Sport Confidential: Player agent unloads on underage ban call as Broncos-Dolphins turf war spills over
A leading player manager says agents are being unfairly blamed for the feeding frenzy around signing junior talent, accusing NRL clubs of creating the problem. FIND OUT WHY.
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A leading agent has slammed a proposal banning managers from signing players under the age of 18 amid revelations of a development war breaking out between the Broncos and Dolphins.
Sam Ayoub, who has served as a player manager for 37 years and signed Johnathan Thurston as a teenager, says the Brisbane turf war is evidence as to why the NRL’s rising stars need representation.
The birth of the Dolphins as an NRL entity in 2023 has created competitive tension with the Broncos, who traditionally had a stranglehold in a market with thousands of Brisbane-based juniors up for grabs.
As revealed by Code Sports in February, the NRL is set for the biggest grassroots reform in its history, including a crackdown on industry agents signing players before their 18th birthday.
It followed a proposal compiled by a Pathways Steering Committee chaired by QRL CEO Ben Ikin, which included nine recommendations sent to the ARL Commission for formal review.
One area in line for a seismic shake-up is how accredited player agents sign the code’s next generation of NRL stars.
Right now, players as young as 14 can sign with a player agent.
If the ARL Commission rubber stamps the recommendations, player agents would be banned from signing players until the year in which they turn 18.
Only in exceptional circumstances — with approval from the NRL — would agents be able to sign a 16 or 17-year-old under a revamped system.
But Ayoub warned the ARL Commission of the dangers of aspiring players, between the ages of 15 to 17, not having the help of an accredited NRL agent to deal with clubs competing for signatures.
“That proposal is ridiculous,” Ayoub said of moves to ban kids under 18 having agents.
“The NRL clubs are creating the problem, not the agents.
“The NRL clubs cause the situation because they are the ones fighting over talent in the junior development system.
“Even right now, the Dolphins and Broncos are at loggerheads for the best 15 and 16-year-olds in Brisbane.
“It’s got to the point where one of those clubs got in first to sign a 15-year-old, then the other club tried to steal him and it caused a major rift.
“I do know his name but I won’t mention him due to his age.
“But it’s a sign that the Broncos and Dolphins are competing for the best young kids in Brisbane.
“It’s easy to blame the agents, but most kids only need representation because they and their parents are dealing with negotiators and recruiters from professional NRL organisations.”
There has been no love lost between the Broncos and Dolphins in recent years.
In June 2023, the Broncos were rocked by feeder club Norths Devils severing ties with Brisbane to sign a lucrative affiliate deal with the Dolphins.
Three months later, the Dolphins were sensationally fined $25,000 by the NRL, who ruled Redcliffe secretly tried to induce Brisbane centre Deine Mariner to break his Broncos contract.
Last year, Max Plath won the Dolphins’ player of the year award after being poached from the Broncos.
Former Broncos development guru Kurt Richards now works as the Dolphins’ pathways chief and he is considered a trump card in beating Brisbane to the punch for the region’s best young kids.
Another agent agreed with Ayoub’s assessment, saying: “The Broncos are under siege from the Dolphins. Brisbane usually got the best kids but that’s not always the case anymore.
“The Dolphins are a huge threat.”
Ikin has described the junior-development system as “toxic” and the PSC held fears that some kids, as young as 14 or 15, could be exploited by player managers.
But Ayoub said there are hundreds of accredited agents acting ethically in trying to assist teenagers from junior football to the riches of the NRL system.
“If they want to ban us from signing kids at 18, then NRL clubs shouldn’t sign them either,” Ayoub said.
“Sixteen is a better age (to sign with an agent) because you can make pretty good assessments on the ability of players at that age.
“The reality is some players are 17 and they are close to playing NRL.
“Look at Joseph Suaalii, he played NRL at 17 and he needed a player manager to help with those negotiations.
“A lot of parents aren’t equipped to deal with NRL clubs and find the whole process intimidating, and for that reason that’s why player managers are required to negotiate deals with the clubs.”
ALFIE’S ROO TOUR RECALL
Rugby league’s Ashes are coming back and so are the famous Kangaroos supporters tours.
Sport Confidential can reveal Broncos legend Allan Langer and Queensland Origin great Gary Belcher are taking a supporters group to England for the end-of-year Test series against the Poms.
‘Alfie’ and ‘Badge’ are leading the tour through Gullivers Sport Travel, who were behind a number of supporters’ trips to the UK for the iconic Kangaroo Tours of the 1980s and 1990s.
Langer and Belcher were teammates on the 1990 Kangaroo Tour, while the champion Broncos halfback embarked on a second trip in 1994, the last of Australia’s fully-fledged voyages to the UK.
It will take a brave tourist to keep up with Alfie celebrating a Kangaroos win.
BIG BAD JOE’S RETURN
One of Australia’s leading heavyweight boxers, Brisbane’s 110kg monster Joe Goodall, is returning to the ring.
