Recently retired Leinster and Ireland rugby star Jordi Murphy, who was the first player to be represented by Niall Woods’ Navy Blue Sports agency, has now joined their team as a Player Agent.
That neat symmetry is not the only positive in the Navy Blue world which now represents over 70 sports stars including the Rugby player of the moment Jack Crowley and likely Rugby World Cup stars Garry Ringrose, Dan Sheehan and Caelan Doris.
Murphy is the latest addition to the team but he follows Rob White who joined from Wilson Hartnell to work on the sponsorship side, replacing Mallorie Ronan who has herself gone ‘in-house’ at the IRFU. Former client and Munster player Ronan O’Mahony has also joined since January.
It is a powerful line up on the client and the management side.
Fiona Coghlan looks after the Women in Sport division, acting on behalf of Rugby World Cup bound referee Joy Neville, Ireland captain Nichola Fryday, Double All Ireland winner Vikki Wall and Paris ’24 bound World Champion boxer Amy Broadhurst.
Murphy will be entering an operation that negotiates with the IRFU on behalf of its players and also makes sure they are doing the right thing for their personal brand.
Niall Woods himself was a key driver of the way in which players organise themselves, setting up the Rugby Players Association and then IRUPA which became Rugby Players Ireland a full 20 years ago now.
In a Rugby World Cup year, when Ireland has just won a Grand Slam and where the provincial system is as strong as ever, there has never been a better time to be involved in the sport here in Ireland, and finding a way to do that after the last tackle has been made on the pitch is something that Woods and Murphy could have been planning together for a long time.
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