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Tying into my much anticipated American sports expose (due for release early next week), I feel these signings of Hunt and Folau are basically mirroring the affect that Sports Agents have in North America, and in effect the whole ‘America’s Little Brother Syndrome’ Australia has at times, but that’s another story.

The main story in America is the NBA free agent fiesta starting in July (LeBron, Wade, Bosch, etc) and how much money they can make. There are massive contracts being in Major League Baseball like Joe Mauer, Ryan Howard, and Albert Pujols  (whose name we all love and admire) up for renewal.

The issue is that it’s the agents trying to make a name for themselves through these negotiations. By tying themselves to the younger, more impressionable players, they have a better chance of doing that. I do believe SBW’s agent is also Anthony Mundine’s agent (correct me if i am wrong), but that doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence when it comes to him and rugby and who is doing all the thinking in that relationship.
Where the difference lies between the two sets of agents is that in America, they aren’t code swapping. There is no way you could cross over anymore like Bo Jackson did (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Jackson). He was a freak of a man.

To take a guy like Hunt and move him from League to rugby for a season and then to chuck him into AFL the next reeks of attention seeking rather than good sense.

I'd like to thank my agent for having my best interests at heart at a 7.5% rate of commission

The smart move would have been to put him into an AFL training camp after he left league, let him build his game through that and some lower level competition before hand to see what its like, because there is a marked difference between going from League to Rugby, and vice verse, than from League to AFL.

It is a completley different skill set, fitness requirements and so forth, which I am sure would not be an easy thing to step into with little or no experience, especially when the guys playing are given a ball at 4 years old, and can kick 60 yards off both feet by the time they are 15!

Ken Laban raised a good point that there is no regulation in the Australian Sports Agent market. The NRL, AFL and ARFU need to sit down and sort it out.  They need to create a window where agents can shop their players around and talk to other clubs/codes. This would stop decisions like Folaus impacting the State of Origin (go Queensland), and becoming the main talking point. This distracts from the sport itself and undermines the efforts being put in by other players.

To know Folau is off to play for another code puts a shadow over his desire and commitment to the cause, whether it be for his NRL team or Queensland (I believe he wont be selected which is good, but you never know when they are looking at 5 on the trot). It doesn’t send a good signal to other players or to supporters of those teams affected.

Loyal, classy guys like Lockyer are becoming harder to find and this makes it harder for fans to invest their time and support as heavily into these teams.

This also comes back to SBW –  where is his head? Is he a Boxer, a Rugby Player or the Easter Bunny? Does he really want to play for the AB’s or does he want cash and notoriety? He can have all the skill in the world but a year isn’t enough to get him ready for the World Cup.

Look at Brad Thorn. His 2nd rugby stint has been far more impressive than his first stint. That may also come down to coaching, as he was messed around a bit, but I think he is a lot more grounded and focused than SBW ever will be.

So yeah, there’s my two cents.

I’ll sign off here,

Your intrepid Sports Reporter by way of Mapleland, Canada,

Mr B Bird/B Ball
International Sports Enthusiast/Reporter
McBird Enterprises
A Partner of When in Rome Bro

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