The Deal Makers: NRL player agents special investigation

They are the rugby league deal makers who hold $200 million worth of playing talent in their hands. CODE Sports lifts the lid on NRL player agents, with a full list of who manages your favourite players and who operates best with every club.

The kings of NRL contracts hold $200 million worth of playing talent in their hands with the extraordinary power and influence of player agents uncovered like never before.

In a CODE Sports first, the ultimate list of player agents behind the NRL’s biggest contract stories this season can be revealed.

From Daly Cherry-Evans and Lachlan Galvin, to Brandon Smith and Dominic Young, the never-before-seen list of players-agent ties lifts the lid on which agents manage the contracts of your favourite players.

In what has exploded into a massive $13 million industry each year, the club-by-club analysis also peels back the curtain on which clubs operate best with each agent.

Launching Tuesday, May 13 this page will be updated daily with our latest coverage of the player agent series, including the full list of who holds the keys at your club, and the full analysis of power in the league daily over the next few weeks.

In a CODE Sports exclusive, the ultimate list of every player agent can be revealed: the master negotiators behind the NRL’s biggest contract stories this season are finally uncovered. SEE THE FULL LIST

Rugby league player agents are the kings of NRL contracts, holding $200 million worth of player talent in their hands - but who controls the influence at your club? We reveal the big players at every club.

Who are the silent influencers of the NRL? As part of the CODE Sports special investigation into rugby league player managers the top 10 agents in the game can be revealed.

More than of rugby league’s longest-serving and most significant player agents have taken part in an exclusive CODE Sports survey, revealing the most difficult clubs to negotiate with – and it was a usual suspect at the top of the list.

The NRL has been rocked by revelations player agents are targeting budding league stars as young as 11 in predatory behaviour labelled “disgusting”.

Nathan Cleary, Payne Haas and rising Dolphins star Isaiya Katoa are on track to be the NRL’s first $2 million players, according to the game’s leading agents, whose survey results reveal why that figure should remain anonymous.

In 2010, Johnathan Thurston’s NRL career was hanging by a thread after the star player was arrested outside a Brisbane casino - enter long-time manager Sam Ayoub. These are the untold stories from the men who do more than just sign contracts.

Rugby league has been given a stark reminder of the ongoing battle with recreational drugs, after an exclusive CODE Sports’ survey revealed a number of player agents believed drug use was one of the biggest problems facing the game. SEE THE RESULTS

An exclusive CODE Sports survey of more than 50 player agents has revealed which current NRL stars are best suited for a move into the coaches box in the future, with a couple of premiership-winning Panthers emerging on top.

Player agents have accused NRL clubs of dirty negotiating tricks in their bid to “lowball” the code’s top stars. We reveal the cunning practices used to secure a bargain — and how some mega deals escaped the squeeze.

The clock is ticking for the 17 NRL clubs to lock down their best talent with leading player agents revealing they are willing to facilitate a bidding war with the new expansion teams.

Through the Super League war, Matty Johns saw the best - but more of the worst - of player agents. But, as one particularly enthusiastic agent found out, never mess with Trish Johns.