Publicly, Parramatta say they're expecting as much. Privately, they know Channel Nine reporter Danny Weidler's story on Saturday night that Radradra has told those close to him he won't be coming back is spot-on. "He's going to one of the biggest clubs in the world": Jarryd Hayne has backed Semi Radradra's decision to pursue a career in rugby union. Credit:Getty Images Let's see if it was just a threat and not a promise. But should that happen, should Radradra leave the country then snap up a contract in another code, the NRL must ban him forever. It can't soften as it did with Sonny Bill Williams. Not this time. At some point, a contract needs to be treated as a contract in this game.

The Radradra situation is murky at best. He has some personal issues bubbling beneath the surface, and the club's welfare department has been working closely with him to resolve them. This agreed trip to Fiji, with the Eels having the bye this weekend, is his third this season. All three have been organised and booked by the club. Not again: Semi Radradra can't be let back into the NRL like Sonny Bill Williams was. Credit:Getty Images Yet there's a real concern at Parramatta that Radradra's mysterious manager, George Christodoulou, is using both his client's personal situation and this trip to Fiji as leverage for a hefty upgrade on his present contract. The winger's deal is worth $250,000 per season plus a third-party agreement of $75,000 per season. It expires at the end of next year. Given that Semi is the best winger in the NRL, with his explosive kick returns and the vertical leap of LeBron James, he is assured a significant increase. Rival clubs would be falling over each other to sign him.

Confusing the situation is that other player managers are trying to elbow their way into negotiations and act on his behalf. Confusing the situation further is that Christodoulou will not publicly set the record straight about whether Radradra will return to Australia and the Eels. Christodoulou owns a handful of CBD cafes and handles footy players on the side. He has strong connections with Fiji and also manages former Panthers and Dragons winger Eto Nabuli and Canberra's Sisa Waqa. Quite simply, he can bury this story with a single sentence: "Semi Radradra has not walked out on Parramatta". But he won't. He did not return calls on Monday morning. George, let's talk. Of course, the only one who really knows if Semi Radradra will return to Sydney on Sunday – he's due to train on Tuesday – is Semi Radradra. The Eels will not confirm if they have spoken to him, or can even made contact.

It's understood his father, Samisoni Waqavatu, was expected to return with him and live with his son for the next month. That Parramatta are so uncertain about whether their player will be coming back – despite comments to the contrary from consultant Ian Schubert – explains how clouded the situation has become. As any club chief executive and welfare officer will tell you, players cherry-picked from a small South Pacific nation and dropped into the NRL come with sensitive family and cultural issues. The player is the breadwinner for their entire extended family, and it brings great pressure well outside of football. Amid the firestorm about Radradra's international eligibility and subsequent selection for the Kangaroos, it was clear his primary reason for pledging allegiance to Australia and not Fiji were the match payments.

We will know in time if Mal Meninga's decision to hand Radradra an Australian jumper for the May Test against New Zealand was the wrong one. So many "ifs and maybes" ... Green and gold: Semi Radradra made his debut for the Kangaroos this year. Credit:Mark Kolbe If Radradra doesn't come back, his signing to French rugby - he's been linked to Bordeaux for months - is far from straightforward, tangled up in the competition's import restrictions and the country's visa requirements. Should that happen, though, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg must be firm. As the chief executive at the Bulldogs when Williams walked out on the game in 2008, he knows the damage that a flighty superstar can do.

A deal is a deal is a deal. If Radradra is unhappy with the one he's got, direct all questions to his manager. Or ask himself why he signed it in the first place. When Williams left the Bulldogs, the argument was he was displeased with the contract he signed under former manager Gavin Orr. His new management, Khoder Nasser, convinced him he was worth more. It's an argument that still doesn't stand up. There is no justification for walking out of a deal that you agreed to. Williams' return to the Roosters was spectacular, bringing a premiership to the club. But the game appeared weak to those with long memories about all the tough talk when he snuck out of the country. Rugby league learned nothing from the Williams episode. The NRL's contract system - now further undermined by messy third-party agreements - remains as weak as ever.

And it swings both ways. Radradra should not walk out of his Parramatta deal without consequence, just as Jason Taylor and the Tigers should not be able to threaten captain Robbie Farah with reserve-grade purgatory over a deal signed off by a previous coach. A deal is a deal is a deal. Call me naïve and old-fashioned, but your word once counted for something. It still has some currency in the real world. Meanwhile, where are you Semi? Where are you? He's somewhere in Fiji, mulling over his future. On Monday, the Fiji Times had reason to stop the presses and other various digital platforms. There was a Semi sighting!

"He was here at the village this morning but he's not home now," a source told the media outlet. "Two weeks ago he was also here at the village but he went back to play for his club and this morning he was here again in the village." Go and grab that source, please, and get them to ask Semi if he's coming back to Sydney on Sunday. We're all dying to know.