https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...y/news-story/9abfa625078961f6d4965b71b40e3673
NRL’s biggest stars in sights of rugby’s biggest player agency
Jamie Pandaram, The Sunday Telegraph
an hour ago
The biggest rugby player agency in the world is invading the NRL and has already signed Melbourne Storm star Suliasi Vunivalu and Gold Coast captain Ryan James.
Esportif, who manage 90 international rugby stars including a host of All Blacks and top European talent, has bases in the United Kingdom, France, South Africa, New Zealand and Japan, and will enter the Australian market for the first time in a bid to dominate both codes.
The company’s chairman, former Manchester United and Chelsea football chief executive Peter Kenyon, revealed his plans to The Sunday Telegraph.
“We don’t just want a foothold, we want to be a major player in Australia,” Kenyon said from London.
“That has always been a part of our macro plan. Rugby has two codes, and we want to be a major player in both.
“What Esportif does, we do for the long term, with the right resources and the right people.”
Esportif has merged with local agency Komodo, run by Daniel O’Loughlin, who denied the move was purely to poach league stars and take them to union.
“We are keen to capitalise on the Esportif brand and the fact they are the market leader in rugby union, however we fully intend on increasing our market share within the NRL and grow our client base across rugby league,” said O’Loughlin, adding that the new company fully intends to raid rivals.
“What other agents do is not our concern, we intend on offering the best possible service on and off the field and we believe over time that will lead to players natural wanting to be part of the Esportif team.”
Esportif already had Dally M medallist Roger Tuivasa-Sheck on its books before the Komodo merger, and will now target other Australian-based stars after poaching Vunivalu and James this week.
With the NRL cracking down on the standards of player agents, Esportif’s entry into the game could have a detrimental impact to several management companies.
There is also no doubt that with Esportif’s massive operation, their NRL and Australian Super Rugby clients will find it easier to sign lucrative deals with European or Japanese clubs.
Esportif has four of the six highest paid rugby players in the world including former All Blacks Charles Piutau ($1.8 million per season), Aaron Cruden ($1.2 million) and Steven Luatua ($1.15 million), as well as Ireland captain Rory Best and Welsh skipper Alun Wyn Jones.
They also represent All Blacks speedsters Rieko Ioane and Damian McKenzie, and Wallabies sensation Taniela “Tongan Thor” Tupou.
But that is just the start of their Australian hunt in both codes, the company’s New Zealand head Bruce Sharrock said.
“The market and new funding arrangement in the NRL is not too dissimilar to the premiership in England, and given we’ve always been involved in rugby league in New Zealand, it has always been on our radar,” Sharrock said.
Esportif has also developed a comprehensive intelligence arm ranking the average salaries by position for every competition in Europe — a system used by Kenyon at Manchester United — and they plan to bring that system into the NRL.
“The basis for any business is your IP, the importance of data and technology is so powerful and a minor detail today could be very relevant tomorrow,” Kenyon said.
