NRL 2024: Gold Coast Titans CEO addresses David Fifita’s exit to Roosters, rumours of falling out with coach Des Hasler
Gold Coast Titans CEO Steve Mitchell is the man who agreed to the contract clause that allowed David Fifita to quit the club this week, Mitchell addresses Fifita’s exit and rumours of a falling out with coach Des Hasler.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Titans CEO Steve Mitchell has welcomed scrutiny of his future and insisted a falling out with Gold Coast coach Des Hasler wasn’t behind David Fifita’s $3.4 million defection to the Roosters.
Fifita shocked the NRL this week when he rejected a guaranteed $2 million contract extension with the Titans to ink a four-year deal with the Bondi heavyweights.
The departure was another blow to a Titans club anchored in 16th on the ladder with just one win heading into Sunday’s clash with the Cowboys at Cbus Super Stadium.
Breaking his silence on the Fifita saga in a wide-ranging interview, Mitchell denied Gold Coast’s $1 million-a-season superstar had fallen out with new coach Hasler.
“No, they were getting on well,” Mitchell said.
“The amazing thing about Des is he backs a person and he talks about behaviour. He holds Dave in high regard personally and he does it unequivocally across the whole squad.
“They know their value and he invests in them. He talks to them about what they do on the field, but he also reinforces the value of the human being off the field.
“Des judges workload and performance unilaterally. The relationship between Des and Dave was really solid, they were fine.”
THE CLAUSE
In a desperate move to retain Fifita last year following the sacking of former coach Justin Holbrook, Mitchell and Titans management agreed to a clause which allowed Fifita until round 10 this season to decide whether he wanted to remain at the club until 2026.
The clause gave Fifita and his management all the power while leaving the Titans hamstrung with $1 million of their salary cap in limbo.
The Titans agreed to it after Fifita became a free agent last year following Holbrook’s sacking due to another clause in his previous contract.
Captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui also has a clause in his $12 million, 10-year contract, but the days of player options are now over at the Titans.
“I can’t go too deep into the contract stuff, but coaching clauses make things more technical,” Mitchell said.
“There’s a point in time where the market is quite competitive and there was a necessity to meet the market at a point in time.
“Are they ideal? No. Moving forward we want to get the best process that we can around contracts.”
THE DECISION
As late as last week, Hasler was expecting Fifita to activate the option and remain at the Titans for another two years.
He was then blindsided when Fifita met with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary last Sunday before reports emerged he was also in talks with the Roosters – who enlisted Holbrook in their pitch.
It became clear Fifita was exploring his options and on Thursday morning, the day the contract clause expired, he delivered the news to Hasler that he was quitting the Titans.
“There’s no surprises in our great game,” Mitchell said.
“We had to be pragmatic and understand that there’s options in this game and you have to be prepared for them.
“I was hoping Dave would stay with us because he’s a great kid and a great athlete. But we also have a business-as-usual mindset to plan around it as well.
“It did surprise me a little given the environment we are building here under Des. We believe Dave could have enjoyed success here with the direction we’re heading in.
“It’s only early into Des’ tenure, so we are really excited about the next few years ahead of us and the type of footy we are playing. The Titans haven’t played like this in a long time.
“Success is coming to the Titans, the window is opening up here, and would we have liked Dave to be a part of it? Absolutely.
“I can’t speak for what Dave’s motives were and what got him to that point. I just wish him all the best and I want him to have a great career.”
THE FALLOUT
After pocketing $4 million from the Titans over the past four years since leaving the Broncos, Fifita faces being booed by his own fans on Sunday afternoon.
Mitchell hopes that isn’t the case and Fifita fires in his final few months as a Titan.
“I would hope that Dave plays well into the Origin period and that we see the best of him because he’s got through this decision making process and he can focus on his footy,” he said.
“As for how the fans and community respond to him, the jury is out, I honestly don’t know. It will be interesting to see on Sunday.
“I’d like to hope we can get a win over the Cowboys and our fans are excited by that.”
Fifita’s departure will free up $1 million of salary cap space at the Titans, however there are few marquee players on the open market for 2025.
Hasler will target a playmaker to bolster his spine, but the options are limited and the Titans may need to keep their powder dry until the right candidate becomes available.
“Dave has made his decision to move forward and this puts us back in a position where we can strategically start looking at what we are doing,” Mitchell said.
“It gives us a chance to look at critical areas around the composition of our squad and help complement the transition that Des is bringing through with the playing group itself.”
THE PRESSURE
Mitchell is nearing six years in charge of the Titans since succeeding Graham Annesley, having joined the club shortly before the disastrous 2019 wooden spoon season.
Gold Coast has played one finals match, a first week loss in 2021, during his tenure and is on track for three consecutive bottom four finishes since Mitchell released a bold plan to win two NRL premierships by 2030.
The Fifita bungle has increased scrutiny on his leadership, but Mitchell said he wanted to be under pressure.
“The pressure is excellent, it’s quite rightly imposed and it should be there,” he said.
“I don’t see it as a negative, we should see it as an expectation around the community and the organisation.
“We have arguably made some good headway over the last four or five seasons where the business is in really good nick, the equity inside the brand with sponsorship, corporate, membership and fan base is as big as it’s been
“I have never seen a fan base, membership and corporate sponsorship base so welded onto a club that has started the way it has so far.
“We need to deliver NRL results, but arguably what we have seen over the last five rounds, that was never going to happen in the blink of an eye. Des will get results over the next couple of seasons once his DNA is embedded.
“I like the pressure. It keeps us on our game and pushes us forward.”
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL 2024: Gold Coast Titans CEO addresses David Fifita’s exit to Roosters, rumours of falling out with coach Des Hasler
Stranded Cowboys ask NRL for charter flight to avoid finals farce
The North Queensland Cowboys risk missing Friday night’s final against the Sharks after the club failed to secure seats on one of the two direct flights to Sydney.
Why Roosters face easy call in the halves
Sandon Smith is the first to admit he didn’t have his best game last week, but his teammates have backed him to respond against Manly.