Bishop joins, Seaby stays
10/10/2008 8:51 PM
West Coast has appointed its first ever female board member but not just any female - the Deputy Leader of the Federal Opposition if you don't mind.
The Honourable Julie Bishop - the shadow Treasurer and prominent Western Australian Liberal - has agreed to join the board of the Eagles.
West Coast chairman Mark Barnaba recently approached Ms Bishop, a strong supporter of the club since its inception, in the hope of securing her as a director and was ecstatic when she accepted.
"Julie is an outstanding Australian, an outstanding West Australian and a long-standing passionate supporter of the West Coast Eagles," Barnaba said.
"She will bring much to the board and the club and we are very excited and pleased about her appointment and this appointment again demonstrates that our club is in good shape and that the future prospects are very exciting."
Meanwhile the Eagles are delighted that ruckman Mark Seaby will remain with the club after the Eagles failed to come up with a trade deal for the 24-year-old during trade week.
Seaby, who is currently overseas, has played 97 games and is contracted for 2009.
"Mark indicated to us an interest in exploring further opportunities with another club but after fielding some initial interest nothing eventuated but both the club and Mark are pleased with the ultimate outcome," West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett said on Friday.
"Mark did not have an issue with the club, he was simply searching for more ground time and will now commit wholeheartedly when pre-season training resumes with the aim of commanding further opportunities with our team."