In all this recent apparent player discontent, I've read everyone blamed on here from the players to the big fat Greek to the board, but never a mention of the player agents.
Many older heads have commented that they've never seen anything like this at the club before and nor have I. And many other supporters have said the same about their own clubs. So what's different?
The rise of the Player Agent must play a part. Never before have player earnings been so astronomical and never before have agents played such a major role in our game. I have no inside knowledge of this stuff but I got to thinking that if they get 20% of a players earnings and that player signs a three year contract, then they'd always feel like they have to be seen to be doing something to justify their worth to their players. Perhaps this is why we're seeing reports about the like of DCE and Foz when they still have more than a year to play on their contracts - the agents are stirring it up.
It then might also follow that if they sniff a bit of controversy in the club (a la Glenn no-contract) then they could actively stir up their own player's discontent in order to get a higher contract elsewhere and thus a bigger slice for themselves.
Then I wondered how concentrated the agent pool is so I searched for who are the agents to our current players. The list is incomplete, but here's what I found:
Brett Stewart - George Mimis
Peta Hiku - George Mimis
Jamie Lyon - George Mimis
Steve Matai - Gavin Orr
Jorge Tafua
Kieran Foran - George Mimis
Daly Cherry Evans - Gavin Orr
Josh Starling
Matt Ballin - George Mimis
Brenton Lawrence - Gavin Orr
Anthony Watmough - George Mimis
Justin Horo - Gavin Orr
Glenn Stewart - Mike Newton
Jamie Buhrer
Jason King - George Mimis
Dunamis Lui
Jesse Sene Lafao
David Williams - George Mimis
Tom Symonds - Gavin Orr
Cheyse Blair - Gavin Orr
13 Sea Eagles including lower graders are with Mimis - most of any club.
See: http://www.sfxsports.com.au/club/manly_warringah_seaeagles
Des Hasler is also with Mimis, as is Brent Kite and Dean Whare.
According to Roy Masters the Mimis agency, SFX, expressed an interest in buying the Sea Eagles during the struggle to stay solvent - http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/nrl-to-crack-down-on-agents-as-players-question-mimis/2005/09/09/1125772695052.html
I’m not suggesting anything about Mimis or Orr who represents six of the list above, but I do wonder about the amount of power that sits with these people. They are the first port of call for the club in negotiations with so many players. And this is an age when the player is more of an individual looking after their own brand than ever before.
Maybe that's why it's so very difficult to maintain a culture in a club.
Just a thought.
Many older heads have commented that they've never seen anything like this at the club before and nor have I. And many other supporters have said the same about their own clubs. So what's different?
The rise of the Player Agent must play a part. Never before have player earnings been so astronomical and never before have agents played such a major role in our game. I have no inside knowledge of this stuff but I got to thinking that if they get 20% of a players earnings and that player signs a three year contract, then they'd always feel like they have to be seen to be doing something to justify their worth to their players. Perhaps this is why we're seeing reports about the like of DCE and Foz when they still have more than a year to play on their contracts - the agents are stirring it up.
It then might also follow that if they sniff a bit of controversy in the club (a la Glenn no-contract) then they could actively stir up their own player's discontent in order to get a higher contract elsewhere and thus a bigger slice for themselves.
Then I wondered how concentrated the agent pool is so I searched for who are the agents to our current players. The list is incomplete, but here's what I found:
Brett Stewart - George Mimis
Peta Hiku - George Mimis
Jamie Lyon - George Mimis
Steve Matai - Gavin Orr
Jorge Tafua
Kieran Foran - George Mimis
Daly Cherry Evans - Gavin Orr
Josh Starling
Matt Ballin - George Mimis
Brenton Lawrence - Gavin Orr
Anthony Watmough - George Mimis
Justin Horo - Gavin Orr
Glenn Stewart - Mike Newton
Jamie Buhrer
Jason King - George Mimis
Dunamis Lui
Jesse Sene Lafao
David Williams - George Mimis
Tom Symonds - Gavin Orr
Cheyse Blair - Gavin Orr
13 Sea Eagles including lower graders are with Mimis - most of any club.
See: http://www.sfxsports.com.au/club/manly_warringah_seaeagles
Des Hasler is also with Mimis, as is Brent Kite and Dean Whare.
According to Roy Masters the Mimis agency, SFX, expressed an interest in buying the Sea Eagles during the struggle to stay solvent - http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/nrl-to-crack-down-on-agents-as-players-question-mimis/2005/09/09/1125772695052.html
I’m not suggesting anything about Mimis or Orr who represents six of the list above, but I do wonder about the amount of power that sits with these people. They are the first port of call for the club in negotiations with so many players. And this is an age when the player is more of an individual looking after their own brand than ever before.
Maybe that's why it's so very difficult to maintain a culture in a club.
Just a thought.
