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Titans marquee player David Fifita is again in the firing line for his lack of value at the club with his commitment questioned.
Fifita scored a rousing individual try in the clash with Parramatta last weekend but the Maroons second-rower did not have much of an impact during the rest of the game as the Titans went down by six.
Former Panthers premiership-winning forward Scott Sattler described Fifita on SEN Radio as “one of their worst players at the moment” and that coach Justin Holbrook should look at benching him unless they get more out of him.
Fifita joined the Titans last year from the Broncos on a three-year deal worth more than $1.2 million per season, making him the highest-paid player in the NRL.
Hall of Famer Darren Lockyer told Wide World of Sports that Fifita’s effort areas are in the spotlight.
“I think a lot of people are looking at where’s the effort areas in Dave’s game that requires him to be paid over a million dollars and that’s probably the biggest question mark and it’s up to Dave really if he wants to improve that area of his game,” he said.
“The tries that we know he’s capable of, they’ll just keep coming but it’s the effort areas that maybe in the grandstands that people don’t recognise but coaches and players recognise.”
Immortal five-eighth Wally Lewis added: “I think the most consistent bit of criticism has come when they’ve said you’ll see him come up with the big play and everybody will get excited, they’ll rise to their feet but then you don’t see him come up with another play for about 8-10 minutes after that.
“He’s quite capable of inspiring his team, bringing the crowd to their feet, why not come up with another one? I guess he’s the only one who knows the reasons behind that or whether there was another opportunity available, whether he didn’t get the chance to. If the criticism continues, I think that he will probably feel like he has to do it every game.”
Former premiership-winning playmaker James Maloney may have played his last game of professional rugby league after being stood down by his French club.
The 35-year-old former NSW five-eighth tested positive to cocaine after a late February match for Lezignan in the French domestic competition.
After playing for Catalans Dragons in last season’s Super League, he joined the semi-professional club which plays in France’s Elite One Championship.
A journeyman who played for Melbourne, the Warriors, Roosters, Cronulla and Panthers in the NRL before heading to the Super League, Maloney has been told by Lezignan president Alain Fabre to provide details about the circumstances behind the positive test before they work out whether he will be allowed to return to action.
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