It is time for some real answers as this rubbish continues to go around in circles. A number of posters know Sibraa and certainly we are all aware of the work he did in obtaining funding for the Brookvale upgrade. Outside of one regular who has an issue with Kerry going back to his Mugabe days, he has been a long time respected pusher for the betterment of the club and his comments should not be dismissed as they raise some big issues.
In a resignation letter, which football club members will start to receive today, he writes: "It is disappointing, to say the least, that this great club is being torn apart by ego, arrogance and self-interest."
I think this obvious to all who have followed what has been occurring but it is disappointing that despite numerous statements and personal conversations I have had with Directors claiming issues are being sorted out, here we are again with solid proof that the club is being torn apart by individuals with no thought of the consequences.
"Unfortunately, leaks and non-attributable briefings of the media have been used as tactical weapons by a number of participants in this dispute," Sibraa writes. "In the course of them doing this, many statements have been made that are not factual and innocent people have had their reputations sullied."
Once again, gentlemen, grow up. This underhand method of pushing your agendas has become the daily fodder of the press, and our lack of on-field achievements can be traced back to it. There is not one fan of our club who is impressed with just how clever you believe you are.
While Sibraa said the Penn takeover of the Leagues Club premises guaranteed the NRL team would stay at Brookvale, he reckoned the Sea Eagles were under continuous siege, from "a concerted attempt to dilute the power of the football club, which holds the preference share in respect of the club colours, name and where we play".
I am going to go out on a limb and state that I believe this is a rehash of the ‘Penns are moving us to Gosford’ conspiracy. If Max sells his share then a one owner of the club will definitely be able to push the Board around and that is my greatest fear.
Although supporting the Penn family's bid to become landlord of the Leagues Club, Sibraa clearly has issues with the administration of chief executive Grant Mayer, who is closely aligned with chairman Scott Penn.
"Administrative support previously available for the football club's activities and membership drive have been withdrawn under the current leadership," Sibraa writes.
He noted a support club, the Screaming Eagles, "with no voting rights whatsoever, was established in direct competition with the football club".
This in some ways is an unfair criticism. Every NRL club wants to dramatically raise the level of membership, and that is targeted towards those recognized by the NRL as bona fide ‘ticket holders’. The Screaming Eagles is structured so that every membership package includes a game ticket as a minimum and this then qualifies a member to meet this criteria. There is an advantage for members that they can purchase Final series tickets before they go on sale to the public.
That said, the Football Club noted in their Financial Statement of 31 October 2008:
“The Company's Membership program was restructured in 2008 in line with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Limited's ("Sea Eagles") new Screaming Eagles supporters membership program. The Annual Membership fee was reduced to $25 (inc GST) and the membership benefits were redesigned. The Company engaged the Sea Eagles to sell Football Club membership on behalf of the Company under a revised arrangement from that which existed between the Company and the Sea Eagles in 2007. Under the 2008 arrangement, the Company received the full membership fee of $25 (inc GST) per member as revenue and was responsible for the expenses of the membership program, including administration fees paid to the Sea Eagles for their services.â€Â
This clearly states that the agreement is with the Narrabeen offices to undertake the Football Club membership program, yet that is not happening.
He also seeks a new financial arrangement with the Leagues Club where it contributes financially to the Sea Eagles and gradually increases its equity with the goal of the premiers becoming once more "a community-owned team".
Increasing the Leagues Club equity would be a good goal except that they do not have any equity at all and under the Sea Eagles Limited current arrangements the equity is with the Football Club. I doubt that those who take membership of a social club have in the back of their mind that they are assisting in making it a major stakeholder in a football team, but that doesn’t mean that it is a bad idea. It is just that it will take away from or be an additional owner of Sea Eagles Limited along with the Football Club.
There has been a lot of talk about putting all these organizations together for the strengthening of the NRL License holder, Sea Eagles Limited, and I would support anything that starts to put it back in the hands of the supporters.