Daniel Saifiti

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Daniel Saifiti
Daniel Saifiti.jpg
Personal information
Born (1996-05-01) 1 May 1996 (age 25)
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight121 kg (19 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– Newcastle Knights 119 12 0 0 48
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–17 Fiji 3 1 0 0 4
2019–21 New South Wales 7 1 0 0 4
As of 12 September 2021
Source: [1]

Daniel Saifiti (born 1 May 1996) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. He co-captains the Knights alongside Jayden Brailey.

He has played for New South Wales in the State of Origin series.

Background[]

Saifiti was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Fijian and Samoan descent[2] and moved to the Central Coast at a young age.[2]

He played his junior rugby league for the Terrigal Sharks and The Entrance Tigers, before joining the Newcastle Knights in 2015.[3]

Saifiti is the identical twin brother of Knights teammate Jacob Saifiti.[3]

Playing career[]

2015[]

In 2015, Saifiti played for the Newcastle Knights' NYC team.[4] On 2 May, he played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea, alongside his twin brother Jacob in the 2015 Melanesian Cup.[5] During the year, he re-signed with the Newcastle club on a two-year contract.[2][6]

2016[]

In round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Saifiti made his NRL debut for the Knights against the Gold Coast Titans,[7][8] playing alongside his brother Jacob, becoming the first twins in Australian rugby league's 108-year history to debut together.[9] He scored a try on debut.[10] On 7 May, he again played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the 2016 Melanesian Cup.[11] On 12 May, he and his brother extended their contracts with the Knights from the end of 2017 until the end of 2018.[12] In his 8th game of first-grade, he ran for a game-high 237 metres against the Wests Tigers.[13] Saifiti finished his debut season with Newcastle making 20 appearances as the club finished last on the table.[14]

2017[]

Saifiti played 23 games for the Knights in the 2017 season,[15] before having his contract extended until the end of 2020. Newcastle would finish the year on the bottom of the table for a third straight season.[16][17]

2018[]

Saifiti played 21 games for Newcastle in the 2018 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table.[18]

2019[]

Saifiti was selected in the starting side for Game 2 of the 2019 State of Origin series.[19]

Saifiti was retained for Game 3 of the 2019 State of Origin series which was won by New South Wales 26-20 at ANZ Stadium. It was the first time since 2005 that New South Wales had won back to back series.[20]

At club level, he played 21 games for Newcastle as the club finished a disappointing 11th on the table after being expected by many to qualify for the finals.[21][22]

2020[]

He was selected for New South Wales in the 2020 State of Origin series. He played in all three games as New South Wales suffered a 2-1 series defeat to Queensland.[23]

2021[]

For round 1 of the 2021 NRL season, Saifiti was announced as a Knights co-captain alongside Jayden Brailey.[24]

He was selected for game one of the 2021 State of Origin series. Saifiti scored his first try for New South Wales in game one as the Blues defeated Queensland 50-6. Saifiti played in the first two games during the series but was ruled out of the third due to injury. New South Wales went on to win the series 2-1.[25][26][27]

References[]

  1. ^ "Daniel Saifiti - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Keeble, Brett (29 April 2015). "Saifiti twins win Fiji call-up | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Saifiti twins first for the Knights - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. ^ "S". Nyc Database. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ^ "TEAM LISTS: Tonga, Fiji Bati, Papua New Guinea Teams For 2015 Representative Round | Triple M NRL". Triplem.com.au. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Robert Dillon on Twitter: "@jamiesonmurph Two years"". Twitter.com. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Updated: Round 1 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Late Mail: Titans v Knights - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2016.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Knights Prop Sam Mataora Rewarded for Off-Season Regime with Starting Spot Against Gold Coast". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Five things we learned from Titans v Knights". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  11. ^ "PNG stuns Fiji in a thriller". nrl.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Saifitis extend contracts with Knights". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  13. ^ David SygallMay 22, 2016, 8:59 a.m. "Trent Hodkinson in State of Origin frame as Wests Tigers pinch win over Newcastle Knights". The Advocate. Retrieved 22 May 2016.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "The worst teams in NRL history". Sporting News.
  15. ^ Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Saifiti twins re-sign with Newcastle Knights - Zero Tackle". 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Knights: 2017 by the numbers". NRL.
  18. ^ "Newcastle Knights 2018 season review". NRL.
  19. ^ "Latrell Mitchell dumped as NSW make seven changes for State of Origin Game 2". Guardian. 17 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Emotional Blues legend Wayne Pearce opens up on his son Mitchell's battle". www.news.com.au.
  21. ^ "Newcastle Knights: 2019 preview, draw, squad changes, news, every player, odds and ticketing". Sporting News.
  22. ^ "2019 SEASON REVIEW NEWCASTLE KNIGHTs". Nothing But League.
  23. ^ "State of Origin 2020 game 3: Qld Maroons beat NSW Blues – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
  24. ^ "Saifiti & Brailey earn Rd1 co-captaincy roles". Newcastle Knights. 2 March 2021.
  25. ^ "NSW Origin team: Luai gets nod for Freddie's fresh-faced Blues". www.nrl.com.
  26. ^ "NSW Blues win State of Origin series opener 50-6 against Queensland Maroons". ABC. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Green's rookie call pays off big time... but questions remain over Origin future". www.foxsports.com.au.

External links[]

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