Manly savaged over 'dumbest idea ever' amid NRL player agent 'concern'

The Manly Sea Eagles have been savaged over a strange attempt to address the controversial involvement of player agent Isaac Moses at the NRL club. Among the growing number of figures that Moses manages at Manly is coach Anthony Seibold, with many fans concerned about the influence the player agent is having in shaping the Sea Eagles' squad.

Before Seibold signed on as Des Hasler's replacement to coach Manly, the club only had the one player - Ethan Bullemor - managed by Moses. In the nine months since, six out of eight of the players Manly have signed have been clients of the player agent's stable.

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Many disgruntled fans in Manly supporter groups have shared their concerns about the growing influence of Moses, pointing to a similar thing happening at Brisbane before Seibold was sacked from the Broncos. The Broncos had a number of Moses-managed players at the club during a season that culminated in the club's first ever wooden spoon.

Deciding to get on the front foot to put any misconceptions to bed, the Sea Eagles on Tuesday put out a media release providing a breakdown of their 39 contracted players (including development as well as train and trial players) and who they are managed by. Player agents Mario Tartak (7) and Daniel O’Loughlin (7) topped the list for the most clients at Manly, with Moses in a tie for fourth with 5 players (not including Seibold).

Manly slammed over 'bizarre PR stunt'

Discussing the club's actions on Tuesday night's NRL 360 program, host Braith Anasta described it a “bizarre PR stunt”, with his panelists tearing strips out of Manly. News Corp’s Paul Crawley said: “The club has come up with the dumbest idea ever to put out this statement. If it’s not an issue, why make it an issue.

“They’re ignoring the fact when Seibold first arrived there was one Isaac Moses client, Ethan Bullemor. Now there’s five, next year there’s going to be seven. On top that, there’s three members of the coaching staff, although Flanno’s (Shane Flanagan) leaving at the end of the year. You’ve got the new head of recruitment (Peter Gentle).”

“You didn’t have to be a fortune teller to see this was coming. Seriously. We’ve known for ages that it’s getting there and then today they come up with the plan to put a statement to try and deny it’s true.

“If you look at the power base at Manly, the Isaac Moses clients aren’t exactly what you’d call top of the tree. The issue becomes you’ve only got 30 spots on your roster and if you’ve got quarter of it tied up, it’s draining your salary cap, it’s filling up a large portion. That’s a quarter of the 30-player roster next year managed by him.”

Anasta added: “That’s the concern — if he has his hands all over a certain squad or team, it may be detrimental to the club. What’s even more concerning is if they aren’t top of the tree in terms of class, you don’t want seven or eight of them, do you? Because then you get flooded by players that maybe shouldn’t be there.”

Fellow News Corp league reporter David Riccio described the issue as a "concern within the game". He said: “It’s not a picking on Isaac Moses, it’s a concern when a single manager has influence over how many players or staff you have at one club.

“We saw it with Isaac at the Broncos and Anthony Seibold, which led to suggestions it brought down the Broncos and their contract failures. As far as PR control, I do not understand this strategy at all. We’re at a point in time in the season where Manly fans want to know how the footy team is going to fire up and make the finals.

“Not put press statements out about how many players are managed by who. I just don’t understand the strategy about putting a spotlight on an issue that you don’t want to be an issue."

Since Seibold's signing, the Moses-managed players that have arrived or are set to arrive in 2024 include Aaron Woods, Matt Lodge, Ben Condon, Cooper Johns, Luke Brooks and Tommy Talau. What Manly's media release conveniently left out was the fact Mario Tartak is in the process of moving on two of his players - Fainu brothers Latu and Samuela - meaning Moses is set to be in top spot for 2024.

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