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In-demand Fifita all set for a huge week

3 minute read

Brisbane teenager David Fifita will join the NRL open market in a huge week where he is expected to join the Australia squad to face Tonga.

DAVID FIFITA
DAVID FIFITA Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The spotlight will be on Brisbane second-rower David Fifita this week as he eyes an Australian Test debut and comes onto the NRL open market.

Signed with the Broncos until the end of 2020, the 19-year-old giant is free to negotiate with NRL rivals on November 1, and already he's been linked with a handful of clubs for a fee of $1 million.

This season the teenage prodigy has made his State of Origin debut for Queensland and was named skipper of the Australia A team that flogged France 62-4 in Wollongong on Friday.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga would like to hand South Sydney forward Cameron Murray his Test debut in the next game, and he could be open to more change.

He also confirmed he would bring two players from the under-23s Test match into the squad to play Tonga in Auckland on Saturday, and Fifita is strongly tipped to be one of them.

But as Fifita enters one of the biggest weeks of his young career, he has shied away from contract talk after media reports emerged in recent days that Canterbury, South Sydney and the Roosters were all preparing multi-million dollar offers for his signature.

He last signed a deal with the Broncos in 2018 when he was just 17, and his next deal will be the biggest of his career.

Fifita refused to talk about his contract situation following the victory over France on Friday night, and played coy when asked whether he would make himself available for Meninga's Kangaroos side to play Tonga.

"Whatever happens, happens. I'll just worry about having a good time with the boys and celebrate this," he said.

Fifta said he had spoken to Meninga leading into Friday's Tests at WIN Stadium, but would give no indication whether he has been asked to join the squad.

"Footy-wise, yeah, just about the team and how everything is going but I'm not too sure," he said.

The Kangaroos will play Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

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