The NRL has banned four of the game’s biggest player agents, in end-of-year sanctions that will leave several stars without their usual manager for the start of 2026.<\/p>\n
Chris Orr, Mario Tartak, Nash Dawson and Matt Desira were all given suspensions on Thursday for integrity matters, along with a combined $60,000 in fines.<\/p>\n
It comes as the NRL has also threatened fines against Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters over alleged salary-cap and selection breaches.<\/p>\n
Head office claims the Roosters breached the supplementary and training cap by $36,070 in 2024, with the club facing a fine of that value.<\/p>\n
The Storm are also accused of twice selecting a player who was on a training contract in 2025. They are facing a fine of $25,000, with half of it suspended.<\/p>\n
On a busy Thursday, Melbourne’s Shawn Blore was the other player to earn the NRL’s ire, handed a breach notice after pleading guilty to a common assault in Sydney last July.<\/p>\n
Eliesa Katoa of Tonga is attended to by a trainer during the Men’s Pacific Championships match.\u00a0Photo by Hannah Peters\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
In further news, it is understood head office has agreed to grant Tonga’s medical staff more time to decide whether to fight their two-year bans for the handling of Eliesa Katoa’s repeated head knocks.<\/p>\n
But it is the four agents who were hardest hit on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Tartak was handed a 12-month ban and $25,000 fine for allegedly communicating with an under-age player without a guardian present.<\/p>\n
It was also claimed that Tartak entered into a commercial arrangement with two NRL clubs, in breach of the rules.<\/p>\n
Tartak is one of the game’s most powerful agents, and has the likes of Haumole Olakau’atu and the Fainu brothers on his books.<\/p>\n
Of his clients, Damien Cook is the biggest name off contract this year.<\/p>\n
Orr and Dawson were both suspended for six months and fined $10,000 and $15,000 respectively over an altercation while away at a schoolboys competition last year.<\/p>\n
Orr is the owner and director of sport at Pacific Sport Management, whose talent list includes Dylan Brown, Selwyn Cobbo, Jahrome Hughes and Valentine Holmes.<\/p>\n
Dawson, meanwhile, looks after the affairs of Ezra Mam, Reece Walsh, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Robert Toia, among others.<\/p>\n
Desira has been suspended for six months after the NRL accused him of “non-reporting and dishonesty following police charges and court proceedings”.<\/p>\n
Desira looks after Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall, and recently completed long-term deals for both Viliame Kikau and Jayden Campbell.<\/p>\n
Realistically, the impact on players will likely be minimal, with all four agents having colleagues in their company who can still handle their talent’s affairs.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Tonga medical staff who were last week handed breach notices relating to the Katoa concussion will have their fate determined next year.<\/p>\n
Head doctor Peter Hackney, his assistant Hoani McFater and head trainer Jonathan Crawley are all facing two-year suspensions from any NRL competition or ARLC-associated event.<\/p>\n
The trio work with the Dolphins, Warriors and North Queensland respectively.<\/p>\n
It is understood at least one of the medical staff is seriously considering challenging the sanctions.<\/p>\n
A fourth, Warriors physio Steve Dean, was handed a formal warning.<\/p>\n
Katoa required urgent surgery after he suffered bleeding on the brain and seizure activity following three hits to the head in the space of two hours.<\/p>\n
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