Feleti Mateo has blasted his former club the Parramatta Eels, after claiming that there is a constant essence of disharmony within the very foundations of the Parramatta football clud.
On the very same day that the NRL draw was released, a draw which has Mateo playing his former team, the Eels, for his new club, the Warriors, Mateo made the claim that management made no effort to attempt to support the players in any shape or form.
He also raised the point of the sudden sacking of former coach Daniel Anderson.
“It never seemed like management were on the same page as the players, and I’m not too disappointed about leaving because of the way management was,” Mateo said.
“There was no connection. You’d think management would do more to make players happy, but it was a case of, ‘do your best’. The board sacked Ando, but how can you go from making the grand final to not making the semis and then get sacked?
“Was it all his fault?
“There are a lot of people at the top at Parramatta who nobody points the finger at. Time will tell if Ando was the problem or it runs deeper.”
Mateo admits that he was shocked to see constant leaks regarding player transfers, and that he felt he had to come out and talk about it, as none of his former team-mates can do so as they still play for the club.
“They can’t say anything, and I don’t blame them, because the club’s paying their bills,” Mateo said.
On Thursday, Eels Chief Executive Paul Osborne said the current relationship between management and players is far more open that of previous managements, and that he wasn’t aware of any player disharmony.
Osborne also said that the Eels football club wishes Mateo well during his time at the Warriors.