Darius Boyd has ended speculation over his playing future by announcing he’ll be calling it quits at the end of the 2020 NRL season.

There were question marks over Boyd’s future for much of 2019 with poor form leading to some rugby league pundits and fans calling for him to retire.

That came on Friday, with the Brisbane star confirming this year will be his last.

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Round 19

When Boyd re-signed with the Broncos late in 2017, it was announced he’d signed a four-year contract extension.

While the first two years of the contract were guaranteed, the final two had performances clauses which were somewhat a safety net for the Broncos.

This season, Boyd needed play at least 15 NRL games to meet his contract obligations which would have triggered his contract for 2021.

With Boyd making the call to finish up a year early, the Broncos will have around $700,000 to spend in 2021.

Darius Boyd will call it quits at the end of the season. Source: AAP

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The obvious first move for the club would be to upgrade and extend the contract of boom young gun David Fifita who is off contract at the end of the season.

It was thought Fifita’s extension at Red Hill was a fait accompli, but Gold Coast has since entered the race with Titans culture boss Mal Meninga expressing his interest in meeting the backrower.

Fifita recently admitted publicly his future was uncertain putting the Titans right in the frame to snare the 20-year-old Queensland Origin star.

The Titans have cash to splash — more than the Broncos — with reports the club could offer him a deal of up to $3.2 million over four years.

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Brisbane remain confident of retaining Fifita, but before Boyd’s retirement, were likely to only offer a one or two-year deal with a view to upgrading him down the track.

With more room to move under the salary cap in 2021, they could table a longer term offer.

A host of other Broncos players have guaranteed deals at the club until the end of this season, but have options in their favour from 2021 onwards.

Those include: Anthony Milford, Jack Bird, Corey Oates and Jake Turpin.

Other players off contract at the club at the end of 2020 are: Herbie Farnworth, Jamil Hopoate, Richie Kennar, Rhys Kennedy, Sean O’Sullivan and Ilikena Vudogo.

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