Queensland great Darren Lockyer believes the player market has gone "silly" since St. George Illawarra's massive $6 million deal to secure Ben Hunt from the Broncos in 2017.
The Brisbane legend's comments come as Broncos' rising star David Fifita, widely considered the hottest property on the player market, remains unsigned beyond this season.
Whilst he's stated his desire to remain at Red Hill, the Gold Coast Titans are aiming to lure the Origin star, who was also in the sights of the Rabbitohs and Warriors late last year.
Lockyer suggested the inflated prices players such as Hunt have signed for in recent years was a key reason David Fifita's contract with Brisbane has taken so long to get over the line.
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"I think the market went silly there for a while after Ben Hunt signed at the Dragons for that massive deal," Lockyer told Wide World of Sports' QLDER.
"And good luck to Ben, but I think that set a massively inflated market and I think it's just starting to come back a bit.
"I think that's why there's probably a lot of players out there that are taking their time with these contracts, because the deals that were once out there aren't there now."
Fifita turned the competition on its head with some of his performances towards the end of last season, after he also earned selection in Kevin Walters' Queensland side throughout last year's Origin series.
It has many predicting the bustling edge forward to command as much as $1 million a season on his next contract.
However, Lockyer, who is a Broncos director, believes Fififta still needs more development before he can earn the big dollars the game's best playmakers are earning.
"He [Fifita] is a dynamic back-rower, he's probably going to be one of the best in the game in a couple of years. Consistency's the key," Lockyer said.
"But I still think your nines, your sixes and sevens are the ones that win you the big games. These guys (back-rowers) help you, but in my view they (playmakers) should still be the highest-paid in the game."
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The Broncos have been working to lock up their young brigade over the past 12 months, with Payne Haas, Kotoni Staggs and Matt Lodge all penning new deals.
However, with Fifita still having not re-committed and the Titans beginning to circle the exciting youngster, further speculation has begun to circulate.
And Gold Coast manager of culture and performance Mal Meninga recently declared the Titans would aim to build their team around Fifita.
"Obviously he's very family orientated. We hear that he doesn't want to venture too far from Brisbane, so I guess with those things in mind there's only really one other option for him and that's the Titans," Meninga said recently.
"We're a club on the up so if Dave becomes available and we're in the picture then we'll be certainly having those conversations.
"He's a marquee player and you can invest in a player like Dave for a long period of time. A bit like the Taumalolo's - you could build a team around [him]."
