The NRL confirmed that the Eels would also retain the 12 points they had won in the opening nine rounds of this season until a final decision was made on the club's punishment in June after agreeing to a request from Parramatta to be given 28 days to respond to the breach notice issued to the club on Tuesday. Day in court: Parramatta chairman Steve Sharp is one of five senior club figures pursuing legal action against their suspension. Credit:Shu Yeung The nature and extent of any sanction won't be determined until the club has had the opportunity to plead its case to the NRL. However, the NRL expects Parramatta to comply with all directions announced along with the penalty of 12 competition points and a $1 million fine, including the exit of Sharp, directors Tom Issa and Peter Serrao, chief executive John Boulous and football operations manager Daniel Anderson. There was confusion over the ability of the five to continue in their roles until the court action is determined without jeopardising any points the Eels win over the next four weeks but they are able to do so for now.

The five are seeking to set aside interim suspensions against them by the NRL until they respond to show cause notices for why their registration as club officials should not be cancelled. The NRL has told the Eels that they cannot accrue competition points for matches until salary cap auditor Jamie L'Oste-Brown determines they are under the salary cap and officials working at the club are registered. The NRL claimed there has been a "misunderstanding" about the status of the competition points and issued a statement on Friday confirming that the points would not be officially docked until the Eels response had been considered. "The club can accrue points while the breach process is ongoing but the NRL will determine whether those points are retained in its final determination. As we have said before, if the club gets under the salary cap in the meantime that will be a material consideration." In court Mr Moses said NRL CEO Todd Greenberg had made public statements to the effect that the club could not accrue points while the injunction was ongoing. "We received a letter late yesterday [that said] while the injunction is on foot we won't stop you from accruing points, while you are below the salary cap," he told the court.

The NRL's barrister Lachlan Gyles, SC, said the NRL wanted the court to lift the injunction granted on Tuesday temporarily preventing the NRL from restricting the functions of the directors and club officials. "We say there is no need for the injunction," Mr Gyles told Justice James Stevenson. "We say it's causing confusion". However, Justice Stevenson extended the injunction until Monday. Mr Moses said the directors and officials wanted the matter heard as soon as possible and wanted a final hearing next week. "[The NRL] started it, they should finish it; it's not fair for this to be dragging on," Mr Moses said. But Mr Gyles said the NRL needed more time to respond to the case, which may include lodging a cross claim. "The NRL is happy for these individuals to have their day in court in the near future but they need a fair opportunity to deal with the case," he said. Loading

The NRL has made a claim for confidentiality over the 64-page breach notice given to the Eels. Mr Moses told the court the notice contained statements by former Parramatta CEO Scott Seward. Mr Seward has given a 37-page statement making allegations as to what each of the five individuals knew. "[The NRL] has relied on the former CEO to make adverse inferences," Mr Moses said.