,000 square metre state of the art Community Facility that will also house a High Performance Centre for the Parramatta Eels.

Stage one of the facility was completed in December 2019 and will see all our administration, football and junior representative programs transition to the one venue. The facility will focus strongly on driving engagement between the Parramatta Eels and the wider community across the Hills District and Western Sydney. It will provide a world-class sporting facility that will enable the Eels to cater to the changing needs of one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia and increase participation in rugby league and Touch Football from grassroots all the way up to NRL and NRLW level.

In conclusion I would like to thank our Members for a tremendous year and acknowledge how important your support is to our Club. I also want to acknowledge the support of Parramatta Leagues Club both financially and through Bevan and his management team and we look forward to their continued backing in 2020.

Jim Sarantinos Chief Executive Officer Parramatta National Rugby League Club Pty Limited