NRL 2024: Roosters coach Trent Robinson breaks silence on David Fifita backflip

Breaking his silence on David Fifita’s Roosters backflip, Trent Robinson admits the 10-day cooling off period saved his side from being stuck with a marquee signing that didn’t want to be there.

(L-R) David Fifita and Trent Robinson.

Trent Robinson says the 10-day cooling off period, which triggered David Fifita’s backflip on the Sydney Roosters, saved the club from ending up with a marquee signing that did not want to be there.

It comes as the coach revealed the Titans powerhouse is yet to contact him since sensationally walking away from a four year deal worth around $3.3 million from 2025 after agreeing to join the club last week.

“I’m glad there was a 10-day cooling off period. I think it is a good thing. If someone doesn’t want to be there, you should make your decisions beforehand but circumstances come up,” Robinson said.

Trent Robinson says he is glad the 10-day cooling off rule exists, saying it saved the Roosters from being stuck with David Fifita. Picture: NRL Imagery

“I don’t know what happened and so in the end I don’t want them coming down for four years and not wanting to be there either.”

Speaking for the first time since Fifita reneged on the deal, Robinson said doesn’t expect to hear from Fifita with an explanation why the contract fell through.

“No he hasn’t done that.” Robinson said when asked if Fifita had “picked up the phone” since Wednesday morning.

When asked if he expected Fifita to eventually reach out, Robinson said: “Probably not now.”

Roosters chairman Nick Politis woke on Wednesday morning to find a text message from Fifita’s management expressing the Titans backrower was having cold feet about a move to Sydney. The Roosters then pulled the offer.

Robinson revealed he suspected something was amiss in the days prior to the telling text message on Wednesday morning.

“Yeah, a little bit. That was a few days before that, I maybe got a little bit of a feeling. It’s a big call to make but so be it,” Robinson said.

Robinson says he has not heard from Fifita since reneging on his deal. Picture: NRL Images

The coach has taken a philosophical approach to the saga, saying he could not help but see the lighter side of the controversy.

“It’s a funny world sometimes rugby league so to be honest, I woke up about 5.15am that morning from the night before and thought ‘oh well, that’s footy and move on’,” Robinson said.

“ It was pretty simple, I had a chuckle to myself about the circus that our game is and went back to work.”

While Robinson has already moved on, the decision to pursue Fifita had the potential to have serious ramifications for other backrower at the club like Angus Crichton and Sitili Tupouniua

Crichton, who in career best form, is unsigned for 2025 and expressed his confusion at the club’s decision to sign Fifita and revealed he had not heard from Robinson about his future at Bondi.

“We’ve had a chat about that and I understand you want guys that are passionate about the way they feel about those moments and want to play for the club and want to be here,” Robinson said.

“You want that sort of reaction”

Robinson expects the future of Angus Crichton to be resolved within the next month. Picture: NRL Photos

Robinson reiterated that the “door was still open” to retain Crichton and his future is likely to be resolved within the next month.

“It’s not the time to discuss it after the last few days but like I said the door is still open there and we are still working towards looking down those backrow spots,” Robinson said.

The coach denied speculation that backrower Sitili Tupouniua, who is signed until the end of 2027, was told he could look for a new home after Fifita agreed to join the club.

In the wake of the Fifita saga, Robinson said the club would still be active in the player market but would not make any rash recruitment decisions.

“We’re not rushing into anything and we feel like we’ve got a good squad as we said about the guys that are here already,” Robinson said.

“There’s a bit of youth there so we just hold our cool and we may do something next year, or we may wait for another year. We still believe in the guys we’ve got. We’re going to hold our cool for the moment.”