Haas, agent on Supreme Court collision course
November 21, 2021 — 5.30am
Haas is taking on Chris Orr and Pacific Sports Management. The player and his lawyer say he is no longer represented by the company, and now he isn’t even paying them his fees – an amount that would run into the hundreds of thousands over his years represented by Orr – stemming from his current deal that he signed while with them.
What’s more, notice has been provided that his lawyer Abdullah Reslan from King’s Law is seeking to retrieve any fees that Haas has paid the company in the past. That is the issue that could see the parties end up in court but Haas is motivated to go down that path.
Sources have advised that as of Wednesday the Broncos had ceased deducting fees from Haas to pay Chris Orr and Pacific Sports after notice was provided by Reslan.
Haas is unhappy with his current salary when compared to what other players were earning. The 21-year-old is a $1million player earning about $600,000. As a result, Haas’ file was obtained and sent to his lawyer where various issues were identified, including how his management deal came about.
At the centre of the dispute is that Haas was asked to sign a six-year management agreement the day before the NRL’s 2018 player agents scheme was brought in. Under that 2018 scheme, there is no maximum term for contracts between players and agents but after two years a player can terminate an agreement by providing three months’ notice to the agent.
It is understood Haas was not made aware of the scheme when he signed that deal under the old rules, where he would be locked into the entirety of his management contract. Questions were raised about whether the agent was acting in his client’s best interests.
As a result, a termination notice was provided to Orr and his lawyers on Thursday, November 11, giving them until the next Monday at 4pm to take the matter to the Supreme Court to seek an injunction to stop Haas from ending the contractual relationship. That opportunity was not taken up by Orr.
We approached Orr and he declined to comment.