The Sports Agents

Premiership Rugby is back — and it might just be the toughest league in English sport.
Brutal collisions, fierce rivalries and some of the biggest names in rugby. On this episode of The Sports Agents, we go inside the Gallagher PREM to discover what makes English club rugby so unforgiving — and why this season is one you cannot ignore.
England Captain and British & Irish Lions star Maro Itoje, Scotland superstar Finn Russell and Wales’ Louis Rees-Zammit join us to reveal what it really takes to survive — and thrive — at the very top of the game.
If you think you know Premiership Rugby, think again.
Timestamp:
0:00 Intro
2:30 Maro Itoje & Finn Russell
17:55: Louis Rees-Zammit
18:55 NFL experience
23:17 Playing for Wales
27:20 REALITY of Prem Rugby
30:45 Dan McFarland - Newcastle Red Bull Head Coach
31:13 What will 'Red Bull Rugby' look like?
32:25 Big Data in Rugby

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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Senior Producer: David Finch
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Jasmine Wissart
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

The story of Hull City owner Acun Ilicali is one of the most extraordinary in the Premier League...
TV star turned media mogul turned football club owner, Acun is a force of nature — and in this special episode of The Sports Agents, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman meet the man himself, live and direct from Istanbul.
This is the story of a man who lost his parents in a tragic car accident, saw his marriage collapse, faced financial ruin in his early twenties — and somehow emerged to create a global media empire.
Acun tells us about the energy of the people which drew him to Hull City, how he inherited a club divided from its supporters, and how he set about rebuilding that bond.
It’s been a wild ride for Acun & Hull City, from surviving relegation to League One on goal difference to winning promotion to the top tier and upsetting the Premier League’s big boys - expect passion, energy and the ultimate underdog story in this very special episode of The Sports Agents.

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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Senior Producer: David Finch
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Jasmine Wissart
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

VAR 'fury' felt like it may have finally peaked this weekend...
A Manchester derby dogged by refereeing controversy just 24 hours after Mikel Arteta gave 'Pro Ref' both barrels after Arsenal’s win against Sunderland on a weekend when Premier League refereeing seemed to be in crisis.
Gabby, Mark & Nedum get into the fallout from the latest VAR disaster and also look at the problems facing Man United after their defeat to 10 man Man City left Michael Carrick’s side with just four points from four games.
There’s also athletics after ‘The ultimate’ World Championships saw most British athletes not named Josh Kerr come up short - and Gabby weighs in on Sydney Sweeney's highly controversial sports gambling advert after female athletes at this weekend's Ultimate Championships showed everyone "what women in sport look like".

📩 Got a question for The Sports Agents? https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7
🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod
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TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents
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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Senior Producer: David Finch
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Jasmine Wissart
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

In this special bonus interview on The Sports Agents, Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka joins Mark & Nedum to reflect on a remarkable first season back in the Premier League as they prepare to face his old club, Arsenal & return to European competition for the first time in 52 years this week.
Granit reflects on *that* moment in 2019 when he was booed off by his own supporters in North London - and Mikel Arteta's crucial role in a redemption story that took him to Germany where he became a Champion with Bayer Leverkusen.
Whether he had mixed feelings seeing Arsenal lift the title in May and how close he really came to leaving Sunderland this summer to reunite with Xabi Alonso at Chelsea.
Plus, if coaching is in his future, what good dressing room culture actually looks like and if leaders are born or made?

📩 Got a question for The Sports Agents? https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7
🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod
📱Follow us on socials:
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents
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📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com
💭 Take our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Senior Producer: David Finch
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Jasmine Wissart
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

Conor Benn’s super fight against Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas has brought the issue of Performance Enhancing Drugs in sport back into the spotlight.
While both boxers deny ever having taken PEDs, both have failed drugs tests and it remains a complex and emotive issue, particularly in potentially lethal sports such as boxing.
On this episode of The Sports Agents we have the whole conversation and not just the convenient parts of it...
Larry Olubamiwo was a British heavyweight contender before he failed a drugs test and he became a pariah. Larry joins Mark & Nedum to talk about why he chose to use PEDs, how he got away with it for so long and why he wouldn’t change a thing.
Boxing journalist Tris Dixon joins the conversation as the guys reflect on why boxers who fail tests continue to be rewarded with million-dollar purses?
You can see Larry in his new film Tales from the Trap, check out the trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9YnxKj-ydg

📩 Got a question for The Sports Agents? https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7
🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod
📱Follow us on socials:
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/
X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod
📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com
💭 Take our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Senior Producer: David Finch
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Jasmine Wissart
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents