BY DAN

Like any problematic relationship, the Canberra Raiders are going back to the person that hurt them and hoping they’ve changed.

What once was dead is now alive, and Canberra’s long-time courting of David Fifita continues, as reported by Buzz Rothfield in the Daily Telegraph. To quote Living Colour, oh no, please not that again. Love rears up it’s ugly head. The Raiders are offering $4m, which is presumably over 4 years, a little bump up from the 900k they were offering before, and presumably still more than Fifita signed with the Titans for.

You might be wondering how this is on again, given the Raiders were rejected in the off-season. It comes courtesy of a bizarre clause in Fifita’s contract that allows him to reconsider his contract in the event Justin Holbrook was fired. As you’ll know, Justin Holbrook was fired, and as such the free-agent world can come knocking. Canberra are cashed up, and have a hole that Fifita can fill. So here we are.

The fact that this clause was allowed into Fifita’s contract should be grounds for dismissal for whoever fashioned it. Holbrook’s seat was so hot for so long you could have served his glutes with coleslaw, BBQ sauce and your favourite beer. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would have known this would come to pass eventually. Tying your most talented player to the future of a man on death row is at best oversight, and at worst administrative negligence.

But who are we to complain because it allows Canberra back in the race. They’re cashed up, courtesy of Jack leaving town, and still have a glaring hole to fill, right where Fifita would be best suited. Anyone who watched the Raiders barely keep their right edge together as Fifita tore it apart on the weekend could see how they could use his talents. It makes perfect sense from a roster perspective for the Green Machine to at the very least test the market so to speak.

The key bit here is that while Fifita is technically able to negotiate with other clubs, absolutely nothing has changed since he last spurned the Raiders. Indeed much of the structural appeal of Canberra that existed before – that Shaylee Bent was going to come to the NRLW team, that they were a Fifita sized piece away from being a contender, that they could offer the most money – have all vanished except for the cash. And the Looney Tunes sized big money eyes only exist at the expense of the other strengths.

Nothing has changed for Fifita at the Gold Coast either. Holbrook was unlikely to actually be keeping him there. Bent signed for the Titans too so there’s no pull factor for the Milk. Fifita has made zero noises about being unhappy, and is arguably playing the best footy of his career, at least since he left the Broncos. He’s playing origin again, has a good football situation that is only going to get better when Ben Hunt eventually joins the side. He’s barely half a season into a big money deal. It would be borderline insane if he was to leave.

That doesn’t mean Canberra shouldn’t put this on the table. If there’s a sniff of a chance that Fifita might come they should be there making sure he knows it’s an option. It might not work right now but if Fifita starts getting frustrated at sitting outside the finals (which he almost certainly will again this year) and watches god’s football team hopefully (however unlikely) make a little run this post-season then perhaps a little spark will light, and well, it’s worth the hope.

But let’s not kid ourselves. This is not even as likely as last time, when it felt like a shot in the dark. This is pie-in-the-sky, half-court shot for the car and the cash stuff. The kind of stuff you think about after you buy a lotto ticket but before the numbers are called for someone else. Canberra need to careful not to let this chase distract from more realistic hopes, but hey, those things are not exactly humming along. And after all part of the reason they’ve been keeping their powder dry was for this exact type of moment.

Just don’t hold your breath. Like your ex I doubt things have changed.

Look it’s a different post-script! I like you, so why don’t you like our page on Facebook,  follow us on Twitter, or share this on social media. If enough of you email me at dan@sportress.org I promise I’ll do a mailbag.