Mr Invisible
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https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/on...o-be-a-protected-species-20180310-p4z3qw.html
By Roy Masters
10 March 2018 — 8:00pm
There is slow, as in the melting of the polar caps; there is slower, as in the gestation period of the Malaysian red-eyed sloth; there is very slow, as in the imperceptible discolouration of the Mona Lisa, and then there is agonisingly slow, as in the movement of documents across NRL desks with regard to punishment of player agents.
It is 20 months since five Parramatta officials were de-registered for their role in the $4m rort.
Briefs against 11 player managers in the Eels’ excess have been prepared, with some exceeding 400 pages, yet no action has been taken.
These cases have been supported by evidence obtained during the later investigation into salary cap rorting at Manly.
Meanwhile, player-managers rake in a collective annual income equal to the salary cap of one NRL club.
They enjoyed a significant pay rise when the salary cap jumped to $9.5m, courtesy of a record broadcasting deal, yet did nothing to earn it.
Questions have been raised in the media over the possible return to the board of the Canterbury Leagues Club by one of the architects of the 2002 Bulldogs salary cap breach, Gary McIntyre, yet there has been no outcry against agents involved in salary cap excess at Parramatta and Manly, continuing to represent players.
Why? Well, player-managers are a major source of information to journalists. Criticise them and the tap stops leaking.
At a meeting on February 20, the ARLC agreed to indemnify the Rugby League Player Managers Accreditation Committee, the seven-person sanctioning body which will judge the 11 briefs against agents.
The Accreditation Committee has no money, meaning that if a de-registered agent took legal action against them in the courts and won, the members could lose their personal assets.
However, because the guaranteed indemnity offered by the ARLC can’t be an open chequebook, the indemnity will apply only to those the NRL, which has one vote on the committee, recommends sanctioning.
In other words, most of them will escape punishment because their indiscretions were minor.
The next meeting of the Accreditation Committee is set down for March 27 but there is no certainty action will be taken because it has sent the indemnity documentation back to the ARLC seeking further amendments.
The requested changes are not expected to be an obstacle but no discussion of the cases, let alone penalty, can proceed until the NRL official charged with approving the amendments, presumably Chief Operating Officer Nick Weeks, agrees.
Weeks is a lawyer and, like all good lawyers, doesn’t like being successfully appealed.
This was demonstrated when, after two months where the five Parramatta officials contested the preliminary penalties Weeks levelled against them, they surrendered.
He is adopting the same approach with the Parramatta/Manly agents – recommending sanctions against those where the weight of evidence is strong.
However, when agents have been de-registered briefly following past salary cap cases, including the pathetically light penalties resulting from the Storm investigation, they have continued to act for players, while a colleague signs the paper work.
Wayne Beavis de-registered himself a couple of years ago but he’s still the go-to man for any journalist seeking information on Jarryd Hayne, or the coaches Beavis represents.
Midway through last year, the Accreditation Committee brought in a rule which allows players to terminate their contractual relationship with an agent who is subsequently sanctioned.
The rule applies to players represented by both management companies and individuals, meaning that if a de-registered agent requests his client continue with the same company, the player has the right to terminate the agreement.
However, any management agreements signed before June last year are quarantined from this rule.
So, if an agent working for a management company is de-registered following the Parramatta/Manly investigations, any client with a contract signed prior to June, 2017 will merely be represented by an another agent from the same company.
While agents collectively rake in $10m a year, as well as the 25% commission “earned” for third party agreements, the prominent ones take a major share of this.
Isaac Moses has a client list which extends from Melbourne’s Cameron Smith to Brisbane’s Matt Lodge, who is on the minimum wage.
He also represented former Wests Tigers player Tim Simona, whose personal story, along with Lodge’s, has appalled many past players and coaches.
Given the time needed to negotiate some of sport’s most lucrative contracts for the Australian captain, could Moses have extended the same duty of care to ensure Lodge’s “outing” in the media was done three months ago, or Simona’s gambling problems were addressed before he backed opposition teams?
