paywalled. anyone care to copy?
The strained relationship between powerful player agent Anthony Picone and the Queensland Rugby Union has finally reached breaking point, with the QRU deciding to negotiate contracts directly with his players, excluding him from all talks.
The decision of Picone-managed Samu Kerevi to join Japanese club Suntory Sungoliaths on a three-year contract following the World Cup, a deal the QRU and Rugby Australia felt they had little opportunity to counter, is understood to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The QRU and RA always believed that even as they were conducting talks with Picone about Kerevi’s intentions, the Sungoliaths somehow had a headstart on the Queensland captain’s services.
In a bid to resolve that issue, The Australian put in writing a two-part question to Picone: Had you or Samu Kerevi signed an MOU or pre-agreement with Suntory before the end of January? Did you really give RA and/or the QRU a legitimate chance to negotiate?
Picone responded through his lawyers. “Any suggestion that the QRU were not given a legitimate opportunity to negotiate for Samu Kerevi’s services is false.”
He made no mention of Rugby Australia. Nor did he answer the critical question of whether Kerevi’s fate had been sealed in January, though it was not formally announced that he was heading to Japan until June.
Yet the showdown between one of the major unions in Australia and the man regarded as one of the powerbrokers of the game has been several years in the making, with the Reds repeatedly emerging as losers in Picone-brokered deals involving players nurtured and developed in the Queensland rugby system.
Will Genia, Liam Gill and Campbell Magnay all ventured overseas just as they were at or about to reach their peak. Lately the players heading interstate or overseas from Picone’s “stable” have become even younger, with Nudgee College five-eighth Reesjan Pasitoa last December turning down a Reds offer and signing with the Brumbies instead. He was 17 at the time.
Neither the QRU nor Rugby Australia would comment on the decision to exclude Picone from any player negotiations. It is understood that Scott Johnson, Rugby Australia’s director of rugby, has been looking at the issue of player agents, but he is in New Caledonia with the Wallabies and could not be contacted. Still, this looks to be the opening shot in a long-promised campaign to regulate player-manager activity.
It is understood that the Reds simply have told his players that they will negotiate only with them. That in no way precludes them from taking advice from Picone before or after their meetings. It simply means that their manager is not physically present while the terms of their contracts are being worked through. His players include lock Izack Rodda — who he insists he is still negotiating for — and Harry Hockings, centre Chris Feauai-Sautia, hooker Sean Farrell and five-eighth Carter Gordon.
Asked about the ban, Picone replied: “Firstly, can I say that it is disappointing to hear via the media of a rumour circulating that the QRU is refusing to negotiate with me in person. I certainly haven’t been advised of that by the QRU and if there is any truth to the rumour then I’d expect them to have raised it with me formally and I’d question their motives for doing so.”
Picone may not have been formally advised by the QRU but he was unsurprised by the rumour and indeed told The Australian he had just returned from speaking with his lawyers about it.
“My obligation as a rugby agent under our contract, the RUPA regulations and CBA is to represent the client’s best interests at all times,” he said. “That is what I do. My clients have a right to independent, impartial representation which afford them an equal voice in negotiations and a sense of security and support throughout such dealing.”
He was unapologetic that so many of his clients ended up leaving Queensland, either for overseas-based clubs or interstate to rival Super Rugby franchises.
“I am a player’s agent,” said Picone. “I have a fiduciary duty to act in my player’s best interests, which I do without fear or favour. The QRU’s job is to make it an attractive proposition to choose to play with the Reds, which no doubt they do to the best of their ability.”
Magnay, who grabbed a one-season deal with Suntory in 2017 which he took despite clear assurances from Wallabies coach Michael Cheika that he was in line for the spring tour to Europe at the end of that year, insists Picone has always dealt with him fairly.
“In 2015, 2017 and 2018 Anthony Picone laid out all options for me in relation to my playing career,” Magnay said. “The reason he is still my manager today is that he canvasses all the opportunities across rugby which are not just limited to Australia. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything, spells out the pros and cons of each offer.’’
It would have to be said, though, that Magnay’s drive towards the Wallabies has certainly been stalled by his Japan stint.
Picone is the only agent of the 15-odd managers that the Reds deal with who has been cut out of the loop. Significantly, of the 15 players recently announced as long-term signings in a strategy that Queensland is hoping will make the Reds a force again in Super Rugby, only one — Feauai-Sautia — is a Picone player.
Asked why he had been singled out, Picone replied: “The only legitimate reason that I can think of as to why the QRU would want to refuse to deal with me is because they believe they could gain some advantage over the players by preventing him from accessing advice from an experienced advocate. Assuming that the rumour is correct, perhaps the question that should be put to the QRU is what legitimate reason they have for trying to cut the player’s adviser out of the process.”
No attempt is being made by the QRU to induce players to change agents but certainly a clear message is being sent that Queensland is very much moving over to the system used in France and New Zealand, where rugby bodies will deal with only selected agents that all agree are working in the best interests of the players and the game.
