The South Sydney Rabbitohs pushed hard to try and sign young gun Queensland and Broncos forward David Fifita in the off-season, but the club appear to have missed out.
According to Fox Sports, retired Rabbitohs captain Sam Burgess was sent to Brisbane by the club to personally visit Fifita and discuss a five-year offer worth $5 million to join South Sydney in 2021. Burgess used the opportunity in December last year to deliver South Sydney's sales pitch about leaving the Broncos to come to the Rabbitohs.
The Rabbitohs join back-to-back premiers Sydney Roosters, Canterbury-Bankstown and the New Zealand Warriors as clubs that have targeted Fifita as their main recruit for 2021.
However, despite the Rabbitohs mission being believed to have come close to signing Fifita, South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has since gone on record outlining how the club can no longer afford Fifita after signing Latrell Mitchell and Jai Arrow.
Despite all the contract talk, Fifita has chosen to let his football for the Broncos do the talking this season. Brisbane have Fifita signed for the remainder of the year and are fully focused on keeping the forward at the club beyond this season. The Broncos are aware of Fifita's interest in rival clubs but remain steadfast in waiting until he is ready to try and strike a new deal.
Fifita, who turns 20 on Tuesday, again cemented his status as the NRL's best young forward with another star performance in the indigenous all-stars loss to the Maori all-stars on Saturday.
After the match on the Gold Coast, Fifita told The Sunday Mail: “I’m not too sure what I’m going to do to be honest.
“I want to play this year out and see what happens.
“I’ve been (with the Broncos) ever since I was young, coming through the juniors. They have been really good for me since I was young until now.
“I’m happy at the Broncos. I’m happy in general.
“We’ll see what happens. It’s a business at the end of the day, you know how it works.”