Parramatta's so-called gang of five are ready to drop their NSW Supreme Court action against the NRL as the club prepares to file its response to its salary cap breach notice by Friday's deadline.
Suspended chairman Steve Sharp, directors Tom Issa and Peter Serrao, chief executive John Boulous and football operations manager Daniel Anderson are due back in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday for a hearing against the NRL after arguing they should not have been named in League Central's preliminary findings against Parramatta.
Those proceedings are expected to be aborted. However, the two parties are continuing to argue over costs.
If Parramatta have to pay the NRL's costs to strike an agreement it will be another addition to a mounting salary cap-related legal bill that is now estimated to have ballooned to more than $250,000, with four of the five suspended officials having their own lawyers separate to those engaged by the club.
All the while the Eels, having had five-eighth Corey Norman charged with drug possession last week to add to their headaches, remain without an interim chief executive after the appointment of Parramatta Leagues Club boss Bevan Paul on a short-term deal as group CEO failed to be confirmed at a board meeting.
Paul wants to be granted autonomy to implement change on the football side of the business but his mooted takeover continues to hit obstacles. The latest occurred when he and Sharp, who remains Leagues Club chairman, were unable to attend last Thursday's PLC board meeting.
"Obviously the board wants to have a talk to [Paul] and there was any number of things we wanted to talk to him about but he wasn't there so we had a meeting without him," director Paul Garrard said.
"[Paul's appointment] is still on the table to some degree but it's wide open. Without having eyeball-to-eyeball contact with him and discussion with him we're otherwise relying on intermediaries to carry on discussion.
"At the moment we've got Ian Schubert doing most of that work and [chief operating officer] Craig [Beed] has stepped up in his role and his carrying out a lot of responsibilities as well."
