Barrett’s Presser

[Jerry1]

Just been watching channel 9 league wrap.

Asked whether Peachy would stay at fullback moving forward. Fittler said no. Please remember panthers were playing Manly. Against a decent team Peachy would be questioned big time.

They then spent 5 minutes giving manly part pity, part laughing at us and feeling sorry for Trent in the presser.

This is how far Manly have fallen.

I want to be hated again not pitied.

 

[tookey]

I wish we could have either of our last two coaches back. They had plenty and were both manly men.

Don't worry the Penns will probably sign Neil Henry as super coaches mentor Dumb and dumber

 

[tookey]

I woke this morning still sitting in my man cave, clutching an empty Glenfiddich 12 Y.O., and an angry wife nagging me about why do I drink so much. I answered I support Manly. She continued her barrage and I saw she still didn't get it. I then played her yesterday's Barrett presser, she watched and simply said, he looks like he has given up. This woman who has put up with me for nearly 30 years then said something that floored me.

"How can he expect the team to fight for themselves let alone fight for him, after that effort, I wouldn't follow him to Aldi".

She has just gone to drop off our youngest to work and as she left kissed me and said I will pick you up another bottle on the way home!

See she gets it, why can't the Penn's get it?

Drinking Glenfiddich 12 Y.O Bill must be a kick back to your days as the licencing sargeant on the northern beaches

No room in your house for any more grog as you couldn't drink it quick enough back in those days

 

[Hoppa]

Are Manly really playing that badly?
They were the better team against Melbourne and Penrith and should have won both matches.
I will be interested to see how St George go against the Roosters today.

 

[tookey]

Are Manly really playing that badly?
They were the better team against Melbourne and Penrith and should have won both matches.
I will be interested to see how St George go against the Roosters today.

Have you seen our position on the ladder? Challenging for the wooden spoon says we are playing like ****

 

[Hoppa]

Have you seen our position on the ladder? Challenging for the wooden spoon says we are playing like ****

Sure Tookey, the position on the table is terrible but the team has had a huge injury toll, salary cap problems, off field disruptions eg. Hastings. Just think apart from the Roosters game the last three weeks have not been all doom and gloom.

 

[Harvies elbow]

I understand what you are saying and you also make a fair point
My understanding is that that Penn is going through a very messy divorce and that is the reason for his non public appearances.
This is what he had to say a couple of months ago

Why Rick Penn remains committed to troubled Sea Eagles

• 
  
  
  • BRENT READ
    
    Senior Sports Writer
    Sydney
    @brentread_7
    
    

Rick Penn orders a large cappuccino, leans forward in his chair and begins to tell you why he continues to plough his hard-earned into Manly.

No one could blame Penn for cutting his losses — which run into the millions — given recent weeks, when the club has brought shame rather than glory on the family name.

What you quickly learn is that Penn isn’t the type to cut and run. More than three decades ago he was responsible for bringing aerobics to Australia. He made much of his personal fortune helping build Weight Watchers into a global phenomenon.

Now retired, he is patron of multiple charities — Bowel Cancer Australia, Outcomes Australia and ShareLife — and lives his life with the three Cs — Commercial, Community and Charity — at forefront of his mind.

Manly fall in the Community basket, although many would suggest they could easily slot into the charity arm given the amount of money Penn has injected into the club over the years.

The bill last year was $3 million and the budget for this year is a deficit of $700,000, although a paltry crowd of less than 6000 last weekend at Lottoland suggests that may need a downgrade.

Penn is determined to make it work despite the recent dramas. He insists he and his family remain committed to the club, driven by their desire to leave a legacy on Sydney’s northern beaches for generations to come.

“I guess I am quite a fighter,” Penn said. “I really haven’t (thought about selling). I am very passionate about kids having sporting heroes, especially having five grandkids.

“It is pretty much an iPhone world. When we were kids we used to jump out on the backyard and play football and cricket. That doesn’t happen any more.

“That’s been my greatest motivation. I love seeing mum and dad walking down the street to the game with their kids dressed in all the gear.

