Before agreeing to the deal with Canterbury, Fifita had been considering a $650,000 per season offer from South Sydney and the Sharks later came in with a $700,000 per season contract. Other clubs, including St George Illawarra, were linked to the Australian and NSW front-rower. But interest dropped off after Fifita and the Bulldogs announced he was heading to Belmore next season on a deal that would have made him the highest paid prop in the game's history. As a result, the 24-year-old no longer holds the same worth on the player transfer market he did a month ago. Fifita's comments about wishing he had gone to rugby union after being told the day before that Canterbury wanted to pay him less than he claims to have initially agreed to when he and the Bulldogs signed a memorandum of understanding on March 11 also appear to have damaged his market value.

It had been widely assumed Fifita was seeking compensation from Canterbury for the difference between any contract he signs with Cronulla or another NRL club and the amount he was expecting from the Bulldogs but he may demand the full $3.4 million after serving the club with a legal letter on Thursday outlining his intention to sue. Representatives of I.am Athlete Management, who look after Fifita, met with NRL chief investigator Nick Weeks last Tuesday after the collapse of his deal with the Bulldogs and are understood to have handed over documentation. Canterbury chief executive Raelene Castle has confirmed that she spoke informally to Weeks last Friday and said it was at her instigation. Castle has maintained the value of the deal was less than $850,000 per season and refutes any suggestion up to half of Fifita's money was from third-party agreements or that salary cap issues forced the Bulldogs to revise the worth of the contract. She also insists that Canterbury announced the deal before it had been finalised after Fifita told Cronulla, Channel Seven and his followers on Twitter that he was joining the Bulldogs in 2015, and regretted doing so as it is not usual club policy.

Fifita will not consider playing anywhere else if he is happy with the latest offer from the Sharks on Thursday but the club should not expect him to accept less than the deal they tabled before he reached agreement with Canterbury because of his pending legal action. He will consider the offer over the weekend and may make a decision next week but the pressure is now off him to sign anywhere and if he rejects the deal from Cronulla Fifita's management will then begin to consider other options.