NRL player agents special: How Kalyn Ponga brokered rugby league’s richest deal without a manager

One of the biggest deals in rugby league history was negotiated and signed without an agent. Just a superstar, his dad and officials from the club he now calls home, writes BRENT READ.

One of the biggest deals in rugby league history was negotiated and signed without an agent. Just a superstar, his dad and officials from the club he now calls home.

According to this masthead’s annual rugby league Rich 100, Kalyn Ponga was the highest-paid player in the NRL last season.

On a deal worth around $1.4 million a season. It was a landmark agreement that came after Ponga made a monumental decision.

In doing so, he saved himself almost $400,000, given there wasn’t an agent to take the average 6.5 per cent commission from the deal.

Kalyn Ponga negotiated his own record deal. Artwork: Scott 'Boo' Bailey

The Pongas had tried accredited agents. They had gone through a process to nail down someone to guide Kalyn through his career.

What they quickly realised was that, as much as the recommended course of action was to have an agent managing Kalyn’s affairs, he didn’t trust anyone as much as he trusted his own father.

So the Pongas went their own way. They spurned an agent and did it themselves. They backed their ability to get the best deal and they landed a doozy.

They plotted a path, navigated the marketplace and landed at one of the biggest contracts the code has seen.

Along the way, they had a well-documented meeting with then-Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett, without an agent at their side.

They listened to Bennett’s final pitch — made in the penthouse of the Star of the Sea hotel at Terrigal on NSW’s Central Coast — and decided the grass wasn’t necessarily greener outside Newcastle.

Andre has previously spoken to this masthead about that meeting and the path to a final decision. Crucially, they took the Knights on the journey.

“We informed Knights of the meeting and the Dolphins were made aware that the Knights knew also,” Andre wrote in a text message to News Corp a couple of years ago.

Kalyn Ponga with his father, Andre, and sister, Kayley. Picture: Instagram

“The meet was necessary because it is a piece of the puzzle – of many pieces – to make an ‘intelligent decision’ and the formula is not just about footy.

“Time allows you to make good decisions and the timeline to do so was amicably negotiated between myself, KP and the club in 2020.

“Honest conversations. They’ve been an honest, supportive club and have allowed us to be honest, too.”

Then the key point in all this. Kalyn’s parents are there to help him through the process. Ultimately, it is his call. Kalyn makes the decisions.

“One thing about footy, taking time assists with good decision making,” Andre wrote.

“A manager doesn’t make decisions for him, the family doesn’t make decisions for him, he has to himself and we have always made sure he makes his decisions and (is) responsible and accountable for them.

“It’s his life and his career. He has been making these kinds of decisions his whole career from a young age. It’s important.”

Going alone isn’t for everyone. Not every family is as tight as the Pongas. Not every player has the same leverage as Kalyn, one of the most coveted players in the code.

Ponga arrives at meetings with the whip hand. The majority of players need an agent to extract everything they can from their clubs and their careers.

In recent years, Kalyn has brought in an agent at Vivid Sports Management to help him manage his corporate deals.

Ponga is the only rugby league player on their books. Otherwise, they are littered with AFL stars. When it comes to negotiating his next deal, however, it seems likely that the family will once again plot their own path.

After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it.

*****

Can we just take a breath? Just a little time to inhale. We’re only 10 games into the NRL season and Michael Maguire is seemingly already under the pump at the Broncos.

Maguire was brought in as an agent of change and change is exactly what has ushered in. Maybe it hasn’t been everyone’s cup of tea but the Broncos and their players need to toe the line.

Broncos coach Michael Maguire. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

As this columnist pointed out a few weeks ago, it has been 19 years since the club last won a premiership. Nearly two decades since the most powerful club in the NRL lifted the trophy.

It’s far too long given the money and resources at their disposal. You know who has won a premiership since then? Michael Maguire.

He needs to be given some time and space to weave some magic with this current squad before we declare that the Broncos got it wrong.

Judge him and the club at season’s end, not 10 weeks into a year that began well and is far from over. It was only a few weeks ago that the Broncos put the cleaners through the league-leading Bulldogs.

Remember round one? The Broncos opened the season with a touch up of the Sydney Roosters. In the lead-up to that game, I am told they travelled on the harbour to the palatial home of a friend of Maguire, where they took in the sights and had a slap-up meal.

Maguire did the same last year with the NSW State of Origin side. On both occasions, it worked a treat. The Blues won and so did the Broncos.

Another well-documented trip on the harbour had the opposite effect last week and Maguire is suddenly under the gun, something he apparently didn’t take too kindly to given he called my good mate Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield and gave him a spray.

If Maguire had his time over again, you’d like to think he would have bitten his tongue. Getting into spats with journalists, particularly one as powerful as Buzz, gives off an air of panic at a time when the Broncos need cooler heads.

In the end though, it’s all about results. If the Broncos had won at the weekend, no-one would be talking about the latest trip on the harbour. The lesson for Maguire and the Broncos is that if they want to silence the noise, they need to turn it on this weekend against St George Illawarra.

It is a game they should win. Truth be told, they shouldn’t have too many problems with the struggling Dragons, particularly at home.

A loss will turn up the blowtorch on Maguire, his methods and his relationship with the players, particularly with State of Origin looming on the horizon.

It’s a crucial period in the Maguire reign. The season is still in its infancy but already it feels like a big week for the Broncos and their coach.

Originally published as NRL player agents special: How Kalyn Ponga brokered rugby league’s richest deal without a manager