Wayne Bennett will try to get a deal done to bring David Fifita to South Sydney in 2026 after the boom back-rower was given permission to leave Gold Coast a year early.
AAP has been told the Titans gave the 25-year-old’s management permission to source offers elsewhere for next year, despite not being off contract until the end of 2026.
It has been a tough year for Fifita, who won’t play again this season after recently having his third ankle surgery.
He has been limited to just nine games and there is a sense he would benefit from a change after spending five up-and-down seasons at the Titans.
Bennett gave Fifita his NRL debut in 2018 when he announced himself as a player of immense talent and destructive abilities in 11 first-grade games.
Now the master coach is keen to reunite with Fifita and get the best out of a player who has not shown his full potential, despite playing eight State of Origin games for Queensland and four Tests for Tonga.
“We are interested in David here at South Sydney, so we will be talking to his management and the Titans,” Bennett told AAP.
“We appreciate the way they have handled themselves, and we have handled ourselves well. Now we will try and see if we can get a deal done.
“I gave him his debut at the Broncos when he was 18 after he had just played under-18s that year. David is just a rare talent. We haven’t seen the best of him yet.”
The Titans would likely need to tip in some of Fifita’s $900,000-plus salary for next season, but that bridge will be crossed when the two clubs sit down at the negotiating table.
The ball is now in the Fifita camp’s court as he is within his rights to stay for next year and fight his way back to top form at the Titans, if that is what he wants to do.
Titans coach Des Hasler acknowledged Fifita had faced a challenging period in his career.
“It has been a tough year for David,” Hasler said.
“David only had ankle surgery last week. But David’s still contracted for 2026, so we’ll get him back on his feet and get him running.
“We won’t see him again this year. We need to get him into rehab quick smart.”
Hasler was coy at a press conference on Friday when asked about Fifita’s future and whether he would be released.
“We don’t discuss those kinds of questions here, but he’s contracted for next year,” the coach said.
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