‘Big Bad Joe’ is back in action on Saturday night when Goodall headlines a card against Bowie Tupou at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena.
The pair will fight for the WBA Oceania heavyweight title, with Goodall (11-2-1) to enter the WBA’s top 15 world rankings if he disposes of veteran Tupou (29-6).
Goodall shocked world boxing with his huge boilover of Stephan Shaw in 2023 and the former Commonwealth Games silver medallist is coming off a win over Faiga Opelu last May in Perth.
Goodall’s manager Steve Scanlan said victory would put the 32-year-old back in contention for a world-title shot.
“This is an important fight for Joe,” Scanlan said.
“He needs an emphatic performance and if he wins he will be back in the world rankings.
“Once you are in the top 15, you can get a big fight at any time. We are watching Joseph Parker (WBO interim champion) carefully. He is one of our good friends and a trans-Tasman between the pair would be a blockbuster.
“The pair know each other well, so I’m sure Joseph Parker would consider a fight against Joe because it would be a sensational fight for Australian and New Zealand boxing.
“There’s no excuses for Joe on Saturday. If Joe Goodall is at his best, I’m confident he will stop Bowie.”
TITAN STILL GROUNDED
Wallabies convert Carter Gordon is still months away from playing games.
Gordon is yet to make his NRL debut and has been sidelined indefinitely following a rare back injury which saw spinal fluid leaking.
Titans fans got excited last week when images emerged of Gordon running on the club’s training field.
But he is not close to running out for a match.
At best, Gordon is facing months on the sidelines and is hoping to play a few games at the back end of the season if everything goes well.
PHINS UP FOR GALLEN
The Dolphins have unearthed a forward hardman likened in style to NSW Origin great Paul Gallen.
Boom back-rower Zac Garton is tipped for a big career at the Dolphins after becoming the first player from Redcliffe’s NRL Academy to be picked in the Australian Schoolboys squad.
The 18-year-old impressed in last year’s Queensland under-19s team in a pack that also contained Dolphins prop Michael Waqa and Broncos rising hooker Cameron Bukowski.
That led to Garton’s selection in the Australian Schoolboys and the rampaging forward is eyeing an NRL breakthrough in the coming years.
At 183cm and 102kg, Garton is a well-built second-rower and was born in the New Zealand town of Kaitaia, giving him dual eligibility for Queensland and the Kiwis.
“Zac is going to be something special,” said his manager Sam Ayoub. “He is a very mobile, tough back-rower, he’s a bit like Paul Gallen or Reuben Cotter ... a tough uncompromising forward who just keeps going.
“He could play NRL very soon for the Dolphins, he’s a future NRL player for sure.”
PAIX UNDER PRESSURE
Cory Paix is on uncertain terrain at the Broncos after being mysteriously axed as Brisbane’s starting hooker - just a month after edging out Billy Walters for the No.9 jumper.
Paix appeared to be in coach Michael Maguire’s good books after winning the hotly-contested hooking spot for round 1 but he was a shock relegation to the bench for last week’s loss to the Warriors.
Maguire then opted to start Walters against the Bulldogs on Thursday night, putting pressure on Paix as he fights to secure his future at Red Hill.
Walters is contracted for 2026, while rising hooker Blake Mozer agreed to terms last month on a two-year deal.
Paix, meanwhile, remains off-contract, with Maguire explaining his dumping, saying no Broncos player can be complacent in his quest to deliver the club’s first title since 2006.
Asked why Paix was dropped, Maguire said: “I am challenging all the players to keep improving.
“Paixy is certainly doing that by the way. I just thought around our starts we needed a little bit of difference. I gave Billy an opportunity to do that and the mix of our hookers I am looking at all the time.
“The week before (in Brisbane’s 26-16 loss to the Roosters) we didn’t hit the mark through the middle of the park, so I felt we needed a change there with Billy.
“The players are all under the same expectations of what we need to do.”
SHARK WATCH
Musician Amy Shark’s blistering attack on the NRL came just days after she was spotted at a rugby league match.
Shark unloaded on the NRL while performing at a dinner for heavy hitters at the AFL’s recent Gather Round in Adelaide.
“I’m from Queensland so unfortunately - I’ve had NRL pushed in front of me, which kind of sucks,’’ she said.
“I’m not just saying that because I’m playing tonight — you guys (at the AFL), you know what’s up. We don’t need to totally drill the NRL into the ground but you guys know what’s up.
“In case someone is filming this … actually you know what, screw them, honestly they just screw around artists, you guys actually understand artists, thank you for doing that.”
It has now emerged that Shark, real name Amy Louise Billings, was in the Titans’ corporate box on April 5 when Gold Coast copped a 36-10 flogging by the Dolphins at Cbus Super Stadium.
Just days later she was in Adelaide unloading on the NRL for not valuing artists, which may have something to do with her performance at the 2020 grand final.
Shark is married to Shane Billings, a former financial officer and salary cap manager at the Titans.
She also worked at the Titans and played at the club’s events many moons ago before becoming famous.
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