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Doggies facing shake-up
By Josh Massoud
December 01, 2007 12:00am
A SEASON of turbulence at Belmore will reach breaking point over the next two months, with a record number of candidates standing for February's board election.
Illustrating the depth of discontent over the club's performance in 2007, there was a total of 18 nominations received by yesterday's 4pm deadline.
Seven of the nominees are members of the current nine-man board, which The Saturday Daily Telegraph understands is split in two factions that are unlikely to run on a single re-election ticket.
Their fate rests in the hand of around 600 voting members.
Chairman George Peponis is assured of continuing after no-one challenged him for the top job yesterday, while director Peter Winchester will stand down to concentrate on his duties as president of the Leagues Club.
Among the challengers are former Bulldogs stars Graeme Hughes, Andrew Farrar and Paul Dunn. The trio, who all helped the club to premierships in the 1980s, decided to run after enduring long-held reservations about the current board's failure to retain the likes of Johnathan Thurston and Roy Asotasi, as well as their handling of the Willie Mason affair.
Hughes, in particular has been a vocal critic of the club's sacking of his brother Gary after the Coffs Harbour scandal and their decision to fine nephew Corey $10,000 for brawling two years ago.
"My other brother Mark has also walked away as recruitment manager and taken Roy Asotasi and Isaac Luke with him to Souths,'' Hughes said. "I know there's tough decisions to be made, but surely they can't keep getting them all wrong.''
Several Bulldogs sources believe Hughes' eventual ambition is to succeed Malcolm Noad as CEO, and it is understood the radio commentator previously offered the club his services for a six-figure salary.
"The CEO position is not in my thoughts at the moment,'' Hughes said. "I'm concentrating on the board.''
The long list of contenders also includes current club coaching staff, namely retired prop Barry Ward and Philip Charlton. Their former colleagues Paul Tycehurst, who stood down as juniors boss this year, and ex-referee Greg Hartley have also thrown their hats into the ring.
A group of little-known supporters including Mark Byrnes, Gabi Dagher, Susan Eastman and Robert Picone round out the record field. Peponis conceded the larger-than-usual list was a reflection of the club's current situation.
"I hope all of them are people who have an interest in helping the club,'' Peponis told The Saturday Daily Telegraph. "The number of nominees probably reflects some dissatisfaction from some quarters, but there are a lot of people who put their name up who believe in what the current board has done.
"All I want to stress is that when they get inside the boardroom, I hope that any differences stay outside the boardroom. People shouldn't nominate for their own agendas.''
But according to other directors, there has been little harmony within the current board since June.
Some more established directors are understood to be opposed to their newly-elected counterpart Ray Dib.
One insider said: "A few of them were a bit comfortable and they haven't appreciated the way Ray has shaken the place up.''
