Fifita fate lost in translation

Broncos star’s anxious wait over police papers

RUGBY LEAGUE:

Broncos forward David Fifita faces an anxious wait to learn his fate after the NRL was forced to source translators to interpret Indonesian police documents.

News Corp can reveal the NRL’s integrity unit has interviewed Fifita and Broncos officials after the Queensland Origin star was locked up in a Bali jail last weekend.

The NRL was hoping to have the matter finalised this week, however language barriers have prevented that occurring and delivered Fifita a stay of execution. Fifita, 19, was allowed to walk free from a Kuta jail after reaching a “peace agreement” with his alleged victim, nightclub security guard Dani Irawan.

The drama cost Fifita at least $30,000, with his lawyer displaying financial documents to media during a bizarre press conference this week. Irawan has claimed he did not receive any money from Fifita.

But Fifita’s biggest penalty could yet be coming following the NRL’s investigation into the matter. If the NRL determines Fifita has breached rules, the rising star could be fined or suspended from the opening rounds of the 2020 season.

NRL boss Todd Greenberg was hoping to have the matter finalised this week, but due to the translating issues, a decision is unlikely to be reached before the end of next week, leaving Fifita with an anxious wait.

“The NRL Integrity Unit is conducting a thorough investigation into the alleged incident,” an NRL spokesman said.

“We won’t be making further comment until the investigation is complete.”

Fifita was not among a host of big-name Broncos reporting for pre-season training at Red Hill yesterday given he started his off-season break late after playing for the Junior Kangaroos.

Anthony Milford, Matt Lodge, Corey Oates and Thomas Flegler were among the next group of Broncos players to begin preparations for next season, completing fitness testing with staff.

A number of Broncos players trained at the club over the off-season in a bid to hit the ground running after suffering a humiliating 58-0 loss to Parramatta in week one of the finals.

The Broncos’ less-experienced players have been officially training for two weeks and young forward Pat Carrigan said the intensity would start to ramp up with an influx of talent.

“The first two weeks are where the younger boys come in, you learn your craft and get flogged,” he said.

“The more experienced guys come back and drive the standards you’ve already set.

“I’m bad at sitting still. I like to keep ticking the body over.

“It’s been well publicised the way we ended the season wasn’t up to our standards or where any of the players want to be. I never want to experience that feeling again.

“That’s a driving factor for me personally. Hopefully, we can reap the rewards next October.”

Coach Anthony Seibold is due back at training next week after spending the past fortnight on a study trip in America.