While the NRL is adopting a slow but sure policy with agents, they are continuing to live life in the fast lane.
By Roy Masters
10 March 2018 — 8:00pm
There is slow, as in the melting of the polar caps; there is slower, as in the gestation period of the Malaysian red-eyed sloth; there is very slow, as in the imperceptible discolouration of the Mona Lisa, and then there is agonisingly slow, as in the movement of documents across NRL desks with regard to punishment of player agents.
It is 20 months since five Parramatta officials were de-registered for their role in the $4m rort.
Briefs against 11 player managers in the Eels’ excess have been prepared, with some exceeding 400 pages, yet no action has been taken.
These cases have been supported by evidence obtained during the later investigation into salary cap rorting at Manly.
Meanwhile, player-managers rake in a collective annual income equal to the salary cap of one NRL club.
They enjoyed a significant pay rise when the salary cap jumped to $9.5m, courtesy of a record broadcasting deal, yet did nothing to earn it.
Questions have been raised in the media over the possible return to the board of the Canterbury Leagues Club by one of the architects of the 2002 Bulldogs salary cap breach, Gary McIntyre, yet there has been no outcry against agents involved in salary cap excess at Parramatta and Manly, continuing to represent players.
Why? Well, player-managers are a major source of information to journalists. Criticise them and the tap stops leaking.
At a meeting on February 20, the ARLC agreed to indemnify the Rugby League Player Managers Accreditation Committee, the seven-person sanctioning body which will judge the 11 briefs against agents.
The Accreditation Committee has no money, meaning that if a de-registered agent took legal action against them in the courts and won, the members could lose their personal assets.
However, because the guaranteed indemnity offered by the ARLC can’t be an open chequebook, the indemnity will apply only to those the NRL, which has one vote on the committee, recommends sanctioning.
In other words, most of them will escape punishment because their indiscretions were minor.
The next meeting of the Accreditation Committee is set down for March 27 but there is no certainty action will be taken because it has sent the indemnity documentation back to the ARLC seeking further amendments.
The requested changes are not expected to be an obstacle but no discussion of the cases, let alone penalty, can proceed until the NRL official charged with approving the amendments, presumably Chief Operating Officer Nick Weeks, agrees.
Weeks is a lawyer and, like all good lawyers, doesn’t like being successfully appealed.
This was demonstrated when, after two months where the five Parramatta officials contested the preliminary penalties Weeks levelled against them, they surrendered.
He is adopting the same approach with the Parramatta/Manly agents – recommending sanctions against those where the weight of evidence is strong.
However, when agents have been de-registered briefly following past salary cap cases, including the pathetically light penalties resulting from the Storm investigation, they have continued to act for players, while a colleague signs the paper work.
Wayne Beavis de-registered himself a couple of years ago but he’s still the go-to man for any journalist seeking information on Jarryd Hayne, or the coaches Beavis represents.
Midway through last year, the Accreditation Committee brought in a rule which allows players to terminate their contractual relationship with an agent who is subsequently sanctioned.
The rule applies to players represented by both management companies and individuals, meaning that if a de-registered agent requests his client continue with the same company, the player has the right to terminate the agreement.
However, any management agreements signed before June last year are quarantined from this rule.
So, if an agent working for a management company is de-registered following the Parramatta/Manly investigations, any client with a contract signed prior to June, 2017 will merely be represented by an another agent from the same company.
While agents collectively rake in $10m a year, as well as the 25% commission “earned” for third party agreements, the prominent ones take a major share of this.
Isaac Moses has a client list which extends from Melbourne’s Cameron Smith to Brisbane’s Matt Lodge, who is on the minimum wage.
He also represented former Wests Tigers player Tim Simona, whose personal story, along with Lodge’s, has appalled many past players and coaches.
Given the time needed to negotiate some of sport’s most lucrative contracts for the Australian captain, could Moses have extended the same duty of care to ensure Lodge’s “outing” in the media was done three months ago, or Simona’s gambling problems were addressed before he backed opposition teams?
While the NRL is adopting a slow but sure policy with agents, they are continuing to live life in the fast lane.
