Star stable defends exiled NRL agent Isaac Moses

Isaac Moses’ long list of star players has spoken out in defence of the player agent after his accreditation was cancelled by the NRL.

Cameron Smith is one of several star NRL players managed by Isaac Moses

Brisbane frontrower Matt Lodge made it his business on Wednesday to publicly show his support for powerful player agent Isaac Moses.

So too Cronulla prop Aaron Woods. Canberra captain Josh Hodgson as well. Not forgetting, of course, Cameron Smith, still arguably the most influential voice in the game. Smith says he won’t be going anywhere, regardless of the outcome of the player agent’s spat with the NRL over his accreditation.

“I am not going to be moving on. As far as I am concerned, Issac has never done anything wrong by me and my family,’’ Smith said.

“Anything Isaac has ever done for me is to try to better myself as a person or help my family be in a better position than we are now.

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“From my point of view, no matter the outcome, I will be sticking by him. But like I said at the start, I am looking forward to him getting an opportunity to have his say, whether that is through an appeal or through court.”

Moses had his accreditation cancelled on Tuesday after the NRL found that he had procured and assisted one of his former clients — Tim Mannah — to give evidence that was false and misleading to the NRL integrity unit.

Moses has said he will appeal the decision and potentially pursue the matter through the courts. Meanwhile, some of his highest-profile clients are queuing up in his defence amid speculation his client list, which is regarded as one of the strongest in the game, is ripe for the picking.

“When I was going through a hard time he was there the whole time. He put three years into getting me back and never earned a dollar from it,” said Lodge.

“He gets a bit of flak but there is a reason that guys like Cameron Smith and Josh Hodgson have gone to him.”

Woods added: “I never had a really older person in my life helping me out with things. So he has always been hard on me. I was an idiot growing up and he kept me on the straight and narrow.”

Mannah’s role in the Moses saga has become an intriguing subplot. They were once tight but Mannah aligned himself with Moses’ former business partner Joe Wehbe when he and Moses went their separate ways.

Mannah is now employed by the Eels and it would be no surprise if the club sought more information from the NRL over their former captain’s actions in 2017.

“He has his own agenda at the moment,” Lodge said. “He looked after Tim Mannah for a long time and probably got him better deals than he was worth.’’