High-profile rugby league player agents David Riolo and Issac Moses have had their appeals against six-month bans relating to Melbourne Storm’s salary cap rorting dismissed on Friday.

The pair will now be unable to represent or negotiate with clubs until March 28 next year – three weeks after the NRL season kicks off.

Riolo and Moses manage some of the biggest names in the game including Australia and Queensland captain Cameron Smith, NSW skipper Paul Gallen, Canterbury-bound forward Tony Williams and out-of-favour Penrith centre Michael Jennings.

The pair were given leave to continue to work pending their appeal – and managed to negotiate Williams’ lucrative deal from Manly to the Bulldogs, Ben Te’o’s transfer to South Sydney from Brisbane and Anthony Minichiello’s re-signing at the Sydney Roosters.

The Rugby League Accredited Player Agents Scheme’s committee announced six-month suspensions of Riolo, Moses and George Mimis in April this year.

The committee found that each of the agents had breached the rules of the scheme and the code of ethics for accredited agents for their role in the Storm’s systematic rorting of the NRL salary cap from 2006-2010.

Mimis, who heads the SFX Group and has high-profile clients Billy Slater, Brett Stewart and Justin Hodges, dropped his appeal against the ban in September this year – with his suspension expiring on October 31.

Allan Gainey, who manages South Sydney and former Melbourne centre Greg Inglis, was issued with a caution in April but faced no suspension.