Rugby League Players Association CEO Ian Prendergast rejected "any suggestion" his organization will "go soft on player managers" involved in the National Rugby League side Parramatta salary cap breaches, "while expressing frustration over the lengthy process to reform the rules around player agent activities," according to Roy Masters of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the Rugby League Accredited Player Agent Scheme "is set to be reformed, with the RLPA assuming responsibility for the day-to-day management and administration of the scheme." The NRL's Integrity Unit will reportedly "also investigate complaints and alleged breaches by agents under new rules that will be developed next year." The NRL understands it will have two representatives on a new committee overseeing agents while the RLPA "will also have two, alongside an independent chair" (SMH, 12/3). Masters also reported the "long-awaited punishment" of player managers involved in Parramatta's salary cap breaches "is only weeks away," after the Australian Rugby League Commission agreed to "indemnify" members of the NRL Agents Accreditation Committee against possible legal action taken by sanctioned player managers. Given the power that player managers have in rugby league, with their collective annual income equaling the salary cap of one NRL club, "the threat of well-funded retaliatory court action is genuine." However, the anticipated penalties "will disappoint many who have been waiting for the NRL to reform a group" rarely criticized by journalists, "who rely on them for information," and by clubs, which are "scared of retribution." Rather than the 10 agents expected to be sanctioned a year ago -- since lowered to six in media reports -- "it now seems only two or three could face penalties" (SMH, 12/3).
