Dear Members,
As we prepare for Christmas and a couple of weeks to refresh ahead of the 2024 season, I want to provide you with a quick overview of what we’ve been focused on leading into the break. As challenging as the year has been, we have been building a platform that sets us up for a huge 2024 campaign.
We have critically reviewed every element of our football program during the off season to ensure we make the necessary improvements for 2024 and beyond. We have increased the focus on Club connection, and all of our players, coaches and staff are united and committed to implementing the necessary changes to ensure future success.
Brad Arthur, his coaching staff and the players are all working hard preparing for a successful year ahead. The enthusiasm amongst our emerging talent is infectious and our senior players are leading with a new found purpose. The entire football department is determined to return to finals football and challenge for a premiership in 2024.
The commitment to performance excellence and value-based behaviours and standards, encompasses everyone in our Club from coaching staff and players to admin staff and the Board.
This also extends to our NRLW program. We have appointed Steve Georgallis as our NRLW Head Coach for 2024 and 2025 and with four decades of experience as a player and NRL assistant coach, Steve will grow and develop the female players in our system.
In an exciting development for our women’s program, the Eels will be fielding a team in the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership in 2024, which will complete the link for female players from Junior League to NRLW. It’s wonderful to see female participation grow exponentially across our Junior League, with a 50.9% year-on-year increase.
While we encountered some challenges on the field, our Club still achieved several notable milestones during 2023. These included an SG Ball premiership, significant increase in Junior League participation, record-breaking membership levels for the 10th year running, and a profitable financial year.
We also commenced construction of our Centre of Excellence; a world-class sporting precinct due for completion in February 2025 and we honoured the Club’s Premiership winning players with personalised premiership rings, acknowledging their invaluable contribution to our legacy.
In addition to our SG Ball premiership, our remaining Elite Pathways teams showed promising progress with all four Eels teams reaching the finals, an insight into the Club's future pipeline of talent, many of which will transition to our NRL and NRLW programs in the coming seasons.
We have always maintained that we are more than just a football club, we are a community. This year, over $1.5 million in value was delivered to our community through initiatives including donations of merchandise and apparel to support fundraising initiatives and those in need, complimentary tickets and game-day experiences, and school programs. Additionally, players and staff provided over 400 volunteer hours.
With the aim of creating a meaningful and long-lasting impact, we have a renewed focus on our community strategy. Working closely with Parramatta Leagues Club and other partners, we will be rolling out several exciting new initiatives in 2024, including our ongoing partnership with Motiv8 Sport and our Boot Swap initiative, both kicking off in January.
Earlier this year Kane Constructions NSW were appointed builders for our new Centre of Excellence which, when completed in 2025, will be the largest rugby league facility in Australia and a game changing project for our Club; a world-class facility which current and future generations of Eels will call home. We will keep you updated with progress of the build throughout the year.
Thank you all for the support and commitment you’ve shown to the Club throughout 2023. On behalf of everyone at the Parramatta Eels, I wish all our members and supporters a safe and enjoyable Christmas, and of course a happy and prosperous new year.
Jim Sarantinos
Chief Executive Officer
Parramatta Eels
