Why the Sharks will miss Lyall Gorman

With all the player movement over the past few weeks and the likelihood of more to come, the resignation of Lyall Gorman, the CEO of the Cronulla Sharks, didn’t command much media space.

The late, great Jack Gibson once said words to the effect that success on the field starts in the front office and, as usual, he was spot on. Lyall Gorman’s resignation is a big loss for the Sharks.

Gorman joined the Sharks in November 2014 after a number of roles in the A-League, culminating with Football Federation Australia asking him to oversee the establishment of a new club in western Sydney, the Wanderers. Over a few short seasons the Wanderers developed a strong fan base and won the Asian Champions League.

At his time of joining, the Cronulla Sharks were not a new club. However, there is no doubt that they were broken. In 2014 ASADA had handed its bans down, the Sharks finished with the wooden spoon and Todd Carney was finally sacked after a number of incidents. Club membership was poor, sponsors had walked away and finances were desperate. The real estate development at the Sharks was well underway when he joined but the process still required management.

Gorman’s first step was to hold fan forums and attempt to start the rebuilding process. Key to this was changing the fans’ mindset from hoping the Sharks could be a great club to believing it would be. Gorman appeared to be everywhere, attending fan days and responding to emails from Sharks fans on a regular basis. He committed to arriving at work an hour early to respond to fan emails, and the Cronulla supporters came streaming back. They did believe.

An impressive marketing and membership drive saw club memberships rise by almost 40 per cent in the 2016 season and a further 20 per cent in the 2017 season, the first increase occurring before the premiership win. Sponsors also came back. Southern Radiology was the first to get its name on the front of the jumper to be followed by Opal Solar in 2017 with a larger deal.

The development has also been handled smoothly. Acquisitions of new apartments have been very strong, with a further release just occurring, and plans are well developed for the retail precinct on the other side of the leagues club. If the Cronulla Sharks are not financially secure, they must be very close to it.

The crowning glory for Gorman was of course the 2016 premiership. There was a sense of destiny about it and he had a large part to play in that. But, for Gorman, winning a premiership wasn’t everything.

Prior to the premiership win he was quoted as saying, “You don’t just exist to win competitions. You exist to make a difference; to give members and fans and corporate partners a sense of belief and a shared journey that’s exciting and rewarding along the way”.

He has clearly achieved that now, and that in part explains why he has resigned. He has left a talented team of people behind. For Gorman, however, new challenges appear to drive him, and there is growing thought that his next role will be with the Sea Eagles, who themselves have had difficult times.

Manly will no doubt be better for his involvement. For Cronulla, systems are in place to ensure continued success. However, he will be missed.