SOMETIMES, fate has a funny way of doing business.
Back in February, Mick Agresta's eight-year stint at Carlton came to an end when he departed the club amid wholesale change to its football department and at the start of sweeping alterations to its list management team.
For years in his role as both a list and then a recruiting manager, Agresta battled player agents in trying to secure the Blues valuable trade and free agency targets, while negotiating with them to keep his best talent from the clutches of rivals. Since leaving Ikon Park, though, he has switched sides.
Now a player manager himself, of course fate would play its part when it came time earlier this year for Agresta to negotiate his first contract from the other end of the table. Of all the clubs he would have to deal with first, the negotiations took him back to Carlton.
Back in April, Agresta landed a job at Enhanced Sports Management – the sibling company of Alex Saundry's AFLW stable More Than Management – as its new AFL talent ID lead. His first client at the firm, Blues youngster Billy Wilson, was in Josh Fraser's reinvigorated side, uncontracted, playing good footy, and up for renewal.
And so, despite a handful of rival clubs reaching out about Wilson's potential availability, Agresta renewed acquaintances with Carlton's new football boss Chris Davies to work through a two-year extension with the Blues that would take the impressive youngster through until 2028. While those negotiations had the potential to be awkward, given their shared history, they proved to be anything but.
"It was fine," Agresta laughed, speaking to AFL.com.au this week.
"Chris was really professional and I hope I was just as professional on the other side.
"If you hold grudges in this industry, you won't last very long. I've got a pretty thick skin after being in this position for as long as I have been. The footy club was super professional and I'd like to think we were exactly the same on our side."
Saundry, one of the most high-profile AFLW agents, had a link to Agresta through former Carlton chief executive Cain Liddle – they coach the women's team together at Maribyrnong Park – and reached out about the prospect of the former Blues recruiting boss joining her burgeoning men's stable back in February.
From there, the process moved quickly. Agresta had AFL clubs reach out about potential opportunities, and also explored a move outside the footy bubble, but ultimately decided to join. He was accredited in July, secured Wilson as a client – Enhanced Sports Management's second AFL-listed player behind Essendon's Jye Caldwell – then negotiated his new two-year extension barely a week later.
"For the first couple of weeks, going to the footy, it felt really weird," Agresta said.
"I still get the occasional comment that I've gone over to the dark side. I just respond by saying that I'm trying to make it a bit lighter. The under-16s was a bit awkward. I was hiding behind trees and someone caught me out, so I just bolted.
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"But I wasn't bitter, angry or anything at the industry. I was just done at club land and I knew that. I'd sacrificed a lot over that time. Being away from my family and friends, now I've got a much better balance. I'm coaching my kids' futsal and basketball teams and I'm more present, which was important to me.
"That was one of the things we had to work through when Alex first asked me to join. Could I have those things that I really valued? Being in the role I was, you just couldn't get that balance right."
Having departed the club before a ball was kicked this season, Agresta has watched Carlton's progress with interest. From its 1-8 start under Michael Voss, to its resurgence under interim coach Fraser that has resulted in eight wins from the Blues' last 10 matches.
But that turnaround has hardly been a surprise to Agresta. Having drafted the youngsters that have helped define Carlton's recent winning streak – including Jagga Smith, Harry Dean, Talor Byrne, Lachie Cowan and Wilson among others across the last four national drafts – he saw the leap coming.
"There are so many great people there," Agresta said.
"I'm super connected and I've got great relationships with the players still. There are players that are constantly reaching out. I have got some great friendships with not only the players, but their families as well.
"I'm rapt that they've turned things around. I probably knew it was coming as well. I'm a little bit biased, but I knew the talent was there and especially the younger talent. To see them get some opportunities and really flourish over the last two or three months, it's been really exciting."
In the wake of Agresta's departure in February and Carlton's decision to move on both Voss as coach and Nick Austin as list manager in May, speculation has raged around the possibility of the Blues undergoing a complete overhaul of their playing group at season's end.
However, Agresta urged caution and pointed to the youngsters coming through – Carlton has already had three Telstra AFL Rising Star nominations this year, the most in the League alongside West Coast, Essendon and Richmond – as well as its recent winning run as evidence that things are progressing on the right track.
"I don't think they're far away," Agresta said.
"Players mature at different rates. Supporters are a bit impatient and clubs can be too at times. I'm a big one for doing your apprenticeship and that was probably from my Sydney days. They were really big on that. We expect players to come in now, no matter the pick, and impact straightaway. It's too hard of a game for everyone to do that.
"But I had unbelievable belief and that's why I stuck at it for so long. The kids are showing now that there's some really highly talented, motivated younger players. I think there are a couple more that are in the background as well.
"They've got Cody Walker coming in, they've got an amazing senior group. Even just to have people like Ollie Florent, Will Hayward and Ben Ainsworth, they're fantastic characters and they complement what's already there.
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"I don't think they're very far away at all. I'm a bit privy to the younger players that are coming through, the position the cap's in, the character of the group. I don't think they're that far away."
But now, Agresta's entire focus lies on player management. He recently ventured to Gold Coast for the under-16s national carnival to scout the next crop of talent coming through. From there, he'll look to put his experiences at club land to the test as an agent.
"He's been super impressive," Saundry said.
"His experience and the crossover from what he's been able to bring from club land to here … a lot of people would underestimate just how significant the IP and life experience he's got. From the inner sanctum of being in the trade room, the scouting and understanding the key traits of the player in the modern game.
"To bring in someone of Mick's calibre and experience, it's been so important. But it's also been so great just to have him around. He's such a great person. For me, to have someone like that in our business and our inner sanctum every day, I'm forever grateful.
"Not only is he incredibly professional, he's a community and a family man at heart. That's so important. He's so passionate about his family and about his local footy club. Having someone who holds so much integrity in so many aspects, it aligns really strongly with me.
"He's a hustler in a really, really good way. He respects the families when he's dealing with the kids, but at the same time he wants to provide value to them and doesn't want to try and be their best friend.
"For us, and where Mick and I were really aligned, was in wanting to create a really positive impact. But also create value for the player and their parents in a really tricky time to navigate."
There have been a few recent examples of ex-agents making the switch into list management – from Justin Reid, to Ned Guy, to Brad Lloyd – but there aren't many that have gone the other way like Agresta. He's hoping to use that to his advantage in the agency world.
"It's an enormous benefit," Agresta said.
"That is genuinely my point of difference. I lean into those experiences and what's required to be an AFL player and what framework and support they need. At the end of the day, we can't get players drafted – that's the club's responsibility – but we can provide them with the support and framework to get there."