Why Roosters’ David Fifita pursuit could force Latrell Mitchell to fly the coop

JUNKYARD DOGS

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The Sydney Roosters’ interest in signing David Fifita is a further indication the back-to-back premiers appear to be preparing to part company with star centre Latrell Mitchell in 2021.
  • October 24, 2019 2:46pm

Rarely do the Roosters let a representative player they are intent on keeping get to the stage of going to the open market as of November 1.

Yet in the case of Kangaroos centre Mitchell, the clock is ticking and rival clubs are queuing up.

While Kiwi Test centre Joey Manu’s new deal is all but done and the Roosters have also signed his younger teenage brother from New Zealand, Mitchell’s latest negotiations have been anything but smooth sailing.

It’s a shame because there’s a view the Roosters understand Mitchell better than most.

After all they’re the club who developed him from the age of 16 when he moved to Sydney from the NSW mid-north coast town of Taree.

In many ways, the Roosters have been like a second family for Mitchell.

But there is a concern the Kangaroos centre can often have a head full of lots of different voices around him pushing the line about being a $1 million a year player.

The Bulldogs got the ball rolling in the middle of this season by getting a third party to approach Mitchell’s family and gauge his interest on switching to Belmore on a deal worth seven figures a season.

There’s a view the Dogs are still very much at the negotiating table but what happens next is anyone’s guess.

Other clubs are guaranteed to be interested. But what price will the Roosters be willing to go to for the Kangaroos star? There’s a view the premiers probably won’t go much over $750,000-a-season.

Whereas once Mitchell hits the open market, he’ll easily be able to command far in excess of that figure.

But compare that with Kiwi Test centre Manu, whose new deal will be announced with the Roosters any day now.

Manu will be on a contract worth around the $550,000-a-season mark.

And on form this year, it’s easy to see which player represents better value for money.

But compare that with Kiwi Test centre Manu, whose new deal will be announced with the Roosters any day now.

Then the Roosters also have a steady stream of young gun talent consistently rolling off their precession line, with Billy Smith the latest to stake his claim as a player on the rise.

What does it all mean for Latrell? We’ll find out over the next fortnight. Once rival clubs really ramp up negotiations, it’s bound to become a bigger issue.
 
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TABOO

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$550 for Manu?
I'd rather have him than Latrell.
 

Psycho Doggie

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If Manu is on that amount something is wrong. A few other clubs should make it known how much they'd have offered him. If he finds out he's missed out on an extra 100-200k it might encourage more players like him to test their value rather than take unders.

If it doesn't bother him, then it just makes brown paper bags seem more likely.
 

hotdogs

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Joey is a $500 player yes but latrell has x factor,kicks goals ,has one of the biggest boots in the comp with general play,scores more tries .he is worth the extra coin in my opinion.
Can also cover 5/8,fullback ,wing .
Love them both but yes please to latrell!
 

Moedogg

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Joey is a $500 player yes but latrell has x factor,kicks goals ,has one of the biggest boots in the comp with general play,scores more tries .he is worth the extra coin in my opinion.
Can also cover 5/8,fullback ,wing .
Love them both but yes please to latrell!
Agree with what you say about Latrell. We haven't had a go to man since Barba. How many do we find ourselves getting frustrated because we can't score points in the opposition 20. Send the ball out to Latrell and he turns possession into points.....not to worried about his lack of involvement, seems to know when to inject himself into the game.
 

Dawgfather

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Don't want Mitchell. My firm view is he will be a princess and will also go 'walk-about' like Mundine and Solomon Homona did back in the day.

He'll no doubt have some great games but I don't think he'll be a consistent player.
 

Paulie Gualtieri

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I don’t want Fifita to much money
I don’t want Latrell to much money
I don’t want Jake Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want Tom Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want anyone I just want that player who is talented, highly skilled, game breaker and is an X factor but I want him at a price that’s 400k less than what everyone else pays.
 

Bulldogs09

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I don’t want Fifita to much money
I don’t want Latrell to much money
I don’t want Jake Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want Tom Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want anyone I just want that player who is talented, highly skilled, game breaker and is an X factor but I want him at a price that’s 400k less than what everyone else pays.
Don’t forget none of them are our passionate players like Klemmer!

Oh and we are in the box seat here really! What’s not to like of finishing earlier then 8 other clubs when we have missed the finals for half a decade straight ???
 

