Parramatta have declared they are prepared to take the NRL to court over the salary cap scandal gripping the Eels, claiming the club has not been granted a fair hearing as League Central prepares to announce sanctions.
An announcement of the breach notice to be handed down to Parramatta is scheduled for Tuesday, with the decision on how many competition points they are to lose and any further penalty left with NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg after ARL commissioners were last Thursday briefed by Integrity Unit boss Nick Weeks on the evidence gathered against the Eels.
As the fifth-placed Eels await their fate, chairman Steve Sharp said on Sunday the club was ready to take legal action against headquarters, saying they don't believe they have been afforded "natural justice".
Sources close to the board suggest they have already retained a legal team to fight sanctions brought against the club, arguing they have not been given an opportunity to properly address allegations believed to have stemmed from the NRL's interviews with former CEO Scott Seward and football manager Jason Irvine.
Ahead of what shapes as one of the most turbulent weeks in Parramatta's history, even by their strife-torn recent standards, Sharp reaffirmed the defiance of his under-siege board.
"It is the club's intention to analyse in detail any decision," Sharp told members in an email sent on Sunday afternoon. "We want to make sure that the investigation has treated our club fairly. We have asked, and continue to ask for natural justice and procedural fairness.
"This means we are asking for a fair hearing. For allegations to be tested. That we have the chance to face our accusers. That if there are penalties then they are appropriate to the alleged breaches. That fact has been distilled from fiction. And that all of the smear and speculation which has so dominated the public arena has not been simply accepted.
"These are the reasons why we sought assurances from the NRL that we will be allowed the chance to discuss our concerns about the investigation before any decisions were made. To date this has been denied.
"As a result our club also reserves all of our legal rights. Rights which we will assert if we believe we have not been treated fairly. We are prepared to fight through the courts if need be."
Sharp's comments only reinforce the determination of him and his board to face the NRL head on. It has been widely anticipated that the NRL would include it its sanctions a demand for leadership change at Parramatta, possibly with a suspended portion of any deduction of competition points.
The Eels would have 28 days to respond to any preliminary breach notice - it will be their second cap-related one in less than a year after being fined $465,000 and hit with a suspended four-point penalty last season - and insist "our managers, coaching staff, administration and all members of the board have offered full co-operation, transparency and support for the investigation".
"For the past 11 months our club has been under unprecedented scrutiny from the NRL," Sharp said.
"We have participated in a governance review. We have worked tirelessly to implement all mandatory requirements of the independent PWC report and are striving to do more.
"We are committed to ensuring our club has the best practice governance models in the the code. To this end we will require members support for even more reforms in the future as part of our drive for best-practice governance."
