Club faces first loss in 30 years

Parramatta Leagues Club CEO, Denis Fitzgerald, said smoking bans and poker machine tax – “we are now paying about $7 million more per year in poker machine tax than we were before the first of four rises” – were behind the club recording its first loss in 30 years. He said the club could not fund a mooted fifth Australian Super rugby team based in Western Sydney. He said, also, the Parramatta Stadium Trust was not in a position to be a promoter or entrepreneur.