News: Sibraa resigns from the Sea Eagles' board

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Berkeley_Eagle

Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
<div id="contentSwap1" class="pageprint">THE bitter, internecine political feuding at Manly claimed its highest-profile victim with club joint patron, life member and chief raiser of government funds, Kerry Sibraa, resigning from the Sea Eagles' board.

<a href="http://silvertails.net/news/3929-sibraa-resigns-from-the-sea-eagles-board.html">Read the full article</a>
 
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.”

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.
 
Great write up MB and pretty much how i read it.

Certainly there is far more than any of us know and it appears some have been conned if they think this is jsut a one sided pissing contest.
 
Fluffy link said:
Great write up MB and pretty much how i read it.

Certainly there is far more than any of us know and it appears some have been conned if they think this is jsut a one sided pissing contest.

Fluffy, Your on the money there, thus why I am calling for them to either put up, shut up or get out.
 
I d
Fluffy link said:
Great write up MB and pretty much how i read it.

Certainly there is far more than any of us know and it appears some have been conned if they think this is jsut a one sided pissing contest.

I doubt anyone here has been conned (with the possible exception of Penn's major lobbyist here). This disaster has not got to this stage simply because 1 party has a grievance, whether real or imagined.

The persons involved here are ****ing with something that is sacred to many people, the sooner they realise what they are doing and the damage that they have caused and continuing to inflict upon the team that is loved by us all the better off we will all be.

It may be about money to them but for the rest of us it is about love, many partnerships may begin with a deep love, but a lot also end in bitter divison. At the moment the major players are inflicting much pain on the people that love Manly, some of them will start losing the love and never come back to the marital bed.
 
Do all concerned think we are stupid because that's how they're treating us. Most of us can see through the BS, yet they keep telling us everything's ok. Then, what do you know, you pick up a paper and once again individuals are pushing their personal agendas at the same time telling us to keep coughing up our hard earned for the betterment of the club, while they are trying to destroy it! :mad:

We're not F**king mushrooms!
 
Good piece MB. Food for thought.

\"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.

I don't understand why they can't lump it all together, it does seem strange that they (MWSE Pty Ltd) are trying to hamstring the Football club and prevent them growing a member base. I'd be interested in how the other privatised clubs like Broncos and Souths go about their membership.

The longer this bullsh!t goes on the less I think that Penn and Delmege are the great philanthropists/altruists they like to make out they are. They are in it for some nest feathering reason, what I don't know. They are losing the respect and support of the average fan the longer this p!ssing competition goes on. I'm not sure I trust either of them to be a sole owner quite frankly, but it's patently obvious they can't work as joint owners..........so I don't know where we go from here. Another white knight with deeper pockets with true passion for the club ? 
 
C and C - I don't think MWSE ltd are trying to stop the Football Club to build a membership base, I think they are trying to grow membership of people belonging to the Sea Eagles and for that revenue to go to the Football team.

I reckon this is a separate issue to Penn v Delmege.

It is more about marketing the team - In modern days membership of groups is not such a big issue - basically many people younger than 40 won't buy into something without getting their 'piece' out of it. (See the membership discussions on this forum over the years.) MWSE has tried to give ticketing, forum membership plus other benefits to those that sign up in trying to increase the membership. Even though 4000 may not be a great number, it is a heck of a lot more people than were member of the Football Club.

It seems to me that the ex-Senator is using his retirement from the board to express his disappointment in the loss of influence of the football club in the big scheme of things Manly. I am sure they work hard on the board though they do get benefits and they have less say in the running of things with much more influence given to the CEO and the paid employees of the club.

I am sure that someone could spin this as a dispute between the loyal long term guardians of the club against the modern new interlopers

Or

The old out-of-touch diehards, against progress and professionalism against the new, experienced management determined to breath fresh air and innovation into the club.

Take your pick on the story!!!
 
CW, its very clear that web site is behind the screaming eagles ONLY.

Getting info about becoming a FC member isn't easy and certainly isn't publicised. It's easy to work out the Site regards the FC memberships as competition and certainly isn't working as a team.

I remember questioning the fact screaming eagles wasn't FC membership and I found the website quite unhelpful in pointing posters in the right direction to become FC members.
 
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3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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