“That’s my motivation. I love to see that family experience.”

Manly is very much a family affair. Penn was enticed to buy into the club by his son Scott, who has been chairman for a decade and has his hands largely on the tiller.

Rick, the family patriarch, keeps his distance. He is the sort of owner chief executives and coaches love. He doesn’t interfere in team selection or watch where every dollar is spent.

For a long time, the Penns were joint owners, the imbalance in the boardroom creating friction which dogged the club for years.

They eventually won a power struggle and are now majority owners, although that hasn’t meant an end to the dramas. Where once it was confined to the boardroom, the recent struggles have been within the football club.

Match-fixing allegations, salary cap dramas and clandestine visits to strip joints have dominated the headlines over the past couple of years.

On the match-fixing allegations, which were eventually found to have no substance, Penn remains indignant at his club’s treatment.

“It was so devastating,” he said. “Have we had one apology about that? Not one. I am not 100 confident everybody is on our side. It was so distressing. There is no tick off to say I am sorry about that, you are innocent.”

The club continues to fight the salary cap sanctions with Penn’s backing.

“I am not as intimately involved but when the big things happen, I look into it,” Penn said.

“I read that whole report. We have not paid one cent over the salary cap. I wanted the appeal because I don’t believe we have done anything wrong. I will show anybody our books.

“I will fight that. We should never be in this position.”

More recent events have prompted speculation over the club’s financial health and the risk of the Penn family withdrawing their support.

Coach Trent Barrett appeared to be weighing up his future amid a lack of support, although he subsequently told the players he was staying, and the club has taken steps to appease him by looking to appoint a recruitment manager.

Other parties are interested in buying the licence and Penn would have no trouble selling if his enthusiasm waned. Asked why he continued to financially support the club, Penn said: “You feel like you are doing something — it is a tangible thing for the community.

“I think the NRL is one of the greatest games on earth. I am a sports nut and I really believe in rugby league. I spend half the year overseas, I watch the NFL, I watch everyone else.

“I cannot wait to come back and watch a game of rugby league. I watch it wherever I am overseas. It is fantastic. I don’t feel like I own it. I am a caretaker for the future.

“You ask how do you keep paying the money? This is quite traumatic for me at the moment with this so-called crisis at Manly. You have to have trust in what you are doing and what you believe you are doing. It is just a passion.”

The biggest hurdle remains Brookvale Oval and turning the ageing venue into a stadium which the club and the people of the northern beaches can be proud of.

It has proved the Penn family’s greatest challenge and the sense among many at Manly is the NRL would prefer the club become part of a centralised model where they play home games out of the redeveloped Allianz Stadium.

Penn says that would be the death of the club and its identity.

“The football field and the oval is very important to me,” Penn said.

“We have a million people on the northern peninsula. I want to see Brookie developed. If somebody could prove that they could do it better than us, than for the good of the game you would certainly look at it.

“I am always a bit knocker on the door. I always say to young people if you have an idea, knock on the door. They can only say no.

“I knocked on the owners door (at Weight Watchers), I had never met him. That’s how I got my start and made millions through it.

“If somebody else could come and they could prove to me that they could deliver a better outcome than what we could deliver, I would be happy to look at it for sure.

“I have’t got that ego. I want the best outcome. I still believe we are it. I believe we have put together the strongest board, chairman, chief executive and coach we’ve had in our time at Manly.

“There is no way we are walking away.”

He talks passionately.
And if I didn't know what I know now I would be ecstatic that they were the owners.
But I do know where we are at the present it's a very low place.
To talk of loving something that much you would have to be concerned for its health.
It's like the dog getting crook and not taking it to the vet.
Everyone they have chosen to run the show has, for one reason or another, failed. From heads of football, finance , coaches, trainers and a CEO, who I think is a capable operator, seemingly gagged.
I just think they are out of their depth in football.
Might be the greatest businessmen, but if you love race horses you're not gunna buy one and ride it yourself unless you can.