They are the AFL’s real-life “Jerry Maguires” – the player agents behind the game’s biggest stars, who are charged with negotiating major contracts and helping broker blockbuster trades.
Love them or hate them, none of the likes of Dan Houston, Bailey Smith, Daniel Rioli, Liam Baker or Tom Barrass will find a new home by deadline night next Wednesday without their agents. Let’s look at who they are and how the dealing works.
Prominent player agent Paul Connors at last year’s AFL draft with his client Nick Watson, who was picked up by Hawthorn. Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Who are the most prominent agents?
There are 103 accredited agents across 52 companies, with TGI Sport – formerly known as TLA – boasting the most AFL clients (12 per cent of the league’s players), from Connors Sports (11 per cent) and Hemisphere (seven per cent).
Tom Petroro is the main man at TGI Sport and sits on the AFLPA agent accreditation board.
Matt Bain, Jason Dover and Michael Doughty are among Petroro’s TGI colleagues. Their clients include Patrick Cripps, Marcus Bontempelli, Zach Merrett, Lachie Neale, Jesse Hogan, Andrew Brayshaw, Nat Fyfe, Jordan Dawson and Taylor Walker.
Tom Petroro is another leading player agent.Credit: Getty Images
This trade period Bain is trying to find a new home for Carlton’s Matt Owies.
They also look after coaches Sam Mitchell and Craig McRae.
Connors Sports, including Paul Connors, Robbie D’Orazio and Nick Gieschen, celebrated the company’s 25-year anniversary in September and are heavy hitters in the industry.
As usual, they are in the thick of the action this trade period, from Houston to Smith, Barrass, Jake Stringer and the still-simmering Clayton Oliver saga. Connors Sports also represents the likes of Charlie Curnow, the Daicos brothers, Nick and Josh, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Lynch, and the King twins, Max and Ben.
Hemisphere continues to emerge as an AFL management powerhouse, led by Alex McDonald, David Trotter and Perth-based Tom Seccull.
The company has its share of star power, with Jeremy Cameron, Scott Pendlebury, Steven May, Jake Lever, Will and Levi Ashcroft, Hugh McCluggage, Max Holmes, Harry Himmelberg, Harry McKay and Jack Steele.
How do they sign players?
The player managers operate under strict rules and regulations set by the AFL Players’ Association – they cannot approach, speak to, or even “follow” a prospect on social media before October 1 in their 16th year – but the highly competitive atmosphere means pushing the limits is a necessary risk.
Every major agency has copped a fine for a minor indiscretion in recent years, from contacting players too early to running camps with ineligible players.
“It’s very competitive during the year – the recruiting is ruthless,” a leading agent, who was granted anonymity to speak more candidly, told this masthead. “If we had a trade period for the draftees, we’d need the clubs to come and mediate.”
It does not end there, with agents sometimes switching between companies, which triggers a scramble from both parties to retain talent, Jerry Maguire-style.
Julian Petracca, the brother of Melbourne superstar Christian, made the move from Hemisphere to Connors Sports this year, while Connors Sports stablemate Nick Gieschen crossed from TLA a few years back. Mark “Maxy” Kleiman also joined Kapital Sports Group from TLA a couple of years ago.
It is more common for players to switch management groups, but they must follow a process to terminate agreements, including notifying their agent, and there may be fees owing, depending on the timing and circumstances.
Accredited agents’ initial approach to a talent pathway player must be through a letter of introduction via the agent portal, after which they need to wait three days or more to contact that player or their parents or legal guardians.
Players can use the same portal to indicate whether they are happy for agents to contact them.
Even once 16-year-old footballers are eligible to be contacted, the AFLPA also adds in a further period before they can sign a standard player agent agreement (SPAA), so they have time to weigh up their options.
Meanwhile, agents cannot offer, or provide, any incentives, such as money, goods, training or other benefits, to convince a player to sign with them.
What cut do agents take?
The SPAA, which is signed by the player and agent, outlines the specific services – from marketing to professional development and even their transition out of the sport – the manager will provide, as well as the fee, which is typically about four per cent.
That fee is negotiable, and can be less or sometimes closer to 10 in certain cases, depending on the services involved, the company and the individual agent.
The complexities involved in this entire process are why the AFLPA take agent conduct so seriously.
“It’s an important role that requires intricate knowledge and understanding of AFL and CBA rules, the programs and services that are available to players, as well as the agent regulations,” the AFLPA’s general manager of legal, Megan Comerford, told this masthead.
“As our football landscape continues to develop, the ongoing education and development of all accredited agents is critical, and the AFLPA is strongly committed to this.
“We also value accredited agents as a source of understanding and information about what issues players are facing, and as a support mechanism for our members.”
How have the big moves played out?
Agents have various key roles during the AFL’s annual swap-fest, from keeping their nervous clients calm, finding a new club for unsigned, unwanted or undervalued players, and serving as mediators between warring list bosses.
Take Petroro, for instance, the instigator behind the so-called “mega deal” from the 2018 trade period, with help from colleagues Bain and Gieschen, when he was still at TLA.
With negotiations at a standstill, Fremantle – who were trying to secure Hogan and Rory Lobb – turned to Petroro for help, and he went to work to concoct an extraordinary and complicated arrangement that eventually involved eight clubs.
Melbourne, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, Fremantle, Hawthorn, Gold Coast, GWS and North Melbourne all played a part in the series of swaps.
Petroro was the obvious choice to play deal-maker, given six of the players who switched clubs were TLA clients: Hogan, Lobb, Chad Wingard, Lachie Neale, Sam Mayes and Jack Hombsch.
Dylan Shiel, Steven May and Kade Kolodjashnij were the other footballers to move.
In that same year, in the Wingard deal, another agent, Marty Pask, of Kapital Sports Group, had to pick up the pieces after then-Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson rang Pask’s client Ryan Burton – who was in Las Vegas – to effectively tell him he was on the trade table.
Burton was blindsided and understandably emotional, but Clarkson wanted Wingard badly.
Pask had to negotiate different time zones to get Burton’s head around the situation and sell to him a move to the Power, the club he supported after growing up in South Australia.
Former AFL footballer-turned-agent Liam Pickering also famously brokered Lance “Buddy” Franklin’s secret nine-year, $10 million deal with Sydney that shocked the industry – and in particular, the Giants, who thought they were set to secure the game’s biggest name from Hawthorn.
These are the types of situations that managers must be ready to tackle and find a solution for.
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