SEN’s Andrew Voss has heaped praise on the character of Gold Coast Titans star David Fifita as his enters the crucial days of his pending free agency.
Fifita captured headlines on Monday afternoon after it was reported that the Panthers, Dragons and Roosters had all tabled offers to the star backrower.
The 24-year-old has an option in his contract to become a free agent at the end of this season but he has to exercise it prior to kick-off on Thursday night.
With two of the biggest clubs in the NRL fighting for his signature, Fifita has been heavily analysed by pundits and fans alike, with many questioning if he has the drive to take his game to the next level in Sydney.
Voss opened up on his experiences with Fifita and revealed why he thinks many fans would be surprised with the way he approaches his football.
“Can I pull back the curtains a little bit on David Fifita, who I first called as a schoolboy player and (he is) such an incredible and dynamic player,” Voss said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“I know he’s hard a few incidents off the field… he is an incredibly humble young man, he’s always struck me as that, he’s very good to talk to, he’s very thoughtful and very respectful.
“Still till this day if you sat David Fifita down and said, ‘Let’s talk about your schoolboy career at Keebra Park’, he would still refer to his coach as ‘Mr Campbell’.
“He speaks in those terms, which I don’t think you’d necessarily get from everyone.”
Fifita was a schoolboy superstar for Keebra Park in Southport, Queensland and alongside Titans teammate Tannah Boyd, the pair led the school to a national championship in 2017.
“I think the fans would have the totally wrong impression of him or wouldn’t have an idea of what he is actually like,” Voss added.
“I don’t think he’d be enjoying this, you might say, ‘Oh, how good is that, they’re talking about $850,000, a million a year’, I don’t think he’d like this part of it at all.
“To the point where I’m going to take a stab, I reckon he’ll make a decision pretty quick just to put an end to it, I don’t think he’ll want to go through it all, drag through it.
“I reckon David will make a pretty quick decision.”
Fifita is tipped to make a decision in the next 24-48 hours and is widely expected to take his talents to Sydney.