TOOHEY'S NEWS: Knights dismiss claims player agent Isaac Moses has too much power

Moses, it must be remembered, has been deregistered by the NRL, but his company, which is now run by his brother Steve, manages around 100 NRL players and coaches including several of the biggest names in the game.

So is there substance to the criticism? Here are the facts.

Moses' company currently manages seven of the club's top 30 players which will rise to eight if the Knights sign Matt Lodge from the Brisbane Broncos.

Those seven players are David Klemmer, Kurt Mann, Gehamat Shibasaki, Hymel Hunt, Enari Tuala, Jesse Sue and Bailey Hodgson.

Of those seven, only Klemmer and Mann are among the club's top 10 highest paid players with two, Sue and Hodgson in the bottom 10.

Cove also looks after head coach Adam O'Brien, coaching advisor Anthony Seibold and assistant coach Willie Peters at contract time.

Of the remaining squad, four players - Jayden Brailey, Daniel and Jacob Saifiti and Jake Clifford - are looked after by Paul Sutton from George Mimis's company SFX, agent Daniel O'Loughlin acts for Pasami Saulo, Starford To'a, Jirah Momoisea and Simi Sasagi while GS Sports Management's Steve Gillis and Clinton Schifcofske are agents for Bradman Best, Brodie Jones, Tex Hoy and until very recently, Connor Watson.

That's 19 of the club's top squad looked after by four companies, a scenario not too different to most NRL clubs.

Asked about suggestions Moses is running the club's recruitment and has too big an influence on who gets signed and who doesn't, O'Brien bristled and said: "The influence is a mirage. Yes, we have a good relationship with Isaac and his company but we have good relationships with all the agents we deal with.

"It [the perception] is probably out there because he acted for me as coach but he doesn't act for me on an on-going basis. My deal is done for the next four years.

"He actually helped this club immensely when we were on our knees last season with Andrew McCullough and Blake Green coming here to get us out of a hole so I just don't get the criticism.

"Do we not go and sign a player we might be after now just because he just happens to be a Cove player and we have too many of them? It's ridiculous."

Head of recruitment Clint Zammit is also adamant there is no issue with Moses and no deals have been done to take players the club did not want to sign.

"People say he runs our club but how? Cove's got just two of our top 10 players," Zammit said.

"The influence stuff is an absolute myth. The facts are around 84 percent of NRL players are managed by six companies.

"You have a look but I think you'll find the NRL has around 130 registered player agents but six companies look after 80 odd percent of the players.

"The dominant agents are always going to have the majority of the good players so it's obvious that you have to deal with them and that's what we do.

"If you are after a player in a certain position, you look for that player and it doesn't matter who acts for them. It's why you need good relationships with all of the agents."

Zammit said it's very likely other clubs have a similar number of players from the one management company, depending on who they have on their books.

The Knights newest signing, North Queensland halfback Jake Clifford, will arrive in Newcastle today after playing his final game for the Cowboys prior to some highly emotional farewell scenes in Townsville last night.

He will likely watch his new teammates go around against Manly tomorrow before joining them for training early next week.

Meanwhile, the Knights remain in negotiations with the Broncos over a release for controversial prop Matt Lodge.

Despite a backlash from some fans, the Wests board has rubber-stamped moves to sign him after being told of the lengths he has gone over the past four years to right the wrongs of his violent pass as a 20-year-old.

Connor Watson and Kalyn Ponga not only live together and are best mates - they also now share the same manager.

We're told Ponga's father Andre is not only looking after his son's footy contract affairs, he is now taking care of Watson as well after the Knights utility star ended his relationship with previous agent Steve Gillis from GS Sports Management.

Watson is off contract at the end of the season with talks understood to have kicked off or be about to over a new longer term deal. He said during the week he is keen to stay at the club and the Knights are keen to retain him.

It's taken several months and 12 rounds but Knights fans will get their first look at boom young English fullback Bailey Hodgson when he makes his debut for the club in NSW Cup against Blacktown tomorrow.

After waging a tough battle to overcome a knee tendon injury he brought with him to Newcastle, Hodgson will play fullback in the early game at MJ Stadium. Fellow Englishman Dom Young also returns from injury, as does Jirah Momoisea.

Making his debut even more special, Hodgson's parents Annette and David will get out of quarantine in Sydney today and be there for the game. A case of perfect timing.

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