Ask Mark Bouris how hard Nick Politis chases the players he wants to bring to the Sydney Roosters, and the long-time club director is blunt.
“When Nick decides on a player, he will not let up until he gets the deal,” Bouris says.
“If he’s overseas, or it’s 4am and he’s in bed and someone wants to talk to him about a player, he’ll answer or ring back. He might exist on three or four hours sleep a day. That’s how he gets the deal over the line.”
Aged 85 and after more than three decades at the helm, the Roosters’ billionaire chairman is still not slowing down.
He has been in Japan this week on business – Politis is the largest shareholder in Australia’s biggest car dealership group, Eagers Automotive – and will fly back into Sydney on Saturday, 24 hours before the grand final.
His Roosters are back in the premiership decider for the first time in seven years and are favourites to claim what would be a fifth title since Politis took charge in 1993.
The powerbroker himself would be the last one to make it about it himself, but it’s fitting that after 50 years of involvement with the club, he will walk the NRL trophy onto the field before kick-off against Newcastle at Accor Stadium on Sunday night.
It was in 1976 that Politis first became involved with the Roosters, striking a $150,000, three-year agreement for his company, City Ford, to become their jersey sponsor – the first deal of its kind in Australian sport.
Whether in his office at Rushcutters Bay, inside one of the private dining rooms at Darlinghurst institution Beppi’s, or out and about with his phone to his ear, he has made countless big deals since then – among them the signings of Brad Fittler, Sonny Bill Williams, Cooper Cronk and Daly Cherry-Evans.
Then there is the most prized acquisition of the Roosters’ class of ’26 – wing sensation Mark Nawaqanitawase, who was lured to the club after the Wallabies’ disastrous World Cup campaign in 2023 in an effective switch with rugby-bound Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Nawaqanitawase has been such a game-changer that the Roosters are already discussing how to get him back after his two-year deal with Japanese rugby side Saitama Wild Knights, and how he should be valued.
Wingers are not paid $1 million contracts in the NRL – that is so-called “fullback money” – but Nawaqanitawase’s impact and ability to manufacture a try make him a potential outlier.
What is almost certain is that if he does return to the Roosters, Politis’ fingerprints will be all over it.
“He’s as proactive as any other chairman I’ve seen,” said one player agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “He’s a fair guy. He wants to get the best deal, but he’ll also listen and be pragmatic. He’s a hunter. That’s ultimately why the Roosters are good, at player level, sponsor level, every level.”
Khoder Nasser, who managed cross-code superstar Williams, said Politis’ reputation preceded him when entering into negotiations, and his firm grip at the club also played to the Roosters’ advantage.
“He wants to win and he knows talent. He doesn’t play games with talent, either,” Nasser said. “If he wants you, that’s it. He lets that be known, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
“You also know Nick is going to be at the Roosters [in the future]. A CEO or a chairman at any other club … you don’t know they’re going to be there in two to three years. But you know he’s going to be there.”
The connections that can be made through Politis and the Roosters are another obvious selling point, whether it’s through board members such as high-profile businessman and podcaster Bouris or former directors like David Gyngell, the ex-Channel Nine boss.
“If you think Nick Politis is only about money, you’re completely misreading the situation. Detail and integrity is what Nick Politis stands for.”
David Gyngell
The wealth associated with the club has led to the familiar “salary cap sombrero” jibes from sceptics over the years.
But those who have seen Politis operate say his edge lies in how meticulous he is, from meeting personally with the parents of a young player the Roosters are courting, to the regular dinners the board has held with members of the club academy, and even checking in to make sure players’ suits and ties are done up for big events.
“What people miss with Nick Politis is it’s 50 years of detail,” Gyngell said. “If you think Nick Politis is only about money, you’re completely misreading the situation. Detail and integrity is what Nick Politis stands for.”
Under Politis, the well-heeled Roosters board is also the antithesis of the blazer-wearing brigade.
They have to pay for their own seats at games and there are no free meals for them at the leagues club – or even complimentary sandwiches at board meetings.
Bouris, himself a Roosters director for 25 years who joins Politis for a two-hour walk every weekend, puts the secret of his success down to a strong sense of duty and a humility that seeps throughout the entire organisation.
“Once he gets placed in a responsibility like the position he is at the Roosters, that duty become first and foremost in everything he does – that means turning up to every game, talking to every manager, talking to the coach and players and being the last board member to lave the sheds [after a game],” Bouris said.
“If a player is in need, his sense of duty will extend to that player’s family. That sense of duty is driving him to do things that most 85-year-olds are probably incapable of doing. The Roosters are lucky that he feels a sense of duty to us.”
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Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
