It's understood David Fifita has likely played his last game for the Gold Coast Titans, but a deal with the South Sydney Rabbitohs can not be done until the club free up a roster spot.
Fifita, who was on the outer under Des Hasler in 2025, is still contracted with the Titans into 2026, but is now almost certain to leave the glitter strip before the start of pre-season.
News Corp are reporting the only reason the deal hasn't gone through between the Titans and the Rabbitohs is down to roster spots at South Sydney and, subsequently, the Manly Sea Eagles.
The Rabbitohs, who have lost Lewis Dodd this week to the Catalans Dragons, are set to immediately hand his spot to Thomas Fletcher in next year's Top 30, while Jayden Sullivan is also set to stick with the club for the next two years.
Gerome Burns has also retired, leaving the Rabbitohs at the status quo.
While the publication reports the Rabbitohs have no spots left, Zero Tackle's squad tracker has the Rabbitohs locked away at 26 contracted players for 2026, with Fletcher and Sullivan to take that number to 28.
It leaves two spots and means there should be no issues with South Sydney bringing in Fifita, even if they don't manage to release Moale a year early.
After being given permission to negotiate with rivald for 2027, Manly recently confirmed Moale would join the club on a three-year deal, but talks are ongoing as to whether he will join the club for 2026.
The report suggests Manly have no spots left, but Zero Tackle's player tracker still has plenty of spots left on the Northern Beaches.
At the present time, 24 players are officially signed at Manly for 2026, while the expected signing of Kobe Hetherington will be added to the reported re-signing of Siosiua Taukeiaho and it is unknown what the contract status of Navren Willett is.
That means they'd have three spots available.
While it's understood the Rabbitohs and Titans have agreed on the Gold Coast paying roughly half of Fifita's salary during his next two seasons at the Rabbitohs, it's far more likely to be a money issue.
Journalist Brent Read hinted at exactly that on Triple M Radio, saying Manly don't have much cap space - potentially equally as worrying for the club given they still have three, or as many as six, players to sign, while Souths are also trying to jiggle their cap around.
It's likely they need Moale's money to pay for Fifita in 2026, while Manly, who have been in delicate negotiations with the Trbojevic brothers and others, simply may not be able to afford to bring on the Cook Islands representative a year early.
Zero Tackle have reached out to Manly for comment on the status of their 2026 squad.
