Fifita and the Titans were back at the negotiating table after team training on Monday afternoon, availing themselves of the NRL’s controversial 10-day cooling-off contracting period.

The Roosters weren’t totally surprised by what was transpiring. Justin Holbrook, the former Gold Coast coach now assisting Trent Robinson at the Roosters, had seen it all before. It took Holbrook the best part of six months to convince Fifita the grass on the glitter strip was greener than that at his incumbent Brisbane. While the Maroons star ultimately made the switch for the 2020 season, Holbrook felt how heavily the move weighed on him.

So when Politis was told at about 10pm on Monday that Fifita was again vacillating, his was a fitful sleep. He woke up early on Wednesday and instructed his media manager to put out a statement indicating their offer was taken off the table.

Two minutes later, the Titans put out a statement of their own, that they had approved Fifita’s request to activate his player option for the next two years.

A backflip of Daly Cherry-Evans-sized proportions had just been performed.

In the process, Politis was told no. It’s a word he has heard with unusual regularity after Dane Gagai, Shaun Johnson and Fifita knocked him back in quick succession. Joey Manu and Joseph Suaalii have also opted to leave the Roosters in the prime of their careers. However, each of those players have had compelling circumstances.

Privately, the Roosters are relieved the situation has come to a head now, as they felt Fifita may have felt homesick at some point.

Gagai opted to stay in Newcastle for family reasons and didn’t leverage the Roosters to stay put. Warriors halfback Johnson is approaching the end and wants to finish where he started. Manu, having achieved everything possible during a storied rugby league career, wants to tick the last item off his bucket list: running out with the All Blacks. And Rugby Australia offered Suaalii the sort of dollars even the Roosters couldn’t match under their supposed salary sombrero.

In the case of Manu and Suaalii, the door remains ajar for a return.

Fifita’s decision is different. The 24-year-old felt pressured to make a call before the expiry of his option deadline of 8pm last Thursday. At no point was he comfortable having made it. He was still unsure whether it was the right call to knock back his other major suitor – fellow powerhouse Penrith – while also feeling the ties that bind him to the Gold Coast.

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The money to stay put was better, but ultimately family and friendships proved the difference. A Titans win over the weekend didn’t hurt.

So where to now for the Roosters? Privately, they are relieved the situation has come to a head now, as they felt Fifita may have become homesick at some point in the future should he have felt obliged to make the move.

Their bid to keep Angus Crichton, who they had hoped to retain regardless, will now step up in earnest. Crichton’s sublime form – he is in line for a NSW recall – coupled with the fact that Fifita has raised the market rate for a strike edge forward ensures that the former Rabbitoh now stands to be the biggest beneficiary of the Fifita backflip.

Rival clubs are circling now that Crichton is a free agent. The Tricolours believe he will stay and will now try to nut out what will likely be a two-year extension. It would be a surprise if Politis was knocked back again.

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