Post by happybadger on Sept 19, 2018 1:34:46 GMT
For the past week or so, Raptors' coach and operations chief Happy Badger has been laid up with a severe chest cold, and it still hasn't completely cleared...
...but he went into the office the other day, to be welcomed by this announcement from Gerry Anderson's official production company, that Zienia Merton passed away Friday last, succumbing to cancer.
Needless to say, the situation at Spotland is unclear at this time, since Ms. Merton's estate, and her will, hold the ultimate direction of Rochdale Raptors in its control. With the illness of Happy Badger, and now this, contract lengths have not yet been finalised, but will be soon.
The executors of Ms. Merton announced that, for the 2018-19 ASRL season, the budget as agreed by Merton and Badger will be fulfilled, as said monies have been transferred to the Raptors' operating accounts, and under ASRL rules, may not be clawed back, even for insolvency or probate purposes. However, the situation after that will depend upon what the will contains. It is to be noted that Happy Badger's contract with the Raptors is actually a personal services contract with Ms. Merton, and thus, will expire after the 2018-19 ASRL season.
Happy Badger will reflect on his last moments with Ms. Merton, during the Australia excursion for the semifinal and the Grand Final, in due course.
There will be a special patch and uniform design to honour Ms. Merton announced in due course.
A memorial service will be held at Spotland on Thursday in Ms. Merton's honour - tickets will be free to all, but season ticket holders will receive first refusal rights to said tickets.
When asked if anyone from Raptors would attend Ms. Merton's funeral, Happy Badger replied, "If her family wishes for a delegation from Raptors to attend, to share in their sorrow, we would certainly be honoured. But, Zienia was at once generous with her time, and intensely private - when she asked me to manage Rochdale, I didn't know that she had been given only about a year to live. She told me shortly after I signed my contract with her, and asked me to forget that she had told me, to treat her as if she was a kindly despot of an owner, and to do my very best this season. I failed at treating her like a despot of any kind, and she didn't insist that I do so."
With tears in his eyes, he concluded, "For giving me the chance to return to rugby league, for believing in me, for sharing a significant part of her inner emotions with me, I shall always be in her debt."
For those who remember that she was in the first series of "Doctor Who", her last project was reading a Doctor Who audiobook, which she recorded some months before her death, and will be released posthumously.
For those who wonder who Zienia Merton was as an actress, probably the other television series that she was noted for was a Gerry Anderson production, "Space: 1999". The final words from the series, recorded nearly 25 years after its cancellation, were Ms. Merton's...and we cannot think of a better adieu for Ms. Merton than to share this with you, the reader, here:
...but he went into the office the other day, to be welcomed by this announcement from Gerry Anderson's official production company, that Zienia Merton passed away Friday last, succumbing to cancer.
Needless to say, the situation at Spotland is unclear at this time, since Ms. Merton's estate, and her will, hold the ultimate direction of Rochdale Raptors in its control. With the illness of Happy Badger, and now this, contract lengths have not yet been finalised, but will be soon.
The executors of Ms. Merton announced that, for the 2018-19 ASRL season, the budget as agreed by Merton and Badger will be fulfilled, as said monies have been transferred to the Raptors' operating accounts, and under ASRL rules, may not be clawed back, even for insolvency or probate purposes. However, the situation after that will depend upon what the will contains. It is to be noted that Happy Badger's contract with the Raptors is actually a personal services contract with Ms. Merton, and thus, will expire after the 2018-19 ASRL season.
Happy Badger will reflect on his last moments with Ms. Merton, during the Australia excursion for the semifinal and the Grand Final, in due course.
There will be a special patch and uniform design to honour Ms. Merton announced in due course.
A memorial service will be held at Spotland on Thursday in Ms. Merton's honour - tickets will be free to all, but season ticket holders will receive first refusal rights to said tickets.
When asked if anyone from Raptors would attend Ms. Merton's funeral, Happy Badger replied, "If her family wishes for a delegation from Raptors to attend, to share in their sorrow, we would certainly be honoured. But, Zienia was at once generous with her time, and intensely private - when she asked me to manage Rochdale, I didn't know that she had been given only about a year to live. She told me shortly after I signed my contract with her, and asked me to forget that she had told me, to treat her as if she was a kindly despot of an owner, and to do my very best this season. I failed at treating her like a despot of any kind, and she didn't insist that I do so."
With tears in his eyes, he concluded, "For giving me the chance to return to rugby league, for believing in me, for sharing a significant part of her inner emotions with me, I shall always be in her debt."
For those who remember that she was in the first series of "Doctor Who", her last project was reading a Doctor Who audiobook, which she recorded some months before her death, and will be released posthumously.
For those who wonder who Zienia Merton was as an actress, probably the other television series that she was noted for was a Gerry Anderson production, "Space: 1999". The final words from the series, recorded nearly 25 years after its cancellation, were Ms. Merton's...and we cannot think of a better adieu for Ms. Merton than to share this with you, the reader, here:
