David Fifita contact: Broncos, Anthony Seibold in the dark over Titans deal
David Fifita was going to the Gold Coast and then he was staying at Brisbane. Now Anthony Seibold has been left in the dark as a ‘rogue’ bid has left the Broncos reeling in an escalating contract battle.
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Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold has fired a veiled shot at the Gold Coast over their “rogue” $1.25 million offer to David Fifita as the Broncos remain in the dark over the back-rower‘s future at Red Hill.
Seibold went into shutdown mode on Thursday after being quizzed on whether Fifita will formally commit to the Broncos ahead of Saturday night’s clash against Canterbury at Suncorp Stadium.
Fifita rang Seibold on Tuesday night to reveal he was quitting the club to join the Titans next year, only to sensationally backflip, calling the Broncos coach again yesterday to say he had a change of heart.
Broncos management had a 30-minute meeting with Fifita on Thursday morning. The 20-year-old is stressed and torn over whether to stay or take a million-dollar leap of faith to spearhead a rebuild of the struggling Titans, with Seibold revealing Fifita has yet to make a definitive call.
“There is no other information on Dave today,” he said.
“There is no other news, there was a lot of media yesterday and out of respect to Dave and his family and both clubs, once there is news, we can communicate something.”
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Asked if he felt relief at Fifita changing his mind on Wednesday, Seibold said: “I’m not keen to talk about that, that’s a personal thing between Dave and myself.
“I’m not going to make any comment about that this morning, it’s a private thing, I feel uncomfortable with this being played out in the media when there is a young man involved and his family is involved.
“I have no idea (if Fifita is staying), I’m not sure where that is at, it’s not really something I want to talk about, it should be played out behind closed doors.
“I’m not comfortable with it being played out in the media, Dave is a young man and I want to look after him and his family.”
The Broncos are no strangers to being blown out of the water by monster bids.
In 2017, the Broncos reluctantly lost grand-final halfback Ben Hunt after he couldn’t resist a head-spinning $6 million offer from St George Illawarra which triggered an explosion of player salaries across the NRL.
Seibold said it was up to other NRL clubs to decide whether they felt making $1 million-plus offers for 20-year-old players such as Fifita was responsible salary-cap management.
“Most clubs have a committee,” he said.
“In the old days the coach ran it and had someone looking after the numbers. Some clubs might go rogue and make crazy offers to young players but you don’t know what every club is working towards or what they have in their cap.
“I’d hate to make comment or pass judgment on what other clubs are doing. Any player in the game that gets offered a lot of money, there is scrutiny and pressure that comes with that.”
On the football front, the Broncos have received a boost with strike centre Kotoni Staggs cleared to face the Bulldogs after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Staggs will start at right centre, with Herbie Farnworth to return to the left wing, pushing Jamayne Isaako out of the starting side. Seibold will decide whether to play Isaako or Tom Dearden as his No.14 utility.
“Kotoni will play,” he said.
“He got through everything we wanted him to do on Tuesday. He will get through a full session today, fingers crossed.
“He is a good addition to our team and very good against Manly and in those early rounds. He has had suspension and injury since then and is a big in for us. I am looking forward to getting him back out on the park. We will put Herbie over onto the left wing.”