Gold Coast CEO Steve Mitchell says he has no concerns over David Fifita’s future, despite the second-rower having an option to leave the battling club at year’s end.
Fifita has a deal with the Titans until the end of 2026, but has until round 10 of this year to decide whether to activate the last two years of that contract.
It means the star second-rower is within his rights to walk out on the club at the end of this year, if he is unhappy with the direction the winless Titans are headed.
Fifita has missed Gold Coast’s opening two games through injury, and watched on as they were beaten 28-4 and 32-0 by St George Illawarra and Canterbury.
Mitchell is adamant there were no fears Fifita could walk out on the club.
“I’m not worried,” he said.
David Fifita (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
“I spent a fair bit of time with Dave over the last week. He’s very excited about the club.
“He’s excited about getting back on the field and he wants to play footy. And he’s starting to see that window open up. I’m not worried.”
Mitchell did, however, reveal that Fifita would not return from his pectoral injury on Saturday night against the Dolphins, after he was named on an extended bench.
His return has been pushed back to at least round five, when the Titans take on North Queensland in Townsville.
“He’s not back, but he’s getting close,” Mitchell said.
“He’s been training hard. He’s excited about coming back. I was with him in Sydney and he’s pretty excited about his ability to get back on the playing field.
“He’s jumping out of his skin.”
Mitchell also downplayed fears over the Titans’ horror start to the season under new coach Des Hasler, where they have conceded 11 tries and scored one against two bottom-three sides from last year.
Titans captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has also been ruled out for the season with a knee injury, but Jayden Campbell will return at fullback this week.
“You don’t need to be a genius to say we’d be a little bit underwhelmed by the way we’ve started the year,” Mitchell said.
“But we’re two games into 24.
“To his point, we’ve got some fundamentals we’ve got to get right and push forward, so we are where we are.
“What I do like about Des is he has taken ownership and said we need to work through this together, collectively as a group. We’ve got a fantastic squad.”
Raiders winger Albert Hopoate is lucky he is only missing one NRL match and didn’t suffer serious injuries after an oil can exploded while he was cooking a barbeque.
The Canberra winger suffered burns to his right arm after the explosion on Monday night and despite wanting to train with the team the next day, he was ruled out of Sunday’s trip to Shark Park to face Cronulla.
Ricky Stuart was thankful the damage wasn’t much worse.
“It’s such an unfortunate incident,” Stuart told the Sydney Morning Herald. “Albert has been very consistent and solid for us with his performances at the start of the season. He won’t be out for long.
“The doc wants to make sure the burns properly recover. You don’t want to risk him getting any further infection. Albert was in today and wanted to train and do the session. Sometimes you need to pull players back and [protect] them from themselves.”
Hopoate adds his name to the long list of strange off-field injuries which have sidelined stars.
Wayne Pearce is still living down his idea to take the Blues horse riding after Melbourne forward Robbie Kearns fell and broke his collarbone, missing not only the Origin series but the rest of the 1999 season.
Tim Brasher (knee) missed the 2001 season when he fell while cleaning a ceiling fan.
Manly’s David Liddiard missed a match in the early 1990s when he pulled a back muscle cleaning his teeth.
Canterbury’s Greg Eastwood (ankle) stood on his kid’s toy car in 2011 while Jack Wighton (foot) fell off his brother’s trampoline as a young Raider in 2012.
North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater has become one of the game’s most influential custodians under Todd Payten, who says the 26-year-old’s growth isn’t by chance.
Payten took over at the club in 2021 when Drinkwater was a precocious talent who backed himself to the hilt but his decision making didn’t always hit the mark.
Drinkwater still chances his arm but when he does the team benefits more often than not.
“I have seen him mature in the past couple of years. The first 12 months he was a gunslinger,” Payten told AAP ahead of Friday night’s away clash with Brisbane.
North Queensland’s Scott Drinkwater runs the ball. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
“Nothing really fazed him and he could move past things pretty quickly still. Now I see the desire from him to get better and the team to get better with the way he trains, and the speeds and intensity that he trains at.
“Day-after-day he is a great example to the rest of our guys. He covers a lot of ground at fullback and doesn’t miss a session.”
Drinkwater was superb in the undefeated Cowboys’ 46-24 comeback win over St George Illawarra on Saturday but his reflections on the match showed where his head is at.
“I probably threw two offloads in the second half which led to errors from us when we had momentum, so I probably didn’t need to push them,” he said.
“That is what you are going to get from me at times, and makes me the player I am. I back my instinct and live by the sword and die by the sword at times.
“If I can rein that in a little bit that would be good for us. Obviously those offloads weren’t necessary and (halfback) Chad (Townsend) gave me a gobful after the second one. It is all about understanding what we need.”
Drinkwater’s capacity for honest self reflection is one of his endearing traits. The fact remains his two try assists and try in the Dragons win outweighed any negatives in his game.
It is Payten’s advice that still rings in his ears.
“I have always had confidence no matter who my coach has been, but Todd is the one making me a better player and helping me make better decisions,” he said.
“That is probably the biggest thing he has done for me. I am trying to be a smarter footballer.”
Drinkwater wouldn’t be the player he is without taking calculated risks. Mostly they pay off, which is why he was the club’s player of the year in 2023 after 25 try assists, 14 line breaks and 11 tries. It is why he was NSW’s 18th man in the last game of the 2023 State of Origin series. He has also added a dimension to his play that people don’t see.
“Most of our good stuff comes in and around Drinky, there’s no doubt about that,” Payten said.
“I have also seen him get on the training field when he is a little bit busted and take the field for us on the weekend when he is busted.
“That is part of the development of a lot of young players when they are hurt or injured. He has worked that out and is really important to us.”
with AAP
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