The more I hear of players apparently moving around (only to be denied) or rumours of exuberant amounts being offered to buy players out of current contracts the more irritated I get.

Not only does it make for bad news or reporting where every single rumour is followed by denial by relevant parties, but it also leaves a bad taste of the level of professionalism that exists in current SA Rugby structures.

Like anything in life you get the good with the bad, and I have no doubt that there are some very good player-agents out there but unfortunately the profession get’s tarnished more often than not with the bad ones.

I am referring specifically to the agents who act more than PR spinning machines than actual agents to increase the value of their players for the sole purpose of making that quick extra buck, than acting in the sport and the player’s best interests.

I am not for one second suggesting that agents should be forced to watch re-runs of Jerry McGuire 50 times a week but I would like to see agents act responsibly as experts of the industry (rugby) they operate in where they should in fact act as a consultant, or leading industry experts, advising players and unions of the best possible scenario’s and its implications.

More importantly, agents should be regulated and made to be held accountable for dodgy deals or not acting in the best interest of the game or players, or bringing the game of rugby into disrepute.

This regulating function or body, or the absence of it, is largely to blame for the circus we see every year with players moving around and the controversy around it. Just cast your mind back to a couple of cases in the last two years which ended up at the CCMA and independent arbitration.

Players themselves has publicly stated that their moves (to other, usually overseas clubs) were premature or not fully considered or understood which left them stranded in a place they do not like, forced to act as mercenaries to fulfil contractual obligations they did not fully appreciate when they signed them.

We all sign contracts and none of us read 50 pages of fine print when doing so. We act on the faith and trust we have in the advisor or advisors who are supposed to be leading industry experts in those areas, but like most salespeople, some agents seem to be selling more bullshit and not fact when advising players to commit to certain deals knowing full well that it will not be in their best interest but at least, still making a pretty penny out of the deal.

The responsibility of establishing a regulatory body falls solely on the shoulders of SA Rugby, and make no mistake, the Players Association (who I criticise often) and some agents have been pushing for something to be established for years now, only to fall on deaf ears at the offices of SA Rugby.

So as unbelievable as it may sound, there are some good guys out there who advises their players on all the risks before committing them to any contract or deal, but like most unregulated thing in business, they, together with the players and unions are suffering because of the sharks of the industry who care for nothing other than the Dollar signs they see when entering negotiations.

I have heard too many horror stories of how things went badly wrong to know that although business is hard and cruel, without some form of regulation the industry and in this case the game of rugby will ultimately suffer because of the greed and incompetence of the parties responsible to change this.

129 Responses to Start regulating player-agents

  • 31

    gbs mate sorry but thats his version

    i doubt he would admit here in a public forum the facts etc

    come now , its like asking me to get straulli in here and explain, you think we will hear the whole truth ? the real truth and nothing but the truth ???

    😆

  • 32

    an article in general about transfers etc would be good though

    i know what i heard from a source re the dups , and as you say there is the bulls version too

    gbs i got no problem with it though , the fact is the bulls and sharks keep things quiet and get on with it with what ever way it goes

    this is my whole point

    the lions however are making a huge mountain of problems , whilst they are guilty of so many things themselves

  • 33

    31@ Tjarky – I trust Ian Schwartz implicitly… he is a Bull…

    I distrust Straueli totally… he is a Shark… and he was in the same school I was…. hehe

  • 34

    i think what we should GBS is reseach and show just how much buying all unions do , and how little the publec actually understand about the professional part of the game

  • 35

    lol bro , and i trust schwartz zero and what makes matters worse he was in school with you hehehehehe

  • 36

    Bulls s14 and CC Champs!
    Morning!

  • 37

    lol gm supa and so they are and deservedly so

  • 38

    35@ Tjarky – No, Rudolph Straueli was in school with me…. and he qualified as a Lawyer, like me… it makes him doubly dodgy…. hehehehe

  • 39

    gbs we should seriously look at an article like that re 34

  • 40

    lol gbs eish julle pretorianers :p:

  • 41

    #37 Morning dark shark,
    Damn right, they are! Dont you wish you were a Bull?

  • 42

    Look, we can argue around and around (Tharky will argue like a protractor, all around his own hole)…. but the fact remains….. there are worms in the system…

  • 43

    the Skipper signing is now up on the Free State website. We can take it as confirmed.

    So, the Sharks have now lost
    Skipper, Warren Whiteley, Len olivier , Monty and Big Nik strauss (I believe)… along with Dauw Steyn and Alex Kock from the under 21s.

    Confirmed signings = ZIP
    and i dont see the sharks union crying to release thses players

  • 44

    lol hell NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO supa , i got my pride you know

    but hey i am big enough to acknowledge another teams feats

    and the bulls made south africa proud not only themselves

    so yes great stuff and may my team whip ur team from now on 😆

  • 45

    Anyway, I have to do some work… see you all later.

  • 46

    #43 Sharky
    Ja, the Cheetahs always steal the Shark players! Poachers!

  • 47

    yes gbs there is worms we know that

    but like the sharks and cheetahs and bulls ? could the lions not have solved these issues without making huge problems publicly

    i agree with morne most problems start with agents , but i am sure in 99% of cases they under under instruction from unions to find certain players

    but like the sharks just made agreements with the cheetahs , surely thats the way to go??

  • 48

    #44 Sharky
    I agree, the Bulls are flippen awesome. 😉

  • 49

    36: nou praat jy.

    Die beste post van die dag … and so say all of us !

  • 50

    #46 of course they do hehehe

  • 51

    Waar is die Uniegebou ?

    Daar naby die 224 …

    Waar is Loftus ?

    Daar naby die 224 …

    Waar is al die groot rugbytrofee’s in die land ?

    Daar naby die 224 …

    Nou wat de @#$%*&&!* is die 224 ?

    Dit is hoeveel trofees op Loftus staan !

    🙂

  • 52

    It seems some people do not understand what underhand dealings are. Underhand dealings occur when you negotiate or enter into a contract when a player is not a free agent or without the permission of the contract holder. Inquiring if a player may consider a move is definitely nothing wrong with. That is what the Bulls did. Entering into a pre-contract is underhand.

  • 53

    daar word gese daar is ook die meeste moffies in die 224 ongewing and moftus 😆

  • 54

    dweeper all unions are guilty of this
    no doubt

    i never said the sharks have never done this

    its a fact they all do

  • 55

    The Bulls released 26 players the last two years. All provinces do that.

  • 56

    uhm if you reada properly i said all do

    but its the lions that are crying after their own mess ups

    read everything dude , selective reading is not good

  • 57

    #49 Bdb
    Dankie, ek probeer maar, maar ek besef nou dit was n goeie post.

  • 58

    #53 Wil jy gemoer word? 👿

  • 59

    the fact is like now the sharks did not have to release thses players as contracts were binding

    just like i said the bulls did not have to release habana or whoever

    its called professional management , the lions requested players from the sharks that were contracted , and they got those players without tears from the sharks , and trust me the sharks contracts do not have the loop holes the lions contracts did

  • 60

    Matfield, FDP, and Bakkies needs rest. They shouldnt play for the Boks next year. Only provincial matches.

Users Online

Total 157 users including 0 member, 157 guests, 0 bot online

Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm