Revealed: Bizarre reason Titans coach Des Hasler dropped David Fifita to QCup
An innocuous positional request from David Fifita was rejected by Titans coach Des Hasler - and it cost the $1 million forward his place in the NRL side.
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The real reason David Fifita has been sacked from the first grade side at the struggling Gold Coast Titans can finally be revealed.
This masthead has learned that Fifita requested a move to play on the left hand side of the field - a plea that was rejected by coach Des Hasler and prompted his star forward’s demotion to the Queensland Cup.
Hasler refused to entertain any thoughts of moving the Titans’ form forward Beau Fermor to accommodate Fifita’s request.
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Instead Hasler made the huge call to axe Fifita to the Titans’ feeder club, where he played for the Ipswich Jets over the weekend.
The Jets were soundly beaten by the Northern Pride. The standoff with Hasler comes less than 12 months after the veteran Titans coach fought desperately hard to keep Fifita out of the clutches of the Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers.
The development adds intrigue in regards to Fifita’s long-term future at the club. He is contracted until the end of next season on a big-money deal believed to be worth in excess of $1 million a season.
This masthead understands that Titans players backed Hasler’s decision. There is not a more barnstorming edge forward in the game than Fifita, but inconsistency has been his biggest issue in recent seasons.
Fifita did a cryptic interview with this masthead after his axing in which he said the truth behind his demotion would eventually come out.
The decision to demote Fifita came only a fortnight after he was the Titans’ best player in their loss to St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium.
The barnstorming back rower started the game on the left hand side of the field and ran for 159 metres, busted 11 tackles and finished the game with two try assists.
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Originally published as Revealed: Bizarre reason Titans coach Des Hasler dropped David Fifita to QCup
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