‘Not as confident’: Rival club’s Fifita update; sneaky plan to land UK gun early: Transfer Whispers
David Fifita’s contract saga has taken another turn with the superstar forward making one rival club very, very nervous.
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David Fifita’s contract saga has taken another turn with the Raiders showing signs they are losing hope of pulling off the recruitment coup.
The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie said on Wednesday Fifita is yet to make a final decision on his future, bit it is looking less likely that he will make the switch to Canberra.
James Hooper reported late last month that Canberra were still in the race for Fifita’s signature, with coach Ricky Stuart declaring the Raiders a “perfect fit” for the backrower.
Ritchie said that while the Raiders are still “hopeful” of landing Fifita, he got the sense they are not as confident in luring him away from the Titans.
“I spoke to the Raiders about this yesterday,” Ritchie said on Sky Sports Radio.
“They’re still waiting. They’re hopeful without being confident. I think you’ll find they were a little more optimistic last week.
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“I had a good contact saying some of the Titans directors were in the box up there on the Sunshine Coast for the game against the Dolphins last weekend and they expressed a fear Fifita would go.
“So I checked in with the Raiders to determine whether that was right. They said, ‘Look, we just don’t know. We’re hopeful. We’re not as confident as what we were’, and I must be honest David Fifita looked quite happy on the football field in that trial game.”
Fifita is off-contract at the end of this year with Titans coach Justin Holbrook saying last month that “ideally” the club hopes to re-sign him before the 2023 season starts.
Ritchie though believes Fifita is still “unsure” what his future holds as a potential decision looms in the coming weeks.
“It’s a wait-and-see, no decision just yet, but if I was a betting man who had a little lazy five bucks, I’d probably back him to stay,” Ritchie said.
“But in rugby league of course you never say never I think David Fifita is unsure. I don’t think he knows just yet what he’s going to do.”
MANSOUR’S RUGBY LEAGUE RETURN
An NRL return for former Souths flyer Josh Mansour could be on the cards after the 32-year-old appeared in a pre-season fixture for the Newtown Jets.
Since making his first grade debut in 2012 Mansour has played 174 games, 158 of which were for the Panthers.
Following his time with Penrith Mansour joined the Rabbitohs on a two-year contract, which saw him go off-contract following the duration of the 2022 season.
The Lebanese international is hopeful that some game time with the Cronulla’s feeder side will assist him in his return to the big time.
“There’s nothing official just yet, but I’ll hopefully get all that wrapped up next week and we’ll go from there,” Mansour said to CODE Sports.
“I definitely want to get a top 30 contract if I can. “There’s a lot of background chat that I’m trying to block out, but I still love the game and I’m not ready to throw in the towel.”
Mansour’s first bout with the Jets was a successful one, defeating the Bulldogs 42-32, however leading into the pre-season game he had only trained with the side twice.
“There’s a connection with George and Mick Habib, and a few of the boys, and they asked me if I wanted to train,” he said.
“I rocked up on Tuesday, and there were a few surprised faces. I don’t think anyone expected me to show up, but it was a good week.
“It was the first time I touched the footy in two or three months, so it was a bizarre prep to a game, and I still don’t know half the names here, but I’m looking forward to sharing their journey this year.”
Originally published as ‘Not as confident’: Rival club’s Fifita update; sneaky plan to land UK gun early: Transfer Whispers
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