David Fifita under fire after Rooster rescind $3.3 million contract

Reports claim Fifita was not “100% committed” to the project at Roosters, which caused Sydney to withdraw their contract offer. 

David Fifita’s move to Sydney Roosters is now off. In the early hours on Wednesday morning, the club withdrew their contract offer. This came after the second-rower reportedly spoke to Roosters, expressing regret about his potential move. Fifita has come under fire from top NRL pundits and fans alike for his conduct during this transfer saga. 

Roosters withdraw Fifita offer

David Fifita’s crazy last two weeks took another turn on Wednesday morning. After opting out of his Gold Coast Titans contract before Round 10 last week, Fifita made the bold decision to sign with Sydney Roosters instead of the reigning Premiers Penrith Panthers. The star second-rower agreed to a four-year, $3.3 million contract with the Roosters. 

That was the story for five days. Then, came a late-night phone call on Tuesday night. 

Roosters released a statement early on Wednesday morning, revealing that they had rescinded their massive contract offer. 

“The Sydney Roosters have withdrawn their offer to David Fifita,” the club said bluntly via a statement on Wednesday morning. 

“Despite his management making the initial approach to the Club and Fifita personally informing the Sydney Roosters’ Chairman and Head Coach of his intent to join the Club last Thursday, Fifita has since expressed doubt about his decision,” Roosters said. 

“Consequently, the Club has elected to withdraw its offer with view that it is in the Roosters’ best interests. The Club wishes Fifita all the best.”

Fallout from Fifita backflip

Almost immediately after this bombshell dropped, reports about what led to it and criticism against Fifita began flooding in. 

According to rugby league journalist Danny Weidler, Fifita called Roosters’ higher-ups late on Tuesday night. When Sydney Chairman Nick Politis heard about Fifita’s doubts, he decided to withdraw the contract immediately. 

“It is hard to understand,” Politis told the Daily Telegraph, “He approached us. And did the same with Penrith. After coming to Sydney to meet with Trent Robinson and the rest of the coaching staff, it’s hard to understand how he can display and create uncertainty.

“We’ve decided to withdraw our offer,” Politis said, expressing his frustration. 

Veteran reporter James Hooper explained on NRL 360 that Politis “doesn’t want a player at his club who isn’t 100% committed…so he picked the phone up at 5:30am this morning and said pull the deal.”

Hooper, expressing his own opinion, hit out at Fifita hard, saying that the 24-year-old was “taking the p**s” by calling Roosters. 

Whatever the reason may be that Fifita decided to express doubt about the Roosters move, his future is now set. Gold Coast revealed that Fifita has triggered his contract extension and will be a Titans’ player through at least the 2026 NRL season.