NRL heavyweights kick off return to normality

When the Parramatta Eels and Brisbane Broncos run out at The Cauldron on Thursday night it will represent a moment when the NRL defied the odds and give many an important nod that Australia is indeed the lucky country amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The Eels and Broncos were both undefeated in the first two matches before the season was halted amid a range of state and federal government lockdown restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus, and both hold ambitions of a strong post-season run.

The last time the two teams met, the Eels delivered the Broncos their worst finals loss, a 58-0 thrashing at Parramatta's Bankwest Stadium in September last year.

While crowds won't be allowed to attend matches until July 1 at the earliest, Brisbane will be out for revenge on home turf at Suncorp Stadium and Parramatta will want to show they belong at the top of the table.

Eels chairman Sean McElduff and Broncos chairman Karl Morris know how important the two teams are to their communities.

"I don't think people realise how important getting back to normality is and

how sport, whether you're watching professional sport or playing it individually yourself, how important it is for the benefit of all the community, particularly for the 30,000-plus members," said Mr Morris, who is also chief executive of stockbrocking and funds management firm Ord Minnett.

"Like everyone, we want to get back to our daily routine and this is a great start for that in the strictest terms of isolation that the players and training staff have agreed to ... to make sure it is a safe environment."

The Australian Financial Review reported on May 18 that the Australian Rugby League Commission had agreed to the major principles of a reduced TV deal for the 2020 season until the end of the current contract in 2022 and potential extensions beyond with its broadcasters Nine and Foxtel.

The long-form contracts are still being worked through with an announcement expected on Thursday. Nine owns the Financial Review.

Not only does the return of the NRL bring sport back in a big way to Australian audiences, it will get many connected to the sport back to work – from players, training staff to, eventually, merchandisers and hospitality workers.

"It's broader than the clubs. It's a huge industry. We have so many industries that rely on NRL for revenue," Mr McElduff, a former senior Westpac executive, said.

Mr McElduff reckons that if the coronavirus had hit during 2016, the storied rugby league club may have found it hard to get the support from the community to bounce back.

Major restructure

Four years ago was a tumultuous time for the Eels fan base that saw their club endure salary cap breaches, a lack of finals football since 2009, the NSW government putting the organisation into administration and a sacking of the board.

Mr McElduff came in as a director and led a whole of business review of the Eels organisation. In 2018 he got the nod as chairman, taking over from Max Donnelly, the Ferrier Hodgson partner appointed as administrator in 2016.

The major restructure, with strict sets of qualifications put on new directors, set about improving the Eels on and off the field. By 2017, they had finished in the top four, their highest position in 12 years, and made a return to finals football after eight years in the wilderness.

"Between '17, '18, '19 we've made the playoffs twice," Mr McElduff said. "The club was losing $10 million plus per year when we came in. We set a strategy to say we're going to be break-even by the end of 2021. When we set that strategy it was, I'll call it, a stretch goal, but you can see we're going to get there now."