It comes after the NRL player agent demanded Michael Chammas be removed from the ‘100% Footy’ panel.
New details have emerged about the influence Isaac Moses has at Channel 9 after the controversial NRL agent had journalist Michael Chammas removed from the ‘100% Footy’ panel earlier this month. Chammas was noticeably absent from his regular spot on the Monday night footy program on Nine, and it was all around the fact Mitchell Moses was a guest.
The Parramatta halfback is managed by his cousin Isaac, who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Chammas. According to reports, Isaac Moses told Nine bosses that Mitchell would only appear on the program if Chammas wasn’t on the panel that night.
Chammas later revealed he offered to step away and not appear, after Nine bowed to Moses’ demand. Moses is incredibly influential in the NRL world, and manages a stable of the game’s best players.
But he’s also highly controversial, and was previously deregistered by the NRL. The Sydney Roosters famously refuse to negotiate with any player in the Moses stable.
Isaac Moses’ influence at Channel 9
But new details have emerged about other people he manages, including non-players. And it goes a long way to explaining why Nine would have bowed to his demands to have Chammas removed.
The Daily Telegraph revealed over the weekend that Moses also manages retired Melbourne Storm champion Cameron Smith, who is also regularly on the ‘100% Footy’ panel. And Nine presenter Danika Mason is also in the Moses stable as he helps manage her media career. Phil Rothfield wrote on Saturday that it’s a “particularly awkward situation for Mason, because she, like everyone else in rugby league, rates Chammas so highly.”
Speaking on Triple M radio after being kicked off the ‘100% Footy’ panel, Chammas revealed he used to be close with Moses but the pair haven’t spoken for the last eight years. Chammas said he refused to be a “mouth piece” for Moses, and the agent cut him off as a result.
“He does it with clubs and he just tries to influence his power and control,” Chammas said. “He’s got his people in the media and if you’re not his mouthpiece, it’s a one-way street. If you don’t you get iced out.”
NRL world furious over treatment of Michael Chammas
Speaking on the ‘Off the record with Buzz and Webby’ podcast, Rothfield and fellow journalist Andrew Webster torched Channel 9 for removing Chammas. “It’s weak as piss from Channel 9,” said Webster, who was formerly employed by the network.
There’s no way that should be allowed. It’s hard for me to talk about because I left the joint last year after many years. I’ve got a lot of people that I love and respect who are still there and it probably is a good indicator for why I’m no longer working for the joint, and the frustration you can get there when you’re a journalist trying to do your job.
“Chammas works his guts out. He chases like a greyhound. The only silver lining is that it disproves the theory that he’s in Isaac Moses’ pocket. Because Moses has speared him from being on the show.”
Webster said the NRL should get involved, while Rothfield added: “Who do they think they are? How dare they. I’m so angry about it and it’s got nothing to do with me”.
