Can’t blame a club/province/union for trying.
Niall Woods is one of the most well-rounded rugby agents you will find in the game.
Woods has played rugby in the amateur and professional days, in Ireland and England, set up what is now Rugby Players Ireland and has, through his agency Navy Blue, been representing the interests of the latest generation of rugby stars since 2011.
The former Ireland international recently joined The Hard Yards [from 40:00 below] and offered up a fascinating insight on his job, challenges, triumphs and clients.
Pro rugby can be a ruthless game at times, and confusing enough the rest of the time, so many players turn to experienced agents with good contacts books to negotiate the choppy waters. Woods earns his 5% fee by helping the players with everything and anything he can.
The list of requests grows, and grows more bizarre with each year he is in the game. Woods says:
“They hire [agents] because they don’t know how to do it themselves. They don’t know the [market] values and that comes with knowledge and over years of experience…
“You basically do everything for them. I had a request yesterday to see if I could get a younger client Fifa 18 because he can’t buy it anywhere or get it, and did I have any way or access to get it? That’s true. I’m also trying to get it for my 9-year-old!
“For some players, that’s what they want. Some think that’s what an agent is for, even though it is predominantly the contract. The bulk of my work is contract while for certain players there are sponsorships, sorting appearances. You could be getting their car insurance. I always say, ‘Ask me anything’, and if I can help, I will.”
While Woods may be helping one player move onto their own car insurance and off their parents’ insurance one day, the next could involve finalising a contract early in a season so an older player with mortgage payments and a growing family can sleep easier.
Clubs and provinces may often have players waiting until March or April in a season before deciding on whether they want them to stick around. If Woods can work out a suitable deal between all parties much earlier in the season, the relief can be palpable.
“I remember doing a contract with James Coughlan when he was at Munster. It literally took about a week. It was not necessarily the easiest contract I have ever done. The fact that he was playing the way he was made it easier, and it was done by the 1st of December.
“I can remember him saying to me, ‘Are you telling me I can relax over Christmas with my kids?’ I said, ‘Yeah. It’s done’.”
Woods believes that he could have secured an even better deal for the former Munster forward but he had got what he had asked for from the province and was happy to leave it at that.
Not all negotiations are as simple as that Coughlan contract deal.
With over 40 clients on his books, most of them current pros, Woods has experienced provinces attempting to soften up one deal by offering good terms on another. He says:
“I do all the [negotiations] individually. Sometimes the club will try and link in a couple of clients. They’ll send an email with two or three offers.
“I’ll always reply to each one [offer] separately… you can’t tie it in because it just doesn’t work. They may give on one or two but maybe not on the third one, so I always keep it separate.”
Players have their own tactics too, of course.
When Ronan O’Gara ever had a big contract coming up with the IRFU and Munster, he would simply get in touch with Brian O’Driscoll and ask what was included in his latest deal before asking for something similar.
Players need their wits about them but if they don’t fancy doing their own deals, or are struggling to get hold of the latest Fifa game, there are always agents like Woods willing to offer their wide-ranging services.
