Quote: St Helens Wolf "I'm pretty sure that he was. He did play for a season in Australia (Bulldogs) but was back with Widnes when we signed him. Widnes were in financial difficulties at the time but I can't remember whether we or not we paid a fee for him.'"
Not sure if RL was quite the same as football, but until the Bosman ruling in the mid 90's, contracts and leaving a club was not as straightforward as it is nowadays. At the end of contracts it was more about a mutual agreement between club and player for a player to leave a club. Certainly it was a lot harder for a player to just walk away.
With the case of Jiffy, it was more he was on a lucrative deal with Widnes, which they couldn't afford to pay. We were offered him, which we agreed to, so we took on his deal, whilst having to pay no fee to Widnes - The benefit to them being having him off their wages. In theory, Jiffy could have dug his heels and stayed and basically bankrupt them.
Overall, it was a sensible deal for all parties.