Weekend Read: Why Panthers won’t ‘three-peat’, and David Fifita must leave ‘soft’ Queensland

At his best David Fifita is one of the most destructive players in the NRL - but he won’t find his best on the sandy beaches of the Gold Coast, writes Brent Read.

The Panthers won't be celebrating at the end of 2023.

The easy option for David Fifita would be to stay on the Gold Coast. Take a pay cut, sign a fresh deal and remain close to the comforts of home.

The thing is, the last thing Fifita needs to take right now is the soft option. Fifita needs to challenge himself, get out of his comfort zone and test his limits.

That’s why, when Fifita sits down with his management team next week to make a call on his future, he should choose Canberra over the glitter strip.

He should choose difficult over easy. Fifita needs to be pushed to his limits and Raiders coach Ricky Stuart is the man to do it.

Stuart and the Raiders have done everything in their power to convince Fifita that the nation’s capital is the place for him.

At his best, David Fifita is the most destructive runner in the game. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

They have tabled a lucrative deal believed to be worth in excess of $900,000 a season, a slight drop on his current pay packet but more than he will get by staying where he is.

Raiders players have been on the phone - most notably former Gold Coast half and teammate Jamal Fogarty - selling him the virtues of Canberra.

Word is that some Canberra stars even reached out to Fifita when they were in England at the World Cup.

That said, Stuart has done most of the legwork. He has taken Fifita on a tour of the Raiders high performance centre.

He has taken a break from his own holiday on the Gold Coast to sit down with Fifita’s mother Gwen and outline how he and Canberra can help her son fulfil his potential.

He has challenged Fifita and urged him to embrace being uncomfortable. Stuart has been driven by a desire to see Fifita in lime green because he believes he can get the best out of him.

And the best of Fifita is frightening. He may be the most physically gifted player in the competition. Within that frightening physique is a footballer capable of single-handedly demolishing teams.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart can get the best out of David Fifita. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

His talent is limitless but he may never know how far he can go unless he escapes his comfort zone. By now, albeit at the tender age of 22, Fifita should have more than five State of Origin games under his belt.

He should be a staple of Billy Slater’s team. Instead, he is on the periphery of the Queensland side. Jeremiah Nanai and Tom Gilbert have gone past him and Fifita is in danger of being left behind.

He went to the World Cup with Tonga when he should have been pushing to play for the Kangaroos. Fifita needs to ask himself why.

Money shouldn’t be a factor in his decision. He should have plenty of cash in the bank after earning in excess of $3 million over the past three years on the Gold Coast.

Fifita will be a wealthy young man wherever he ends up. His next contract should be about football and where he can extract the most from himself. The final decision rests with Fifita and he needs to determine what he wants from his career.

He is as talented as any forward in the game but it feels like he has been treading water on the Gold Coast. His game has stagnated and his immense talent is at risk of going to waste.

Canberra is beckoning. Fifita should heed the call.

PENRITH’S BUBBLE WILL BURST IN 2023

Dusted off the crystal ball last night and took a quick peek at the season ahead. Came to the conclusion that Penrith won’t make it three in a row.

Yes, they can win it again. But they won’t. Controversial? Perhaps. But threepeats are unheard of in the modern game and losing Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau has brought them back to the field.

They still have arguably the best player in the competition in Nathan Cleary. Hell of a coach too in his old man Ivan. But it won’t be enough.

At some point this year, most likely deep in September, the bubble will burst. The Panthers’ hopes of a threepeat will come to an end, most likely at the hands of South Sydney or the Sydney Roosters.

Has the ‘premiership window’ closed for (L-R) Ivan and Nathan Cleary. Picture: NRL Photos

Winning two in a row was a brilliant achievement but sooner or later, the salary cap catches up with everyone.

That point is now for the Panthers. Their grand final-winning squad is slowly being picked apart as cashed-up rivals enviously eye off some of their magic dust.

You can’t underestimate what Koroisau did for Penrith last year, particularly at the end of the season.

He took so much pressure off the Panthers playmakers with his judicious play out of dummy half and his ability to create doubt in the opposition.

Mitch Kenny looks a good player, but he’s not Koroisau. Not yet anyway. As for Kikau, he was a wrecking ball for the Panthers.

Apisai Koroisau was a key part of Penrith’s premiership success. Picture: NRL Photos

He tormented halves and skittled defenders. You always had to be on guard when Kikau got the ball in his hands.

Luke Garner is likely to fill that role and again, he is a good player. But he isn’t Kikau. Not many are.

The other missing piece of the premiership-winning puzzle may be the most significant of all. Cameron Ciraldo was a loyal lieutenant for Cleary in their premiership years.

Penrith players spoke in reverential tones about Ciraldo and the stats speak for themselves - he was in charge of their defence during a period when it was the benchmark for the NRL.

The Panthers will miss Viliame Kikau. Picture: NRL Photos

He is also a deep and sometimes lateral thinker - Ciraldo had his fingerprints all over the Top Gun theme the Panthers used in the lead-up to last year’s premiership success, when they gave each other call signs and related their footy to the dog fights carried out by Tom Cruise and co.

One game is a small sample size, but you can already see the difference Ciraldo has made at Canterbury. The Bulldogs looked a committed outfit in their opening trial. They are on the up.

In Penrith’s case, there is only one direction they can go as they prepare to roll out most of their big guns for the World Club Challenge on Saturday night against English champions St Helens.

They should be too good for Saints and they won’t fall far this season because they are still loaded with talent, but it won’t be enough.

They’ll go close, but someone else will be smoking the cigars in early October.