Penrith Panthers circle ‘marquee’ Titans star David Fifita as club offers huge deal worth $850,000 a season
- Panthers offer Fifita a three-year contract
- The deal is said to be worth $850,000 per season
- Cleary called Fifita a ‘big player’
Ivan Cleary has labeled potential Panther David Fifita a “big player” as the Gold Coast wrecking ball prepares to make a call on his NRL future in the coming days.
To remain with the Titans into 2025, second-rower Fifita must activate a player option in his contract in round 10, which starts on Thursday.
The 24-year-old flew to Sydney and met Panthers officials on Sunday evening, with the three-time reigning premiers in a position to make a lucrative offer as James Fisher-Harris leaves to join the Warriors in 2025.
The Panthers are believed to have offered Fifita a long-term deal worth an estimated $850,000 per season from 2025, but Cleary kept his cards close to his chest when pressed on Monday.
The Penrith Panthers are said to have offered up-and-coming Fifita (pictured) a deal worth an estimated $850,000 per season
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary (pictured) labeled the future Panther a ‘big player’
“It’s obviously a very sensitive issue, all recruitment,” the Penrith coach said.
‘It affects many people at clubs, players, agents, families. I think we’ve probably reached our quota for recruiting stories this year, so I’m not going to talk about it today.”
Fifita could take Penrith’s left-hand spot in the second row, which has had a rotating cast since Viliame Kikau joined Canterbury in 2023.
Scott Sorensen is currently the second-choice second-rower in that department, although he arrived at the club as a center forward and could be brought back in to accommodate Fifita’s arrival.
“He’s a big player,” Cleary said of Fifita
Regardless of the potential recruit, Cleary was not against making changes to his 2025 squad, having learned from the slow start to last season that followed the departure of several players.
“We always want to evolve,” he said.
‘If you just stay the same, you will be passed over. There is always the danger that if you do that too much, you will lose sight of what you are good at.
The talented 24-year-old flew to Sydney and met with Panthers officials on Sunday evening
‘It’s a bit of a balance. We misunderstood that a bit at the beginning of last year.’
It’s an unfamiliar position for the NRL’s heavyweight side, famed for its ability to scout and develop elite junior prospects; Only six players who made their debut elsewhere have won a grand final with the Panthers in the last three years.
The money to lure a big fish has also eluded the Panthers in recent years as the pay packets of their local talents have increased.
Cleary hailed the arrivals of Kurt Capewell and Api Koroisau for the 2020 season as the last major arrival at the club, although it could be argued that it hasn’t been since James Maloney in 2018 that a household name has been lured to Penrith.
“It’s different,” Cleary said of the current situation.
‘Our mandate at the club is to build from within.
‘We put a lot of time, money and effort into that and we will continue to do so. But if you don’t have that, you have to look outside every now and then.’