JUNKYARD DOGS

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I don’t want Fifita to much money
I don’t want Latrell to much money
I don’t want Jake Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want Tom Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want anyone I just want that player who is talented, highly skilled, game breaker and is an X factor but I want him at a price that’s 400k less than what everyone else pays.
Id take the top 2 with some spare cash left over.
But in all honesty if the club could make it work id be happy with any of those listed. Do the early Storm model, 3 Superstars and fill in the rest with handy players. Only difference is the Storm had them players all in the positions that counted. Which is what half of the discussions here are.
3 out of the 4 above are game breakers and can change a game at any point. If we could Jag any of them would be a huge move in the right direction.
 

bricktamland

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All these articles with us having money is good for us cause it’s gonna make clubs pay overs for certain players leaving them less money for others.. we will nab some big names guaranteed
 

Rockford

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My only concern is that Mitchell has had world class inside players up to now, how will he fare with bog std first graders feeding him ball. He has an air of petulance that worries me about his mindset.
 

Psycho Doggie

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My only concern is that Mitchell has had world class inside players up to now, how will he fare with bog std first graders feeding him ball. He has an air of petulance that worries me about his mindset.
With our current roster he is going to need to go looking for the action in order to have an impact. Foran (when fit) has shown he can get across as far as CHN fairly well, and I seem to recall him laying on a try for Monty earlier in the season when he was in left centre, so its not completely hopeless. To my observation Lewis was, towards the end of the season, attempting to direct a lot more play and achieve more spread, but his efforts were hampered by what could be termed technical deficiency. Although I still love history's most awkward looking chip kick he did for Meaney to score against the Horsies.

LM plays with similar intent to GI, he likes to dominate opposition players. This can go either way, it can win you games or lose you games.
 

GrogDog

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If Manu is on that amount something is wrong. A few other clubs should make it known how much they'd have offered him. If he finds out he's missed out on an extra 100-200k it might encourage more players like him to test their value rather than take unders.

If it doesn't bother him, then it just makes brown paper bags seem more likely.
I would say Manu knows how much the other clubs would be offering but the extra off the books cash or perks the Rorters give would trump that lol
 

CrittaMagic69

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I don’t want Fifita to much money
I don’t want Latrell to much money
I don’t want Jake Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want Tom Trobjevic to much money
I don’t want anyone I just want that player who is talented, highly skilled, game breaker and is an X factor but I want him at a price that’s 400k less than what everyone else pays.
Because those players just aren't worth anywhere near the reported $$$ on in positions that we need to badly address. If there was a Keary, Munster, etc on the market then yh go all out. But fuck paying millions for another forward or a show pony outside back.
 

wendog33

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If Manu is on that amount something is wrong. A few other clubs should make it known how much they'd have offered him. If he finds out he's missed out on an extra 100-200k it might encourage more players like him to test their value rather than take unders.

If it doesn't bother him, then it just makes brown paper bags seem more likely.
Maybe the player agent are receiving the biggest brown paper bags and not telling the players about all the other club offers and amounts?
 

wendog33

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Is it possible the game has changed and evolved yet again?

Has the impact of the spine changed? Could the halves just become feeders of the ball and concentrate on good kicks and 2nd rowers, centres and wingers start to be the main creators of breaks and tries.

We've seen the increased importance of FB and wingers starting the set and the way Fifita can score inside red zone. Papen? JAC's line breaks from kick off.

Maybe the money you pay should not be concentrated primarily in the spine anymore. All positions seem to be gaining added importance and the workload shared.
 

Psycho Doggie

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Maybe the player agent are receiving the biggest brown paper bags and not telling the players about all the other club offers and amounts?
Who knows what might be going on? That's why it would be interesting for a few clubs to find a way to make it known publicly how much they'd have been willing to pay for him.
 

Paulie Gualtieri

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Because those players just aren't worth anywhere near the reported $$$ on in positions that we need to badly address. If there was a Keary, Munster, etc on the market then yh go all out. But fuck paying millions for another forward or a show pony outside back.
Agree. We seriously lack in the 7,6,9 and as much as I like DWZ we need a ball playing 1 but I think we will have to pay overs for one or two big names available for others to want to come to us later on.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Agree. We seriously lack in the 7,6,9 and as much as I like DWZ we need a ball playing 1 but I think we will have to pay overs for one or two big names available for others to want to come to us later on.
That's where we need to be putting our big $$$, most of the players around the spine at the club are already more than capable enough of doing a job while continuing to improve as individuals and as a team with key recruits around them.

DWZ has this season to improve, i've i've previously he does some things very well at fullback but like you said we really need a ball playing option there these days, if he can't do the job then someone else needs to come in and do it instead.
 
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